April 24, 2022

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 24.04.2022, 14:01

Easter. Orthodox
Christians, who are the majority in Romania, and Greek Catholics are celebrating Easter. In his Easter message, the Patriarch of the
Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, urges believers to pray for an end to the war
in Ukraine and to continue to help refugees and all those in need. He also makes
an appeal for brotherly love for all Romanians, around the country’s borders and
in the diaspora. High officials in Bucharest, have also sent messages of peace
and solidarity with the Ukrainian people on the occasion of the Easter
holidays.

Ukraine. In a message
occasioned by Orthodox Easter today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says
that the evil will not be able to destroy Ukraine and prays for a good and
happy life for all Ukrainian children, Reuters reports. On Saturday, the Kyiv
leader said he hoped to obtain heavy weapons following todays’s talks in Kyiv
with the US State and Defense Sectaries Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin. He
said that this kind of weaponry is essential for Ukraine to be able to recover
the territory occupied by Russia. The Ukrainian leader also warned that his
country would drop talks with Moscow if Russia killed the Ukrainians besieged in
the war-torn Mariupol city or held referendums to create new separatist
republics on recently seized Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian forces are trapped in a steel plant
in Mariupol, Reuters reports. In a diplomatic move, the UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres will visit Turkey on Monday before heading to Moscow and Kyiv.
Turkey has been as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia during the war and has
hosted peace talks between the two sides.

Refugees. Some 5,100 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania in the
past 24 hours, 24% less than on the previous day. Most refugees crossed the
borders with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Since the start of the war in
the neighboring country, some 800 thousand Ukrainians crossed Romania’s
borders.

Election. Nearly 49
million French are called to vote today their president for the next five
years. They have to choose between the incumbent head of state, Emmanuel
Macron, and the leader of the far right, Marine Le Pen. Observers around the
world are watching closely to see if Macron’s rival’s efforts in recent years
to improve her image and attract the electorate could result in a major
political change that would be felt around the world. Macron won the first
round of the presidential election, with 27.85% of the votes, followed by
Marine Le Pen with 23.15%. The turnout in the April 10 election was about 74%,
which means an absenteeism of 26%, the highest for a first round of
presidential elections after the level recorded in 2002.

Slovenia. Nearly 1.7 million Slovenes are expected to
the polls today to elect a new parliament in a ballot that will determine
whether right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Janez Jansa remains in power, DPA
and FP report. Jansa’s rival is the Liberal opposition Freedom Movement
candidate, the entrepreneur Robert Golob, and opinion polls indicate a very
close race. Janez Jansa, already in his third term, is accused of restricting
media freedom and violating the rule of law. He is a close ally of Hungarian
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and critics say he is copying the latter’s authoritarian
style.

Handball.
The
Romanian women’s handball national team takes on today, on home turf, the Austrian national squad, in a decisive
match for the qualification for this year’s European Championship. In the
rankings, the two teams are tied for points, 5, but Romania also has the option
of a draw, which would allow it to qualify from the second place, thanks to a
better goal average. The leader of the group, Denmark, is already qualified for
the continental final tournament. (MI)