Radio România Internațional

Tag: Jubilee

June 3, 2022

UKRAINE 100 days have passed since the start of the Russian invasion in
Ukraine. Since February 24, Russia has captured a sizeable part of its
neighbouring country’s territory, but the Ukrainian army has put up a tougher
resistance than most experts had expected. Russian forces now control around
20% of the Ukrainian territory, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said
in his midnight address, which has become a tradition since the start of the
war. He added that the entire occupied territory is now a disaster area, and
Moscow is fully responsible for this. Violent clashes continue, especially in eastern
Ukraine, where Russia tries to capture Donbas. The fiercest battles are
currently fought in the town of Severodonetsk, the most important one still
controlled by the Ukrainian forces in Luhansk region. Russian forces have
resorted to intensive shelling, including on civilian targets, having
completely destroyed several Ukrainian cities, such as Mariupol, captured after
3 months’ fighting, and Severodonetsk, where two-thirds of the homes are in
ruins. Russia has suffered substantial losses, over 30,000 dead and thousands
of pieces of equipment according to Ukraine, but it still retains superiority
in the field. Moscow is also superior in terms of heavy weaponry, but as of
recently Ukraine is receiving this type of weapons from its Western supporters.

MILITARY Romanian troops and Allies from 5 European
countries and the USA are taking part in a multinational exercise at the
Smârdan NATO Centre in eastern Romania. As part of the exercise, today a drill
is organised in which NATO military use land and air equipment. Taking part in
the training operation, which started on May 24, are over 1,000 Romanian
troops, joined by military personnel from France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy,
Portugal and the US. The training session is designed to enhance
inter-operability, so as to enable the Multinational Brigade South-East Command
to manage forces deployed to NATO’s south-east region to protect the Alliance,
the national defence ministry explains.

AID The government of Romania will grant
EUR 140 in aid next month to pensioners whose retirement benefits do not exceed
EUR 400. The measure was approved on Thursday and is designed to help the most
vulnerable pensioners cope with the recent price rises. The government is also
working on an emergency order increasing the value of meal vouchers.

JUBILEE Britain is celebrating these days the Platinum Jubilee of Queen
Elizabeth II, the monarch with the longest reign in the history of the country.
The Royal Family convene today for a religious service at St. Paul’s Cathedral,
celebrating the Queen’s 70-year rule,
however the sovereign will not be present after experiencing discomfort while
watching Thursday’s parade at Buckingham Palace. On Thursday London hosted a
large-scale military parade, with 70 aircraft, some of
them used during WWII, flying over the crowds.

FILM The 3rd edition of the Romanian Film
Festival in Washington, the largest event promoting Romanian cinema in the USA,
begins on June 3rd at Miracle Theatre. Organised by the Embassy of
Romania to Washington and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, the festival
is devoted to the 25 years since the signing of the Strategic Partnership
between Romania and the USA. Screened as part of the event, under the heading Reinventing
realism: the Romanian New Wave, are 12 feature films: Blue Moon,
Berliner, The Windseeker, Poppy Field,
Mikado, Unidentified, #dogpoopgirl, Luca,
Man and Dog, Lebensdorf, Otto the Barbarian, and Miracle. The festival
will come to an end on June 19. (AMP)

3 June 2022
June 2, 2022 UPDATE

GOVERNMENT On Thursday the
Government of Romania passed an emergency order under which pensioners with
pension benefits below roughly EUR 400 will benefit in July from financial aid
amounting to EUR 140. The measure is intended to offset the drop in spending
power for vulnerable people, generated by the recent increase in fuel, food and
utility prices. Around 3.3 million people will benefit from the aid. Wednesday
also saw the start of a social voucher distribution programme called ‘Support
for Romania’. The EUR 50 vouchers are intended for over 2.5 million vulnerable
Romanians, and can be used for food purchases.

HOLIDAY Romania, a country
with an Orthodox majority, Thursday celebrated the Ascension of Lord Jesus
Christ, 40 days after his resurrection. Orthodox believers celebrated the event
with painted eggs and traditional Easter meals. Since 1920 Romanians have also
paid homage to their war heroes on Ascension Day. A series of events have been
staged to the memory of Romania’s heroes like religious services as well as
moments of silence in all major institutions across the country. In a message on Heroes Day, the country’s
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said ‘our thoughts of gratitude are today directed
towards those who made the supreme sacrifice for the better destiny of the
generations to come.’

POLL Over 70% of Romanians
blame the war in Ukraine on Russia, according to a poll conducted by INSCOP
Research over May 16th and 21st. Over 87% of the Romanians believe that Russian
leaders must be convicted for war crimes and 65% believe the presence of NATO
and US troops in Romania is a good thing. 50% of the respondents believe
Ukraine will win the war, whereas 26% believe Russia will be the victor.
According to the poll, only 25% of Romanians believe Russia is defending
traditional values against the decadence of the West, as compared to 41% in
February. 67% of the respondents believe that extraction of natural gas from
the Black Sea will significantly reduce the country’s dependence on Russian
gas.

LETTER Romania’s president
Klaus Iohannis has sent a congratulation letter to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on her
anniversary and the platinum jubilee, the presidential administration in
Bucharest has announced. The Romanian president voiced his belief that the
Strategic Partnership between Romania and the UK will continue to be
consolidated in the future, for the mutual benefit of both nations. Starting on
Thursday, Britain is celebrating for 4 days the Queen’s 70 years of rule, the
longest in the kingdom’s history. The government has exceptionally approved a
four-day bank holiday allowing millions to participate in various events staged
on this occasion, such as street parties, concerts and military parades.
According to the BBC, the 96-year-old monarch, who has mobility issues and has
recently cancelled several public appearances, is likely to join members of the
Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch the display.

REFUGEES The government of
Romania Thursday approved the provision of new emergency humanitarian aid
amounting to EUR 185,000 for the management of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Also
as of Thursday, a governmental information platform is available to Ukrainian
nationals benefiting from temporary protection in Romania. At
protecţieucraina.gov.ro, refugees can find all the necessary information on the
rights and services they can receive, how they can enter Romania or answers to
frequently asked questions in the legal field. The Romanian Border Police
announced that on Wednesday little over 10,000 Ukrainian citizens entered
Romania, down 13% since the previous day. Since the start of the crisis in
Ukraine on February 24, nearly 1.1 million refugees have entered Romania. Most
of them transited the country towards Western Europe, but several tens of
thousands applied for asylum or temporary protection from the Romanian
government. (AMP)

2 June 2022
June 2, 2022

LETTER Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has sent a congratulation letter to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland on her anniversary and the platinum jubilee, the presidential
administration in Bucharest has announced. The Romanian president has voiced
his conviction that the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the UK will
continue being consolidated in the future for the mutual benefit of both
nations. Starting Thursday, Britain is celebrating for four days the Queen’s 70
years of rule, the longest in the kingdom’s history. The government has exceptionally
approved a four-day bank holiday allowing millions to participate in the
various events staged on this occasion, such as street parties, concerts and
military parades. According to the BBC, the 96-year-old monarch, who has
mobility issues and has recently cancelled several public appearances, is
likely to join members of the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace
to watch the display.

EURO According to the 2020 Convergence Report published by the European
Commission, Romania presently does not meet any of the four criteria needed to adopt
the single European currency. In order to adopt the euro, an EU member has to
meet four conditions: price stability, stable public finances, exchange rate
stability and long-term interest rates. According to the report, not only that Romania
doesn’t meet any criteria but the country is also the only member state that is
subject to an excessive deficit procedure opened in 2020. In 2016, Romania met only
three out of the four conditions needed to join the Euro zone.

HOLIDAY Romania, a country with an Orthodox majority, is today celebrating the
Ascension of Lord Jesus Christ, 40 days after his resurrection. Orthodox
believers are today celebrating the event with painted eggs and traditional
Easter meals. Since 1920 the Romanians have also paid homage to their war
heroes on Ascension Day. A series of events have been staged to the memory of
Romania’s heroes like wreath laying, religious services as well as moments of
silence in all major institutions across the country. Bucharest will today see
a commemoration ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is to be
attended by the country’s president Klaus Iohannis, Defence Minister Vasile
Dancu, and Chief of Staff, Daniel Petrescu. In a message on the Heroes Day, the
country’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that our thoughts of gratitude are
today directed towards those who made the supreme sacrifice for the better
destiny of the generations to come.

POLL Over 70 percent
of the Romanians believes Russia is responsible for the war in Ukraine, shows a
poll conducted by INSCOP Research over May 16th and 21st. Over 87% of the
Romanians believes that Russian leaders must be convicted for war crimes and
65% believes that the presence of NATO and the US troops in Romania is a good
thing. 50% of the respondents believes that Ukraine will win the war, whereas
26% believes that Russia will be the victor. According to the poll, only 25%
believes that Russia is defending traditional values against the decadence of
the West, as compared to 41% in February. 67% of the respondents believes that exploitation
of Black Sea gas will significantly reduce the country’s dependence on Russian
gas

(bill)

2 June 2022
November 20, 2016 UPDATE

ELECTIONS – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has made public its “Guidelines for Romanian voters abroad, intended for the Romanian citizens who live abroad and want to cast their ballots in the December 11 parliamentary election. The guidelines include information on the various categories of eligible voters, the voting process, the opening hours of polling stations, the documents required in order to be able to vote and instructions regarding the vote by mail procedure. The Romanian citizens in the diaspora who have not chosen to vote by mail will be able to choose from among the 417 polling stations abroad. The largest number of polling stations set up abroad are in Italy (70), and Spain (50), while another 35 will be opened in the Republic of Moldova. There are 111 polling stations more than in the parliamentary elections of 2012 and 123 more than in the presidential election of 2014. Two years ago, thousands of Romanians living abroad were unable to vote because of the flawed organisation of the presidential election.

BOOK FAIR – The Goncourt – Romanian Student Choice Award went this year to the novel “Láutre quon adorait by the French author Catherine Cusset. The novel was chosen by 7 juries made up by Francophone students from 7 Romanian cities, and the announcement came as part of the Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair organised in Bucharest by Radio Romania. The book will be translated into Romanian, and Catherine Cusset will be invited to give addresses in Romania. The Gaudeamus Book Fair came to a close on Sunday, with the award of this 23rd editions trophies. Hundreds of publishers took part in the fair, which comprised more than 850 events, from meetings with writers, book launches and debates, to performances and workshops. This years guest of honour was China, and next year the USA will be the special guest of the Gaudeamus Fair.

REMEMBRANCE DAY – Several events were organised in Romania today to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, commemorated on the third Sunday of November every year, at the initiative of the UN. Last year nearly 1,900 people died and over 9,000 others were severely injured in road traffic accidents, the Romanian Police has reported. According to statistics, 1 in 5 car crashes takes place around the capital city Bucharest, with Covasna County reporting the smallest number of accidents. Most incidents involve a vehicle and a pedestrian, and 8 out of 10 have been reported in dry weather. The latest European report indicates that Romania ranks second in the EU, after Latvia, in terms of the number of deaths in road traffic accidents.

YIDDISH FESTIVAL – The TES FEST kicked off in Bucharest on Sunday, and is scheduled to come to a close next Sunday. The event is intended to showcase and promote the Yiddish culture. Taking part in the festival are professional theatre companies and klezmer bands from Romania, the USA, Israel, France and Poland. Book launches and workshops will also be organised as part of the event. This first edition of TES FEST is organised by the Jewish State Theatre in Bucharest, which celebrates 140 years since the establishment of the first professional Yiddish theatre in the world, in the north-eastern Romanian city of Iaşi, in 1876, by writer and artist Avram Goldfaden. According to the organisers, the festival targets the general public of all ages, and aims to contribute to the understanding and acceptance of different cultures.

GERMANY – The Conservative Angela Merkel Sunday announced her fellow Christian-Democratic Union members that she intended to run for a new term in office as head of the party, and, in the autumn of 2017, for a fourth term as Chancellor of Germany, news agencies report. If she wins, Angela Merkel, 62, in office for 11 years, would break the record held by the post-war Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, in power for 14 years, and would equal her political mentor, Helmut Kohl – 16 years. According to an opinion poll made public on Sunday, 55% of the Germans want Angela Merkel to stay as Chancellor. Supporters see Merkel as a stabilising element in Europe, amid the uncertainties triggered by the UK vote to leave the Union and Donald Trumps winning the presidential election in the USA.

VATICAN – Pope Francis Sunday concluded the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, and in the presence of over 100,000 believers in Vatican he closed the Holy Door of St Peters Basilica opened at the beginning of the event one year ago. The Jubilee of Mercy or the Holy Year, one of the most important events initiated by Pope Francis, is an initiative intended to reflect the need for the Catholic Church to be more open. According to the Vaticans estimates, more than 20 million people travelled to Rome during the Jubilee year.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

20 November 2016