Ukraine – Romania will continue to support Ukraine as long as it is necessary to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, said the Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr, on Thursday, in Bucharest, after the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov. The Ukrainian defense minister was on his first official visit to Romania, where he participated in the first conference on security in the Black Sea organized within the International Crimea Platform. During the meeting, the Romanian minister condemned in the toughest terms the war of aggression illegally and unjustifiably launched by Russia against Ukraine, which killed many civilians and destroyed critical infrastructure in many regions of Ukraine. The agenda of the meeting included talks on aspects related to the intensification of bilateral cooperation, also in the context of the EU and NATO, the Romanian side reiterating the importance of continuing the political and military dialogue and its implementation by prioritizing the implementation of the Comprehensive Assistance Package within the Alliance.
Expenses — All Romanian ministries have presented plans to reduce expenses to balance the budget, but many do not want to give up the allocated funds. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, they justified every penny they received from the budget, while others came with small reductions, so that, all in all, the sum of the proposed spending reductions is far from the target of 20 billion lei (approx. 4 billion Euros), which should be saved until the end of the year. The Labor Ministry proposes a 20% reduction in fuel expenses and a reduction in non-essential internal and external trips. The Tourism Ministry is also considering the tourism marketing chapter. However, there are also ministries that will not substantially reduce expenses, such as the Ministry of European Investments and Projects, where the employees are paid mostly from European money, while the Ministry of Culture proposed savings of only 2 million lei. All proposals will be analyzed next week in the government meeting. Also next week, the Finance Ministry is expected to come up with its own analysis regarding the reduction of expenses and the increase in budget receipts.
Good Friday – Easter is celebrated on Sunday, but until then, Orthodox Christians (majority in Romania) and the Greek Catholics mark Good Friday today. This is a day when they remember the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His placement in the tomb. Good Friday is the day when Jesus Christ was crucified between two thieves, being accused of blasphemy and opposing the Roman authority. According to the Gospel texts, at the moment when Jesus died on the cross, the earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke. After being taken down from the cross, Jesus was placed in the tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man of the time. The burial of Jesus is symbolized today by the placement of the Holy Epitaph in the middle of the churches, which is then carried around the church. This procession takes place during the Good Friday service, which is actually a symbolic funeral service for our Lord Jesus.
Washington – A member of the US Air National Guard, suspected of being the author of the recent leaks of classified information of the Pentagon, was arrested on Thursday in Massachusetts, in the northeast of the United States. His name is Jack Teixeira and he is 21 years old. According to American media, he runs “Thug Shaker Central”, an online group where about 20-30 people express their passion for guns and video games. Originally posted on the groups web page – “Thug Shaker Central”, the secret documents that have been leaked since last weekend also on the Twitter and Telegram social networks give an image of the information gathering activities carried out by the US on a global level. Information was leaked about the Russian-Ukrainian war and the Western military aid offered to Kyiv. Dated from February and March, these documents show the shortcomings of both the Russian and Ukrainian armies. (LS)
