Radio România Internațional

Tag: Roma day

  • April 7, 2018 UPDATE

    April 7, 2018 UPDATE

    HOLY FIRE — Thousands of Orthodox believers gathered on Saturday in Jerusalem for the Holy Fire ceremony that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. In a ritual dating back at least 1,200 years, they crowded into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Holy Fire appeared in the Edicule, the small chapel built over the burial place of Christ at about 2:20 PM, just a few minutes after the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, entered there to pray and wait. After the fire’s descent the Patriarch passed the holy gift to the faithful. The Holy Fire is the most important celebration in the Orthodox faith in Jerusalem. A delegation of the Romanian Patriarchy, headed by Bishop Timotei of Prahova, is in Jerusalem and will bring the Holy Fire to be distributed to every church across Romania.




    SECURITY MEASURES – Over 50,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry have been mobilised to maintain public order, safety and security across the country during Easter. Gendarme and police troops will be chiefly deployed around churches and other religious institutions. 250 thousand people are expected to attend more than 700 public events that will take place in Romania in the next four days. Traffic police, equipped with more than 300 traffic radars and backed by helicopters, will be monitoring traffic on Romania’s motorways during the Easter days.




    HOLIDAY – Many Romanians have chosen to spend Easter away from home this year but in regions in the country where Easter traditions are still observed. Over 90% of the hotels and guest houses on the Prahova Valley are booked. Tourists are mostly interested in the resorts of Sinaia and Azuga, as winter sports can still be practices there. Bukovina is another region highly appreciated by tourists, especially the villages that are close to monasteries such as Sucevita, Gura Humorului and Putna. Tourists appreciate guesthouses in Bukovina because Easter traditions have been preserved unaltered there and also for the hosts’ hospitality.




    POISONING – Russian Ambassador in London, Aleksandr Yakovenko, has requested a meeting with British Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, to discuss the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Relations between London and Moscow have plumbed new lows in recent weeks following the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4 in Salisbury, south-western England. Britain and its Western allies have blamed the attack on Moscow, accusing it of targeting the pair with a Soviet-made military-grade nerve agent. Russia has vehemently denied any involvement in the case. The crisis has led to the biggest wave of tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats in recent memory.




    STRIKE — Air France announced on Saturday the cancellation of hundreds of flights as pilots, cabin crews and ground staff pursued a fifth day of strike aimed at securing higher salaries. Air France estimates that 34% of pilots, 26% of the cabin crews and 19% of the ground staff were on strike on Saturday. Unions say workers deserve to benefit from years of belt-tightening that have brought the carrier back to operating profitability, after seeing their wages effectively frozen since 2011. Unionists want a 6% pay raise and have already warned of more strikes to come.




    ROMA DAY — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Saturday conveyed a message on the occasion of the International Roma Day. Iohannis said “it’s important to understand the traditions, values, aspirations and needs of the Roma community, in order to find solutions that should have a concrete contribution to the Roma minority members’ social inclusion, while continuing to preserve their cultural identity”. Iohannis also said that this year, when the 1918 Great Union centennial is celebrated, the contribution of the Roma to our society’s history and diversity must be emphasised. Celebrated every year on April 8th, the International Roma Day is aimed at promoting the community’s cultural values and at signalling the problems facing it.




    DAVIS CUP — Romania’s Davis Cup team leads Morocco 2-0 after the first matches held on Saturday in Cluj, northwestern Romania, in the second round of Europe/Africa Zone Group II. Marius Copil defeated Amine Ahouda in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 while Adrian Ungur beat Lamine Ouahab, 6-0, 7-6. On Sunday in the men’s doubles Marius Copil and Florin Mergea will be up against Amine Ahouda/ Lamine Ouahab.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan, WTA’s 90th seed, has qualified to the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, after defeating American Danielle Collins, no. 53 in the world, in two sets, 6-2, 6-4. Ana Bogdan will next be up against the competition’s favourite, Garbine Muguruza, no. 3 in the world. (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • April 7, 2018

    April 7, 2018

    HOLY SATURDAY — Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers today observe Holy Saturday or Black Saturday, the day the world prepares for the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. This is the final day of the Holy Week just before Easter. It takes place right after Good Friday and marks the day Jesus’ body was placed into his tomb after dying on the cross. Holy Saturday is also the day of the Easter Vigil, when Christians all across the world will wait in the late evening hours for the resurrection of Christ. Liturgically, Holy Saturday only lasts till 6pm or dusk, after which the Easter Vigil takes over and the Easter days start. In Jerusalem today the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is performing the ritual of the Holy Fire. The Orthodox ritual of the Holy Fire has been performed in Jerusalem every Easter, with a flame miraculously appearing at the darkened tomb of Jesus to symbolise the Resurrection. The miracle occurs every year at the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem, on the Orthodox Easter Saturday. A delegation of the Romanian Patriarchy is in Jerusalem and will bring the holy fire to Romania. The Holy Saturday midnight service will be held in churches across the country, and will start with the ritual of sharing the Holy Fire, a symbol of the spiritual light that Jesus Christ shed over the world through His Resurrection.




    SECURITY MEASURES – Over 50,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry have been mobilised to maintain public order, safety and security across the country at Easter. Gendarme and police troops will be chiefly deployed around churches and other religious institutions. 250 thousand people are expected to attend more than 700 public events that will take place in Romania in the next four days. Traffic police, equipped with more than 300 traffic radars and backed by helicopters, will be monitoring traffic on Romania’s motorways during the Easter days.




    HOLIDAY – Many Romanians have chosen to spend Easter away from home this year but in regions in the country where Easter traditions are still observed. Over 90% of the hotels and guest houses on the Prahova Valley are booked. Tourists are mostly interested in the resorts of Sinaia and Azuga, as winter sports can still be practices there. Bukovia is another region highly appreciated by tourists, especially the villages that are close to monasteries such as Sucevita, Gura Humorului and Putna. Tourists appreciate guesthouses in Bukovina because Easter traditions have been preserved unaltered there and also for the hosts’ hospitality.




    ROMA DAY — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has today conveyed a message on the occasion of the International Roma Day. Iohannis has said that “it’s important to understand the traditions, values, aspirations and needs of the Roma community, in order to find solutions that should have a concrete contribution to the Roma minority members’ social inclusion, while continuing to preserve their cultural identity”. Iohannis has also said that this year, when the 1918 Great Union centennial is celebrated, the contribution of the Roma to our society’s history and diversity must be emphasised. Celebrated every year on April 8th, the International Roma Day is aimed at promoting the community’s cultural values and at signalling the problems facing it.




    OECD – Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu said on Friday in Paris that his countrys accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a way to stimulate domestic reforms. He also said that Romania’s joining OECD would be a natural evolution for this country, after having joined NATO and the EU. The statement was part of a speech that Teodor Melescanu delivered at the OECD meeting dedicated to Romania. Melescanu also held talks with the Organisations’ Secretary General Angel Gurria and with permanent representatives of the member states.




    MARCH – The “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi” Institute for the Romanians abroad, an institution subordinated to the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad jointly with the Lauder-Reut Educational Complex will be staging a March of Holocaust survivors dubbed “Let’s learn together’, in Poland, over April 9-13. The event, which has an educational character and is aimed at teaching students a dramatic episode in history, involves the participation of young people from 52 countries. The Romanian delegation includes students from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.




    FLU – Flu made another victim in Romania on Friday, this time a 71- year old man from the county of Bihor. He had not been vaccinated against the flu virus and was also suffering from other diseases. The death toll is 122 out of almost 17 hundred confirmed flu cases. Nevertheless, the number of respiratory conditions is on the decrease in Romania. Only 78 thousand cases have been reported in the past week across the country, by 20% less than the week before.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan, WTA’s 90th seed, has qualified to the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, after defeating American Danielle Collins, no. 53 in the world, in two sets, 6-2, 6-4. Ana Bogdan will next be up against the competition’s favourite, Garbinie Muguruza, no. 3 in the world.




    HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s handball team CSM Bucharest defeated on Friday in Bucharest the French team Metz, 34-21, in the first round of the Champions League quarter finals. Also on Friday, Vardar Skopje of Macedonia defeated FC Midtjylland of Denmark 24-23. We recall that CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016. (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • April 8, 2016 UPDATE

    April 8, 2016 UPDATE

    The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Friday that the state as well as the society as a whole had to work out solutions to overcome the marginalization of the Roma citizens and to better integrate them. He added that, although through its traditions, the ethnic Roma community gained special cultural identity, Roma citizens are still being discriminated against and their communities continue to be among the poorest and most disadvantaged. The Romanian president also drew attention to the danger posed by ignorance, intolerance, Xenophobia and racism. In turn, the PM Dacian Ciolos, expressed hope that the tendency of some European states to stigmatize the Roma citizens would be overcome. These statements were made on the occasion of the International Roma Day. According to official statistics in Romania there are more than 600 thousand Roma people, being the second largest ethnic minority, after the Hungarian one.



    In 2015 Romania’s GDP registered a real 3.8% growth as compared to the previous year, shows a report published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Friday. The National Forecast Committee has revised up its forecasts on Romania’s economic growth in 2015 to 3.7% and to 4.2% for this year. In turn, the European Commission has improved its estimates on Romania’s economic growth for 2015, 2016 and 2017. According to the new data released in February, the EU executive estimates that Romania’s GDP growth in 2015 was 3.6%, the highest after 2008. In 2016, the GDP is believed to reach a peak of 4.2%, while in 2017 it would go down to 3.7%.



    Romania’s communication and transport infrastructure must be modernized and the people’s IT skills must be strengthened, the European Commissioner for Internal market and industry Elzbieta Bienkowska told a news conference in Bucharest on Friday. She encouraged the Romanian government to increase investment opportunities and EU fund absorption. The European official held talks with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos who briefed her on the government’s main objectives, one of them being the improvement of Romania’s investment climate.



    The Theater Union of Romania- UNITER expressed its deep sadness at the death of the great Romanian actor Mircea Albulescu, aged 81 years old. According to UNITER, Mircea Albulescu was one of the greatest Romanian actors, a university professor who formed many generations of actors. He held a PhD degree in arts, being also a publicist, poet and prose writer. A consummate artist whose career spanned 60 years, Mircea Albulescu performed hundreds of roles on Romania’s stages. He also played memorable roles in more than 70 films and over 300 roles in radio dramas. Among the many prizes he won during his career we can mention the “UNITER Awards for lifetime achievement” in 2005 and the “National Award for the entire artistic activity” granted in 2003 by the Culture Ministry. Mircea Albulescu died on Friday morning due to heart problems.



    Romania’s women’s handball champion team, CSM Bucharest, will meet Saturday, in an away match, the Russian team Rostov Don, in the quarter finals of the Champions League. In the first round, CSM won 26-25. The other Romanian team participating in this stage of the competition, HCM Baia Mare, will play Sunday against the Montenegrin team Buducnost Podgorica. In the first round held in Baia Mare, Buducnost, holder of the trophy, defeated the Romanians 29-24. Romania has the chance to be the only country to be represented by two teams at the Final Four tournament, to be held in Budapest on May 7 and 8.


    (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)