Ukrainian refugees celebrated their country’s Independence Day at the Bucharest Embassy
More than 150 Ukrainian refugees have celebrated their country’s Independence Day on Thursday evening at Kiev’s Embassy in Bucharest. On August 24 1991, The Supereme Rada of The Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic has adopted Ukraine’s Independence Declaration and as a result the Ukrainian state was formed. The solidarity action at Ukraine’s Embassy in Bucharest was also attended by the United Kingdom and Japan’s sambassadors in Romania, the European Comission Representative and the head of the United States diplomatic mission in Romania. The ceremony was impressive and the attendees held a moment of silence for all the victims of the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Anthem was played, as well as Romania’s Anthem, as a sign of gratitude for all the support that this country has offered to the Ukrainian people.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Romania, Ihor Procopchuc: Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlement, I feel proud and honoured to be here with you at this action of solidarity with Ukraine, on our Independence Day. I wish to thank Romania and the Romanian people for the warm and generous welcome for the Ukrainians who fled the war.
Ukrainian refugees that came to the embassy on Thursday evening were glad to be able to celebrate together and said that they would continue to be strong. „This is my favourite holiday, after my children’s birthdays. I am terrified by the war in Ukraine. My heart is broken, but we are strong, we have our dignity and we know what we are fighting for”, one Ukrainian attendee said.
Five people accused of human trafficking and money laundering in Romania and abroad detained in Ilfov county
Five people were detained in Ilfov county for human trafficking, procuring and money laundering. Using the loverboy method and the promise of a prosperous life, the members of the group convinced 10 people to practice prostitution, both in Romania and abroad. Later, they exerted pressure and physical violence on the victims to continue practicing prostitution. With the money thus procured, the pimps bought several luxury cars, which they resold to hide the illicit origin of the money. The five suspects will be taken to the Bucharest Court with a proposal for preventive arrest.
Romania is among the EU countries with the fewest employees in the cultural sector, according to Eurostat
Romania has the lowest number of employees in the European Union in the cultural sector, relative to the active population – about 1.5% of the total workforce, compared to the average of 3.8 in the EU bloc. Eurostat data published on Thursday show an increase in the number of employees in cultural fields among the countries in the EU in 2022, on average by 4.5% compared to the previous year. Romania has one of the best annual increases in this regard, of 7.5%. The total number of employees in the cultural fields has reached 7.7 million people in the entire European Union, an increase of 300,000 employees compared to the previous year, and they represent 3.8% of the total employees in the EU. This increase is observed in 19 of the Member States. In the first places are countries like Cyprus – plus 21.5%, Luxembourg – plus 14.5% and Ireland – plus 14%. Romania is in 10th place, with 7.5%, while the European average is 4.5%. At this moment, our country has a little over 117,000 employees in the cultural sector. At the opposite end there are eight member states where the number of employees in the cultural field decreased the most: Bulgaria – 7.7%, the Czech Republic – 7.3% and Croatia – 6.3%. Another Eurostat observation is that the number of women employed in the cultural fields has increased constantly since 2013, except for the pandemic year 2020. Therefore, in 2022, the number of women in this field almost equaled that of men, 3, 8 million women, compared to 3.9 million men.
Mădălina Brotăcel, RADOR
