Ion Antonescu

The history of the Jewish people and the Holocaust will be a mandatory subject from 2023 in all high and vocational schools in Romania after parliament's Senate passed a law.

President Klaus Iohannis sent, on Monday, a message on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Fascism and Communism, showing that the rule of law, democratic values, fundamental rights and freedoms have been won at the cost of human lives and must be defended and conveyed to the younger generations.

The Federation of the Romanian Jewish Communities (FCER) organized on Thursday an online commemorative event to pay tribute to the victims of the anti-Jewish legionary pogrom in Bucharest (January 21 - 23, 1941).

At a ceremony hosted by the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Tuesday, President Klaus Iohannis signed a decree promulgating a law on the establishment of the National Museum of Jewish History and the Holocaust in Romania. "I have promulgated this law thinking about history, about present and especially about the future.

A commemorative event in memory of the Jews killed in 1941 in the "death train" took place on Thursday in (southeast) Calarasi, in the presence of some survivors of the pogrom in (northeast) Iasi, who recalled the ordeal they went through in those times.

In an end of term message this Wednesday, outgoing Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu says that he has always assumed both successes and failures, and that the position held at the Foreign Affairs Ministry's helm has given him the chance to serve the interests of Romanians and not those of politicians.

The Romanian military prosecution office has opened a criminal case after more human remains were discovered near a mass grave found in 2010 close to the city of Iasi.

The remains were found on June 29 by experts working for Romania's Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust near Popricani, a small municipality close to Iasi.

Romania's education minister has resigned over a political dispute involving the teaching of the Romanian language in schools serving the country's ethnic Hungarian minority.

The Government on Wednesday passed Romania's military strategy called "Modern armed forces for a strong Romania in Europe and the world."

Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced he will testify on Wednesday at the High Court of Cassation and Justice (Romania's Supreme Court) as a witness in the case of the 2012 referendum for the discharge of then-president Traian Basescu.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE