In the spotlight: in Romania, access to abortion is dwindling

An anti-abortion march, called “Life”, Marche pour la vie is organized in Bucharest, Romania, on Saturday March 23, 2019 (Illustration image).

AP - Andreea Alexandru

Text by: Courrier des Balkans Follow |

Florentin Cassonnet

3 mins

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In Romania, the right to abortion is increasingly threatened, not in law, but in practice: more and more hospitals are closing to abortions, preventing many women from accessing this fundamental right.

In question: the voluntary passivity of the authorities, the hold of the Orthodox Church on the political class, the effective lobbying of pro-life NGOs, a medical profession fleeing its responsibilities and a health system blocking the few people who wish to improve the status of women.

Result: “ 

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With Ukrainian ports blocked by the Russian army, Constanța, the major Romanian city on the Black Sea coast, finds itself

and prevent a global food crisis.

However, the major Romanian port does not seem up to the challenge and is already showing its limits.

Because Constanța is no longer what it was and today suffers from 30 years of a destructive post-communist transition.

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Judicial harassment against exiles in Greece

Nearly 

, accused of "trafficking in human beings" and some are given very heavy sentences.

But on Wednesday, the Samos court acquitted an Afghan refugee, prosecuted for endangering the life of his son, who died in a shipwreck in November 2020. Despite the alerts, the coast guard had taken hours to intervene.

In Moldova, not all refugees from Ukraine are welcomed with the same hospitality: members of the Roma community in Ukraine have to face racism and segregation.

The

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For nearly a year, more than 1,300 Afghans exfiltrated from their country following the takeover by the Taliban have found refuge in Kosovo under an agreement with the United States.

However, this temporary protection is soon to expire and most asylum applications for the United States have been rejected.

The war in Ukraine has driven millions of people into exile.

Ukrainians, but also Russians and Belarusians fleeing the regime of Vladimir Putin and who have found refuge in Serbia, where a community is getting organized.

What do they think of the situation?

How do they experience exile and their departure sometimes without return?

Eva is Russian and has lived in Serbia for several years.

When she learned of the invasion in Ukraine, she felt a part of herself crumble, and then she turned to action.

is the first part of a series of unpublished testimonies.

The End of an Orthodox Schism

The Serbian Orthodox Church

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The decision, which ends 55 years of schism, was announced Tuesday in Skopje by Serbian Patriarch Porfirije after a liturgy of reconciliation, taking the entire Orthodox world by surprise.

But

, refusing that the archbishopric of Ohrid takes the name of Macedonian Church.

For Croatia, the objective is to comply with European directives to achieve 40% renewables in its energy mix by 2030, even if it means turning to China.

In neighboring Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are highly dependent on coal, the green transition is struggling to begin.

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