Easter

In a video message delivered on Saturday for the faithful who celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus tonight, but also for the Orthodox community that celebrates Palm Sunday tomorrow, President Klaus Iohannis speaks of the hope of "being together again." "I wish the Roman Catholic, Reformed, Unitarian and Evangelical believers to welcome the Resurrection of the Lord with good health, peace of soul

Today, on April 11th  the Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates the traditional St. Lazar's Day, known here as Lazarovden.

The holiday is celebrated each year on the eight day (last Saturday) before Easter with typical ceremonies called Lazaruvane. The day is a festival devoted to young girls, pastures, fields and woods.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has stated that the measure of prolonging the programme of agro-food markets during the Easter celebrations doesn't mean that the rules are not to be observed anymore, and he made an appeal to the citizens not to relax measures and to strictly observe them, including after the peak of the coronavirus epidemic will be reached and overcome in Romania.

Food stores in Greece will open on Orthodox Palm Sunday (April 12) from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to facilitate customers who want to buy their supplies for Easter, following a decision by Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis.

The world is set for an unusually quiet Easter, with lockdowns imposed across the globe. While the US death toll continues to climb, New York State has seen a fall in patients hospitalized. Follow DW for the latest.

A cake shop employee prepares chocolate Easter bunnies with masks in Lykovrisi, northern Athens, on Wednesday. Cake shops and bakeries in Greece have remained open since the lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus began and are expected to keep working over the holidays.

Due to the extraordinary conditions that will apply this year for the celebration of both Roman Catholic Easter on Sunday, April 12, and Orthodox Easter on April 19, market demand for lambs and goats is expected to decrease significantly.

The government adopted on Monday a request by the Greek Orthodox Church to allow Easter services to be held behind closed doors without a congregation as of Palm Sunday on April 12.

The measure will be in place for one week, until April 20, which is the Orthodox Easter Monday.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said a large part of the Romanians who will be coming home on Sunday, from abroad, risk to be placed under quarantine and spend their Easter there, considering that very many countries are now red on the virus map.

President Klaus Iohannis made an appeal on Friday to the Romanians from abroad not to come home this year for the Easter holidays. Iohannis added this necessary appeal saddens him. "My dear ones, do not come home for Easter this year". "This time, the Resurrection of our Lord finds the entire humanity in a deep crisis.