26-05-2025
Romania's president-elect meets Poland's Tusk and endorses Trzaskowski
The demonstration, organised under the slogan 'Let's save our public health', highlighted the growing public unease over what they see as the privatisation and dismantling of Madrid's public health system.
Organised by the platform 'Vecinas y vecinos de los barrios y pueblos de la Comunidad de Madrid', the protest started simultaneously from four strategic points in the capital.
This mass mobilisation reflects the widespread concern about the current state of public healthcare in the city and the policies implemented by the regional government.
Demonstrators criticised the "unbearable delays in primary care" and the shortage of staff.
The manifesto read during the rally denounced the existence of a million people on waiting lists and "tens of thousands of children without a paediatrician assigned to them" in what is Spain's richest region.
Ricardo Chacón, representative of the organising platform, said the privatisation of health was "not working" and that it was in private economic interests rather than for the benefit of patients.
Luis López, another spokesperson for the group, called for a significant increase in the regional health budget, demanding that at least 25% be earmarked for strengthening primary care.
The organisers emphasised the importance of preventive healthcare as a more economical and effective strategy than focusing resources solely on curative treatments.
This perspective seeks a paradigm shift in health management in Madrid, prioritising the accessibility and quality of primary health care.
The demonstration had a notable representation of left-wing parties and trade unions supporting citizens' demands. Reyes Maroto, Socialist spokesperson in the Madrid City Council, urged support for the "thousands of people who are waiting for a medical appointment" and do not have private insurance as an alternative.
Manuela Bergerot, from Más Madrid, offered concrete data on the regional health crisis: 139,000 children without a paediatrician assigned to them and 625,000 patients without a family doctor.
The political leader directly linked this situation to privatisation policies, specifically denouncing the relationship between the Quirón Group and the personal entourage of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
MEP Irene Montero (Podemos party) added an ethical dimension to the debate, saying that without universal access to quality public healthcare "there is no democracy and no dignity of life".
Montero also referred to controversy over the Quirón Group's contracts with Ayuso's partner, alleging an increase in payments and privatisations coinciding with this personal relationship.
The mobilisation of citizens in defence of Madrid's public health system is evidence of a growing political polarisation around regional health management. While the demonstrators demand a reversal of privatisation policies.
Romanian President-elect Nicusor Dan met Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Sunday, a week before the second round of the presidential election kicks off in Poland.
Two large marches in support of the two leading candidates—Rafał Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki—were set to take place in central Warsaw on Sunday.
Dan, the pro-European mayor of Bucharest, took part in the so-called "Great Patriots March" in support of Civic Coalition candidate Rafal Trzaskowski.
During a speech at the march, Dan stressed that he and Trzaskowski share the same values and priorities. Dan also said that countries cannot develop without a united EU and that he believes in a strong Poland in a strong EU.
He added that, as president of Romania, he would work closely with Rafał Trzaskowski and Tusk.
On 13 May, Romanian presidential candidate, nationalist George Simion, also came to Poland to support Law and Justice or PiS party-backed candidate Karol Nawrocki, Trzaskowski's opponent in the runoff next Sunday. On the same day, a march was held in support of Nawrocki in the Polish capital.
The second round of elections in Poland will take place on 1 June.
Pope Leo XIV declared himself a Roman on Sunday, completing the final ceremonial steps in his role as the bishop of Rome.
Wearing his formal red papal cape and brocaded stole, Pope Leo XIV recalled the words he had uttered from the loggia of St Peter's Basilica on the night of his election. The pontiff quoted St Augustine in saying, 'With you I am Christian, and for you, bishop.'
'By special title, today I can say that for you and with you I am Roman,' Leo said.
Rome's Mayor Roberto Gualtieri welcomed Pope Leo XIV first at the steps to City Hall, noting that his May 8 election fell during a Holy Jubilee year, an event occurring every 25 years to invite pilgrims to Rome.
The city underwent two years of traffic-clogging public works projects to prepare and expects to welcome upward of 30 million people in 2025.
Pope Leo XIV felt a 'serious but passionate responsibility' to serve all Romans during the Holy Year and beyond.
The first US-born pontiff formally took possession of the St John Lateran Basilica, which is Rome's cathedral and seat of the diocese, with an evening Mass attended by Roman priests and faithful.
He then took the popemobile for a visit to St Mary Major, where he prayed before Pope Francis' tomb and an icon of the Virgin Mary beloved to many Roman faithful. Last week, the pontiff visited the St Paul Outside the Walls basilica.
In his homily, Pope Leo XIV said he wanted to listen to them 'in order to learn, understand and decide things together.'
One of the many titles that Pope Leo XIV assumed when he was elected 8 May was bishop of Rome — an honorific derived from the pontiff's role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, the founder of the Church.
The symbolic possession of the four papal basilicas completes his inauguration as the Church's supreme pontiff.
Given his responsibilities running the 1.4 billion-strong universal Catholic Church, the pontiff will likely delegate the day-to-day governance of the diocese of Rome to a vicar.
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV asked for prayers for China's Catholics to be in communion with the Holy See, as he made his first public remarks about one of the thorniest foreign policy issues facing his new pontificate.
The pope recalled that the Catholic Church marked a special feast day on Saturday to pray for the church in China.
Pope Leo XIV noted that on the feast day, 'in the churches and shrines in China and throughout the world, prayers have been raised to God as a sign of the solicitude and affection for Chinese Catholics and their communion with the universal church.'
Speaking from his window during his noontime blessing, Leo prayed that Catholics in China and elsewhere 'obtain the grace to be strong and joyful witnesses of the Gospel, even in the midst of trials, to always promote peace and harmony.'
Pope Leo XIV told the archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow, that he had 'visited China several times and got to know the Chinese culture and reality,' according to the Fides missionary news agency, citing comments Chow made in his diocesan weekly newsletter after the conclave.
Chow added that he expected Pope Leo XIV to follow Pope Francis' direction for the church in China.
He said he had given Pope Leo XIV a small statue of Our Lady of Sheshan, a statue of the Madonna that is particularly venerated by Chinese faithful and is celebrated on the feast day, 24 May.
Chow, a Jesuit, said he had implored Pope Leo XIV 'to not forget the church in China and the Chinese people,' according to the newsletter.
The Vatican has been working for years to try to improve relations with China that were officially severed over seven decades ago when the Communist Party came into power under Mao Zedong.
Relations had long been stymied over China's insistence on its exclusive right to name bishops as a matter of national sovereignty, while the Vatican insisted on the pope's exclusive right to name them as the supreme pontiff of the Church.
