Romanian church urges unity for Orthodox churches

Romania's Orthodox Church has called for unity among Orthodox churches after a meeting to discuss a rupture between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

On Oct. 15, the Russian Orthodox Church announced it was severing links to the Constantinople patriarchy after the Istanbul-based patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the "first among equals" of Orthodox church leaders, said he was removing its condemnation of leaders of schismatic Orthodox churches in Ukraine.

That was considered a major step toward granting full recognition to a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been formally under the Russian Orthodox Church since the 1600s.

FILE - In this April 9, 2018 file photo, Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Istanbul, Turkey. Ukraine's president says establishing a local Orthodox church won't prevent Russia-affiliated parishes from being able to operate, but tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists will try to seize Russian church properties. (Mikhail PalinchakPresidential Press Service Pool Photo via AP, File)

In a statement Friday, Romania's Orthodox Church urged the Patriarchies of Moscow and Constantinople to promote "a unity of faith" that would also allow churches pastoral and administrative freedom.

FILE - In this July 27, 2017 file photo, orthodox believers and clergymen march to prayer in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, July 27, 2017, in observance of the holiday marking the adoption of Christianity by what is now Russia and Ukraine in the 10th century. Tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists may try to seize Russian church properties. (AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky)

FILE - In this photo taken Saturday, April 7, 2018 head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Onuphrius, lights believers' candles with fire which was delivered to the Ukrainian capital from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City, traditionally believed to be the burial place of Jesus Christ, after the ceremony of the Holy Fire, during the Easter service in the Monastery of Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. Tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists will try to seize Russian church properties. (AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky, FILE)

FILE - In this May 4, 2004 file photo, a full moon rises above the golden domes of the Orthodox Monastery of the Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. Tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists will try to seize Russian church properties.(AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, July 27, 2008 file photo, The thousand-year-old Monastery of Caves, the holiest site of Eastern Orthodox Christians, against the background of the Dnipro River, in Kiev, Ukraine. Tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists may try to seize Russian church properties. (AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky, FILE)

FILE - In this Thursday Oct. 11, 2018 file photo, Patriarch Filaret, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, conducts a service at the Volodymysky Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine. Tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists may try to seize Russian church properties. (AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky, FILE)

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily halt most U.S. tariffs, but she did not say whether the European Union intends to press ahead with its own retaliatory measures.

“I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE,” Trump said, after recognizing the more than 75 countries that he said have been negotiating on trade and had not retaliated against his latest increases in tariffs. Countries subject to the pause will now be tariffed at 10%. The EU's rate was 20%, but it was not entirely clear how the 27-nation bloc would be impacted.

China was not included. Trump further jacked up the tax rate on Chinese imports to 125%.

Von der Leyen described the halt on reciprocal tariffs as “an important step towards stabilizing the global economy. Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function.”

Before Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, EU member countries voted to approve retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to his 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The EU, the largest trading partner of the U.S., described them as “unjustified and damaging.”

The tariffs are set to go into effect in stages, some on April 15 and others on May 15 and Dec. 1. The EU commission didn’t immediately provide a list of the goods. The bloc’s top trade official has shuttled between Brussels and Washington for weeks trying to head off a conflict.

But Von der Leyen gave no sign that the EU’s timetable has changed. Spokesman Olof Gill noted that the commission “will now take the necessary time to assess this latest development, in close consultation with our member states and industry, before deciding on next steps.”

Members of the EU – the world’s largest trading bloc – repeated their preference for a negotiated deal to settle trade issues, and von der Leyen underscored that commitment, “with the goal of achieving frictionless and mutually beneficial trade.”

Still, the head of the EU’s executive branch – which negotiates trade deals and disputes on behalf of the member countries – said that Europe intends to diversify its trade partnerships.

She said that the EU will continue “engaging with countries that account for 87% of global trade and share our commitment to a free and open exchange of goods, services, and ideas,” and to lift barriers to commerce inside its own single market.

“Together, Europeans will emerge stronger from this crisis,” von der Leyen said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stands prior to a meeting with Iceland's Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

The NYK Meteor container ship is moored at the Port of Los Angeles, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)