NLP MEP Siegfried Muresan made an ironic message to Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer after wishing “all Orthodox Christians” a Merry Christmas.

“Can someone tell him that not all Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas today?” wrote the vice-president of the EPP group in the European Parliament, thus blaming the error of Karl Nehammer, who wrote on his Facebook page on Friday a message about Christmas for the old rite with which the Chancellor of Austria addressed “all Orthodox Christians”.

Siegfried Muresan believes that the Austrian official should be better informed after the confusion related to the Gregorian calendar with the Julian one.

“The chancellor must prepare himself before speaking. On this topic and on any other,” Mureşan also wrote.

Who celebrates Christmas and New Year in the old way

More than 250 million people celebrate Christmas on January 7 in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro. About 30 million Christians of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Eritrea celebrate Christmas on January 7.

Orthodox Old Believers celebrate Christmas on January 7, since the Julian (or old) calendar is 13 days behind the official one. The Romanian Orthodox Church switched to the new calendar on October 1, 1924. Old Rite Orthodox also celebrate the transition to the new year on the night of January 13 to 14.

Christmas is celebrated in the old style in our communities of Russians, Ukrainians and Serbs, in Moldova, Banat and Dobruja. The winter vacation begins on January 7 for millions of Bessarabians, regardless of whether they live in Romania, the Republic of Moldova or other countries.