Radio România Internațional

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  • The Romanian Revolution Narrated to Young People

    The Romanian Revolution Narrated to Young People

     

    December is the month when, since 1989, Romanians have commemorated the fall of the communist regime, a regime that had trampled their rights, freedoms and their very essence as human beings for almost half a century. They commemorate that December 1989 because the return to normality was achieved through bloodshed, as the communist regime exited history through violence, just as it had emerged.

     

    As time passes and emotions cool down, people become able to look at those events with a clearer eye, and the younger generations of Romanians look at December 1989 with the curiosity and the detachment of those who have not been directly affected by it.

     

    It is worrying that many young people today lack an accurate picture of the political regime that the young people of 1989 threw into the dustbin of history, and even worse, that they say they see no problem with living during those times. But the young people of 1989 try to shed light on the significance of what they did, for today’s generations to better understand what their grandparents and parents had gone through.

     

    The historian and writer Alina Pavelescu, a member of the generation that made the 1989 revolution, wrote a book on “The 1989 Revolution Narrated to Those Who Haven’t Lived It.” We asked her if there was a message that the 1989 generation managed to convey to the future generations:

     

    Alina Pavelescu: “Obviously, we should have done it, and we should have found the meaning of what happened to us in the last 35 years. But we haven’t managed to do it so far, and we can only hope that we will be wiser from now on. I could only offer my personal testimony, as a person for whom this topic is still emotionally loaded, even 35 years later. And it is precisely this emotional burden, which all of us who witnessed the 1989 Revolution directly still carry, this emotional burden is what prevents us from seeing things clearly. But, at least, we can tell our stories honestly, so that people younger than us understand how the 1989 Revolution changed their lives for the better, and so that they find meaning in it for us, if we cannot do it.”

     

    Alina Pavelescu felt that she had something to say to today’s and tomorrow’s generations about the year 1989. And she chose to do this in a book:

     

    Alina Pavelescu: “I set out first and foremost to stimulate critical thinking in young people. I realize that they are presented with different stories and different versions and that, probably, they are wondering where the truth is, among all these versions. And so, the first thing I did was to present to them all the theories and hypotheses that I identified in the revolution narratives, with their arguments for and against. But, I admit, in the epilogue of this book I could not help but tell them specifically that the Revolution of 1989 was, indeed, a revolution because it radically changed all of our lives. We owe the freedom of the last 35 years to this event, even if we did not really know what to do with this freedom and we have always had the feeling that someone stole it from under our noses. But even so, the fact that we have it, that we have not yet lost it, is something we owe to the Revolution of 1989 and to the people who sacrificed themselves then, those who sat down in front of the rifles in the street, those who died.”

     

    Combining the talent of a writer and the skills of a historian, Alina Pavelescu wrote about the year 1989, confronting conflicting views and blending professional requirements, personal memories and value judgments.

     

    Alina Pavelescu: “A historian should provide a coherent and true story, or at least as close to the truth as possible, as close as possible to the intersection of the truth of certain events. It is not for historians to give lectures, necessarily, or not necessarily lectures beyond the personal example that we all have the right to use. But I fear that in Eastern Europe and in Romania, where history is all too often the terrain of political struggles in which identities and the way we define our identities are constantly the subject of political competitions, historians will never truly manage to stay in their ivory tower. And so, if this is the context in which we live, I think the most honest thing for us is to acknowledge this context and try to do things as well as possible from our perspective and within this context. I do not think that we should close ourselves in the ivory tower, I do not think the ivory tower is a realistic option. At the same time, we should not let others transform our subject, namely history, into just a battlefield in which politicians fight.”

     

    No matter how much time passes and regardless of perceptions, the year 1989 will remain a year of grace. It is, like it or not, the boundary between what is detestable and what is good in this world. (AMP)

  • Baccademia: the baccalaureate exam for everybody

    Baccademia: the baccalaureate exam for everybody

    The 2024 session of the baccalaureate exam in Romania has seen the highest promotion rate in the last decade, accounting for 76.4%. Notwithstanding, the maturity exam has been frightening for many of the candidates. Reason enough for a couple of students in Cluj, central Transylvania, to have an initiative meant to make the experience easier for those colleagues who were lass lucky. The students successfully passed the baccalaureate exam with high grades and started Baccademia, a project that seeks to help candidates pass the baccalaureate exam with no trouble at all.

    Bianca Ionescu is the founder of the Baccademia project. Here is what she told us:

    “Our story actually began as early as 2022. That year I passed the baccalaureate exam, with a 10 in History and a 9.80 grade in the Romanian Language and literature test. Even though I competed in the National Romanian Language and Literature Olympiad ever since secondary school and I still competed all throughout the high school years, I was still stressed out as a 12th-grade, senior high-school pupil since the baccalaureate exam was drawing near. And then, having taken the exam, I opted for digitizing the materials I myself had been structuring.

    It took me a good six months to structure the subject matters all by myself. In 2022 I started helping pupils online. I shared those materials, free of charge, on an Instagram account and practically the generation that passed the exam in 2023 was the first one I helped. And then the idea of Baccademia began to take shape only when the pupils sent me their Baccalaureate exam grades. For instance, of the roughly 3,000 pupils I helped, most of them passed the exam with a grade above 9.50. Some of them even got a neat 10. There even were people who got very high grades having sat in for the exam 10 or 20 years later in life! And, practically, that very moment I realized my materials did have a positive impact on them.”

    Bianca Ionescu has been a high-school student until recently. Here is what she went on to say:

    “Pupils got fed up with bulky books, with a typical black-and-white print and full of details that were not required for the baccalaureate exam, and I could understand their frustration since I had been there before. We’re in a country where we can nonetheless see the situation ahead of the exams did not change that much, it does not improve as against the previous years. 10 months have passed since I founded Baccademia and we make the difference, somehow, as our team is only made of students who got a 10 in the baccalaureate exam or in some of the subject matters. And, also, all our collections are coloured and synthetic. It also includes, for instance, pieces of advice, solved tests or jokes, sometimes, jokes today’s generation is sure to understand very clearly. “

    Irina Selagea is the author of the Geography handbook. Also, she is responsible for the interactive videos on the social media. I asked her what Baccademia was, for her:

    “I am the kind of person who likes to help and I am keen on bringing in a new perspective when it comes to learning for the baccalaureate exam, since most of the people think it is just a test for which you only have to swot. But I should like to come up with the idea and the solution that any baccalaureate test could be passed with flying colours only though understanding, through jokes and in a much funnier way, rather than resorting to pricey materials or to very long materials. I have come up with the solution for the Generation Z pupils, who somehow have a different understanding of how to learn for certain subject matters. And I just wanted to bring in a new version, in a bid to motivate pupils, perhaps to read Romanian literature in an off-the-beaten-track way “.

    In terms of feedback, the Baccademia team has told us several pupils confessed that with the help of these materials, they could memorize the entire content of a subject matter that was taught in one class, in one minute

    As for the team, they continue their work! Bianca Ionescu:

    We’re still in short supply of the IT, Chemistry and Physics exercise books, and that’s what we’re working won at the moment. They will be brought out sometime in September, in mid-month, we hope. Our success, to a great extent, is provided by the Tik Tok platform. It is there that we’ve gained our popularity with the clips we created using AI, for instance. We’ve so far gathered 1,000,000 views all told, in our account. “

    We can only wish candidates to be efficient in their learning efforts, now that everything has become easier for them.

  • On Romanians, from a different perspective

    On Romanians, from a different perspective

     

    A book has been released recently, first in French and a few years later in Romanian as well, in which the French writer Christine Colonna-Cesari, who has been living in Romania for a while, guides readers towards in-depth knowledge of our country in “Ils sont fous ces roumains! L Eldorado Roumain!”.

     

    Romania has been known internationally as the country where many Europeans took shelter in the interwar period. Christine Colonna-Cesari, who came to Romania after she retired in 2018, told us more about the perception foreigners have of our country:

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “In 2018 I decided to leave France and retire in Romania, because it was a country and a culture that I had long known and appreciated. My plan was to carry on my work as a writer and book editor, I have several books selling in France. I had long intended to put together a nice album showcasing the beauty of Romania, which is still little known in France, where rather stupid stereotypes about this still exist. And I wrote this book in 2019, and then I managed to have it published in Romanian as well.”

     

    What does a foreigner find surprising when reaching Bucharest?

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “It is quite surprising, first of all, as I already mentioned, the signs are very different from the ones in France, so it’s quite easy to get lost. Street names and numbers are not easy to see, there are no big signs everywhere, but as far as I could see for Romanians this is not a problem. They are used to it. And there are also other surprising things, which make a big difference. One thing that may seem like a detail is the practice of giving people their change when shopping. When a retailer doesn’t have the right coins to give back to a buyer, they don’t see it as a big deal, and this is something you don’t see in France. For instance, if you want to buy something and you don’t have all the small change you need or the retailer doesn’t have it, it’s not a problem, everything is business as usual. You don’t see that in France, and the first time this happened to me here I asked the clerk for the change, and they were not happy. So it took some time for me to realise that this is part of the local customs. One other aspect is Romanians’ space-time management, which is completely different from the way the French do it. Here, people live more outside time, so their commitments related to appointments, dates, times get changed completely at the last minute. And for the French visitors who are not used to this, it is rather disturbing and annoying. But we get used to it and eventually come to understand that this is how things are done here. So these are the first shocks, mainly.”

     

    In spite of this, once the initial shock wears off, Christine Colonna-Cesari says the country is charming:

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “After that, adjustment is quite easy. I speak English, and most Romanians are very good English speakers, so this helped me a lot. Secondly, the people are very nice and welcoming. You don’t see here the social violence that we have in France so I had no problems adjusting. I would like people to remember what I tried to express in this book. The depths of Romanians’ souls, the depths of their sensibility and creativity. To my mind, Romanians are more drawn to the spiritual than the French are. Romanians are a very artistically inclined nation. You can see more colours here than in France. People have a relationship with nature, with flowers, for instance, they have a fantastic relationship with flowers. I’m always surprised to meet men in the street with huge flower bouquets, you don’t see that in France. Romanians are also a very polite nation, there are small details that may seem insignificant but when you come from France you notice that people don’t push you at the underground or in the street, as they do in France. Public areas are clean, which is not the case in Paris, in particular. It’s like going back in time, in the ‘60s in France, a long-gone gentleness and a certain quality of life, the respect and civilisation that we lost in France and that I’ve come to find here.”

     

    We also asked Christine Colonna-Cesari about the French-speaking readers’ response to her book:

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “The book was met with surprise and enthusiasm. Everybody says, I had never imagined this is what Romania is like, thank you for showing us Romania from this perspective. Overall, the response is a mix of enthusiasm, congratulations and amazement. People open their hearts and they want to come share these experience, and many of them actually do that. I have French friends who told me, ‘what you describe here is 1960s France, the same respect and gentle way of living.’ But my book is a lot more than that. I am a very observant person, and I tend to think about what happened in the past and make connections with history. Western Europeans rarely understand what Eastern Europe is about, what its values are. They don’t realise this, so they make judgements based on their own criteria, and I would like these values to go beyond borders, to help them understand the foundations of human culture in the past few centuries.”

     

    Apart from the writer’s experiences in Romania, the book also comprises a second part, made up of reports with 220 lovely photos documenting encounters with exceptional people doing exceptional things. (AMP)

  • Romanians and their reading habits

    Romanians and their reading habits

    “The only thing you need to know is to be able to find your way to the library.” The quotation is attributed to Albert Einstein. It was a real encouragement for people to read. Yet people have stopped reading just as much, ever since high-tech has become so very accessible. Scrolling up on your cell phone screen, continuously, for hours on end, sometimes, steals people the time which is precious for themselves…and that time never returns.

     

    The cell phone empties our lives of what is the most precious thing for us : time, quality time, a time we spend with our nearest and dearest, a time we should use to learn, to develop as human beings endowed with superior intelligence.

     

    There once was a time when the books, banned by then the communist regime, succeeded to sidestep the system and reach the people, who were reading them avidly. At present, when we have all sorts of book at our fingertips and access to the printed books has never been easier, we opt for being glued to the screens of our cell phones instead of reading. Perhaps this is one of the paradoxes the modern man has to face: if something is like a forbidden fruit for someone, they will try their best to go and get it; give them free access to that particular something and people will lose interest in it.

     

     

    In a world where the habit of reading is on the wane, the Romanians are among those who read rather less. In 2023, the book sales turnover in Romania exceeded 6 million Euro, yet this apparently impressive figure is by far outweighed by Germany, where the book sales turnover in 2023 stood at 9 billion euros. Besides, if you buy a book, that does not necessarily mean you are going to read it…However, that shows you have a smidgen of interest in reading.

     

    In Romania, the people who read, read a lot and constantly, while those who do not read…do not read anything at all. There people who can live quite all right without reading a single line!

     

    Alina Ilioi Mureșan is the PR of Bookzone, the publishers who can brag about being able to arouse the interest of many Romanians with an appetite for reading. She tells us that, nonetheless, the Romanians with an appetite for reading buy a lot of books.

     

    “The Romanian book market is continuously growing, wheel the genres read by the Romanians are ever more diverse. Of course, I am happy when I see Romanians who orders books, who read printed matter and who are thrilled with the prospects of having their own bookcase. I believe last year was a very good one in every respect, in terms of sales but also as regards an editorial plan. Romanians read a lot about personal development and books where they can find out how they can improve their lives in any respect. They are interested in the health of the brain, in healthy diets, in emotional of psychological balance. Also, the geopolitical books are extremely sought-after, considering the context and the times we’re living. The least present, as far as we’re concerned, on their purchase lists were the fantasy books, although, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow has nonetheless enjoyed a tremendous success. However, by and large, the Romanians are not that keen on reading fiction any longer. Not OUR readers, at least. »

     

    However, it appears that the preference towards certain genres differs, from one generation to the next. The Silent Generation (those born between 1928 and 1945) prefers the Classic literature, the Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) chose thrillers, the X Generation (those born between 1960 and 1980) prefers contemporary classics, biographies, but also science fiction (it is, actually, the generation that reads the most, and whose reading is the most diversified) the Y Generation or the Millenials (1981 – 1996) prefers contemporary literature, while the Z Generation (1997 – 2012) prefers the fantasy genre, personal development, entrepreneurship.

     

    As regards the interest for reading, Alina Ilioi Mureșan believes it is growing, considering the book sales:

     

    “The book market this year is continuously growing. Of course, that is, however, hard to predict. The experience that I’ve had tells me many times we’re highly likely to be taken by surprise, according to certain circumstances. ”

     

    If we have a closer look at the figures, it appears that, notwithstanding, the Romanians are not among those who are the last to open a book. So we’re not completely lagging behind when it comes to reading?

     

    Alina Ilioi Muresan gives us a couple of reasons why we should be optimistic:

     

    ” I do not believe that. I find it impossible to believe, as every day I run into the number of books ordered by Romanians and I do not think they read the least in Europe. Certainly, the Romanians order the books to read them, and not to put them away so that a layer of dust sets on them. Is it, nonetheless, a financial investment, an effort they make. Yes, the Romanians read, and they read a lot. “

  • November 27, 2023 UPDATE

    November 27, 2023 UPDATE

    WEATHER Severe weather caused
    fresh problems in Romania, where heavy snowfalls and snowstorms affected 177 localities in 22 counties, according to the National Inspectorate for Emergencies. More than 660 vehicles were snowed under and over 540 trees were
    brought down by the wind. The most affected region was the east of the country,
    where roads were closed, railway traffic was disrupted and electricity and
    water supply discontinued. The Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport
    (south-east) was closed, and so were the Black Sea ports on the Romanian coast.
    Schools were also closed down in 5 counties in the south-east.


    BUDGET The government will continue this week to work
    on the state budget for 2024. The main challenges are related to pension
    increases and large-scale investments. PM Marcel Ciolacu says the new pension
    law is sustainable and that next year’s budget will be able to increase
    pensions twice, on January 1st by 13.8 percent and then until September 1st.
    Carrying on large investment projects is the priority of the government for 2024
    as well, the finance minister Marcel Boloş said. According to him, the budget
    of the education ministry will be increased significantly next year, especially
    in order to fund the investment projects included in the National Recovery and Resilience
    Plan. This budget must also cover the salary increase that the government
    promised in order to end an all-out strike in June.


    RECYCLING The first regional sorting centre for packaging was opened
    in Bonţida, north-western Romania, as part of the Packaging Guarantee and
    Return System to become operational as of November 30. A total of 17 such
    centres will be opened across the country in the forthcoming period. The
    environment minister Mircea Fechet explained that around 7 bln glass and
    plastic bottles as well as aluminium cans will reach recycling facilities, and
    promised that Romania will switch from storing to recycling.


    INVESTIGATION President Klaus Iohannis submitted prosecution
    requests concerning 2 former health ministers, Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana
    Mihăilă (USR party), to the justice ministry. The two are probed into for abuse
    of office with respect to the procurement of vaccines during the COVID-19
    pandemic, in a case in which the former PM Florin Cîţu is also facing charges
    of complicity to abuse of office. The latter, accompanied by his lawyers, appeared
    before the Senate’s judicial committee to review the case file against him. Cîţu,
    currently a senator with the National Liberal Party, said he would request
    Senate to suspend his parliamentary immunity. A decision in this respect will
    be made on Wednesday.


    GAUDEAMUS In Bucharest, almost 100,000 people visited the 30th
    edition of the Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair, which ended on Sunday evening
    with the awarding of trophies. The most coveted book of the Gaudeamus Fair was
    designated More than the past, by Ana Blandiana, from the Humanitas
    Publishing House. Also by public vote, Humanitas, Litera and Polirom were
    designated the best publishing houses of this year’s fair. The prize for
    translation from Romanian into a foreign language was won by Şerban Foarţă for
    the volume of bilingual Romanian-German poems Schlimmericks, and
    the prize for translation from a foreign language into Romanian was awarded to
    Alexandra Coliban for the translation from English of the novel
    Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen. The Book Fair hosted over 500
    publishing events over five days. The honorary president of the edition was the
    writer and literary critic Ion Bogdan Lefter.

  • November 22, 2023 UPDATE

    November 22, 2023 UPDATE

    VISIT The president of Romania
    Klaus Iohannis Wednesday visited the UNESCO Heritage-listed Island
    of Gorée in Senegal, and had talks with the officials of the House of Slaves,
    now a museum. Mr. Iohannis said that Romania
    will support the efforts of Senegal’s Association for the Protection of Children
    with Mental Disabilities to ensure a better life for these children. On
    Thursday the Romanian official is to be received by his counterpart Macky Sall.
    Thursday’s agenda also includes participation in the opening of the United Nations
    House in Senegal, the opening of a traditional mask exhibition and a meeting
    with Senegalese experts who have studied in Romania. Senegal concludes the
    Romanian president’s 10-day tour in Africa, which also included Kenya, Tanzania
    and Cabo Verde.


    MILITARY Eurofighter aircraft
    from Germany arrived in Romania on Wednesday, at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base
    in the south-east of the country, in an enhanced air policing mission (Air
    Policing South), the German Embassy in Bucharest announced. In the previous
    weeks, large-scale preparations were conducted for the deployment of the German
    contingent of 150 troops. Four Eurofighter jets will be operational as of
    November 27, strengthening the air defence of NATO’s south-eastern flank.


    GAUDEAMUS The
    Gaudeamus Radio Romania International Book Fair opened its doors in Bucharest
    on Wednesday. It is one of the most eagerly awaited cultural events of the fall,
    reaching its 30th edition. Until Sunday, more than 500 releases and editorial
    events will take place at the fair. The longest-running book fair in the
    country gathers this year almost 200 participants, mainly publishing houses,
    but also educational, cultural and press institutions.


    ISRAEL The European Union, the US and Russia
    welcomed the deal for the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza, over a four-day
    ceasefire. The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said
    the Commission would use the truce to send as much humanitarian aid as possible
    to the Palestinian population in Gaza. In turn, the EU foreign policy chief,
    Josep Borrell, spoke about the European bloc’s willingness to get involved in finding
    a long-term solution to the conflict through the creation of a Palestinian
    state. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the Israeli government have
    agreed on a 4-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 50 Israeli women and
    children in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. The deal was brokered by Qatar.
    Hamas took around 240 hostages, including children and old people, during its
    attack on Israel in which another 1,200 people were killed according to Israeli
    sources. In turn, Hamas reported at least 13,300 Palestinians were killed in
    subsequent air strikes and the invasion of Gaza by the Israeli forces.



    BUDGET The 2024 EU budget was endorsed by the European Parliament convened
    in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The chief negotiator was the Romanian MEP Siegfried
    Mureşan. The EU budget currently stands at EUR 189 bln. According to Siegfried
    Mureşan, there are enough resources now to finance the European Union’s
    traditional priorities, such as the cohesion policy and the common agricultural
    policy. In these areas, Romania receives most of its non-reimbursable
    allocations. (AMP)

  • November 21, 2023

    November 21, 2023


    VISIT The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis today starts an official visit to Senegal, the last stage of his African tour. The agenda includes, among other things, a visit to the Senegalese association for the protection of children with mental disabilities, based in Dakar, a visit to the UNESCO Heritage-listed island of Gorée on Wednesday, and official talks with Senegals president Macky Sall on Thursday. President Iohannis African tour also included visits to Kenya, Tanzania and Cabo Verde.



    BUDGET The leaders of the Social Democratic Party and of the National Liberal Party in Romanias ruling coalition are holding talks today on the 2024 state budget law, which should be endorsed by December 10. According to government sources, the PM Marcel Ciolacu intends to adjust the method of earmarking ministry budgets, with appropriations granted based on programmes and projects. The participants will also discuss the replacement of the directors of agencies subordinated to the finance ministry, except for the Fiscal Administration Agency, and the reorganisation of these agencies in order to improve their operation. Also today, a meeting is scheduled between government officials, trade unions and employers associations. The head of the Romanian SME Association, Florin Jianu, says unions are expected to demand an increase of minimum wages as of January 1, 2024, but he says the business environment is unable to cope with a new increase after the one operated in October.



    ISRAEL The Senate and Chamber of Deputies are holding a secret meeting today, focusing on recent developments and the situation in Israel. The joint meeting was suggested by the MP representing the Jewish community in Romania, Silviu Vexler. Journalists are denied access to the meeting, and audio and video recording or live posts are prohibited.



    FAIR The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania, begins in Bucharest on Wednesday. The event marks 95 years since the first broadcast of Radio Romania, 30 editions of the Gaudeamus Book Fair in Bucharest and over 140 national and local editions. Some 200 participants will organise more than 500 events as part of this years fair, which will come to an end on November 26. (AMP)


  • December 9, 2022

    December 9, 2022

    SCHENGEN Romania’s and Bulgaria’s bid to join the Schengen
    free-movement area may be included on the agenda of the European Council
    meeting next week, at the request of the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis,
    political sources in Bucharest said. I am convinced we will reach the
    accession of Romania and Bulgaria during this mandate and this will be my
    priority, Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, said in
    her turn. The statement comes after on Thursday at the EU Justice and Home
    Affairs Council meeting, Austria opposed Romania’s entry.


    AMBASSADOR The
    Romanian foreign ministry announced that following Austria’s veto regarding
    Romania’s Schengen accession, the country’s ambassador to Vienna, Emil
    Hurezeanu, was recalled for consultations by minister Bogdan Aurescu. The
    embassy will be headed by an interim charge d’affairs. According to diplomatic procedure,
    the decision is an indication of Romania’s firm disagreement with Austria’s
    position and also of the deterioration of current relations with that country.


    BUDGET The draft state budget
    and social security budget of Romania were passed by the government and have
    been forwarded to Parliament for discussion. The ministries set to receive more
    funding include the defence, agriculture, transport, development and education.
    Less money than this year will be earmarked for energy, judiciary and public
    healthcare. The two bills also stipulate a 10% increase in public sector
    salaries, a 12.5% increase in pension point value and an increase of the
    national minimum wage to approx. EUR 610 per month. AUR party in opposition
    already announced it would table amendments because it disagreed with the draft
    budget.


    WORKERS Another 100,000 non-EU citizens will be given access to the
    Romanian labour market next year. The figure decided by the government is
    similar to the one approved for 2022, and it is intended to cover the labour
    deficit in sectors like constructions, hospitality, protection and guard
    services, road transport and trade.


    INVESTMENTS Net investments in the Romanian economy in the 3rd
    quarter of the year reached EUR 8 bln, up 13.3% compared to the corresponding
    quarter of last year, according to unaudited data made public by the National
    Statistics Institute today. For the first 9 months of the year, the figure is
    around EUR 19 bln, up 4.5% since 2021. Major increases were reported in
    constructions and heavy industry. According to the National Statistics
    Institute, net investments are expenditure incurred with creating new fixed
    assets or with developing, upgrading and rebuilding existing ones, and with the
    transfer of ownership on existing fixed assets.


    GAUDEAMUS The 29th edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair organised by Radio
    Romania is under way in Bucharest until Sunday. The event brings together 200
    participants and a variety of editorial products on different formats, for all
    ages and areas of interest, including music and educational games. The line-up
    features 600 different events and related projects. As a first, the fair also
    has special areas dedicated to interactive activities for young visitors. All
    stands are also available online on the gaudeamus.ro website. The fair’s
    honorary president this year is poet Ana Blandiana.


    FOOTBALL The FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar has reached the
    quarter-final stage. Two matches are scheduled for today, pitting Croatia
    against Brazil and the Netherlands against Argentina. On Saturday, Morocco
    takes on Portugal and England is facing France. (AMP)

  • December 8, 2022 UPDATE

    December 8, 2022 UPDATE

    SCHENGEN The EU Justice and Home Affairs Council Thursday
    denied Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen free movement area,
    with 2 votes against. Accession requires a unanimous vote. Of the 27 member
    countries, the Netherlands and Austria voted against, with the former specifying
    that it only opposed Bulgaria’s accession. Austria argued that it feared an
    increase in illegal migration. Croatia, on the other hand, received the green
    light for accession on January 1, 2023. The European Commissioner for home
    affairs, Ylva Johansson, congratulated Croatia on its accession and said
    Bulgaria and Romania also deserved to be accepted. In Bucharest, the president Klaus
    Iohannis said the lack of consensus regarding Romania’s bid was profoundly
    unfair. The Liberal PM Nicolae Ciucă said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ and
    emphasised that Austria’s vote was ‘unjustified’. The president of the Social
    Democratic Party in power, Marcel Ciolacu, said the European unity and
    stability had received a harsh blow from Austria, which in difficult times
    chose to forsake its European friends and serve Russia’s interests instead. Austria’s
    veto to Romania’s Schengen accession is an unfair and immoral attitude, lacking
    solid reasons, the deputy PM and leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic
    Hungarians in Romania Kelemen Hunor said in his turn. In the opposition, the
    president of USR party, Cătălin Drulă, sees the JHA Council’s decision as ‘profoundly
    unfair’, and argues that the Austrian government’s position will go down in
    history as an instance of discrimination. In turn, George Simion the head of AUR
    party, also in opposition, defines the decision as a ‘failure of Romania’s current
    government and of president Klaus Iohannis’.


    FARMERS Romanian farmers will benefit from around 16 billion
    euros under the strategic plan for 2023-2027 approved on Wednesday by the
    European Commission. Some 10 billion euros account for direct payments and
    sectoral interventions, while 6 billion will be allocated to rural development.
    Romania’s agriculture minister Petre Daea said the plan also includes an
    instrument to support farmers who suffered losses as a result of natural
    disasters, with 400 million euros being earmarked to this end.


    REFUGEES The Border Police said almost 65,500 people crossed
    the border into Romania on Wednesday, including more than 7,300 Ukrainian
    nationals, down 1.2% compared with the previous day. Since 10th February 2022,
    two weeks before the Russian army invaded Ukraine, more than 3 million
    Ukrainians have crossed the border into neighbouring Romania. Most of them have
    continued their journey to countries in western Europe, but over 80,000 have
    chosen to stay, according to official figures.


    GAUDEAMUS The 29th edition of the Gaudeamus Book Fair
    organised by Radio Romania is under way in Bucharest until Sunday. The event
    brings together 200 participants and a variety of editorial products on
    different formats, for all ages and areas of interest, including music and
    educational games. The line-up features 600 different events and related
    projects. As a first, the fair also has special areas dedicated to interactive
    activities for young visitors. All stands are also available online on the
    gaudeamus.ro website. The fair’s honorary president this year is poet Ana
    Blandiana. (AMP, CM)

  • Gaudeamus Radio Romania

    Gaudeamus Radio Romania

    The most famous book fair in Romania returns in a physical format, after two years of pandemic. The 29thedition of the Gaudeamus fair, organized by Radio Romania, has opened in Bucharest. Until Sunday, 200 participants offer the public an extremely varied range of editorial products, on different supports, suitable for all ages and fields of interest, music and educational games. More than 600 editorial events have been announced, including book launches, debates, autograph sessions, performances and workshops as well as other projects.



    For the first time, two spaces dedicated to interactive activities for the youngest visitors have been set up within the fair. The honorary president of this year’s edition is the writer Ana Blandiana, who said that such an event helps readers and authors discover each other. She spoke about the importance of the public radio station, as organizer of the event.



    Ana Blandiana: I think that, even from the very first time I went to a Gaudeamus fair, when the fair consisted in only a few tables with books in the foyer of the Radio Concert Hall, I thought to myself: what a wonderful idea the people at the Radio had to start a book fair, for the simple reason that book fairs are generally organized by publishers, associations, publishers who are interested in organizing them, in order to sell their books. Well, Radio Romania has no interest of this kind, it is, in this sense, the most soulful fair, if I can say so. Actually, I was even asked in a radio interview: what is the difference, in your opinion, between the Gaudeamus Fair and other fairs? I had never thought of that aspect, and I remembered this thought from the beginning, that it is a fair that has no material interests, that the Radio is just a great cultural institution and that the basis of culture is reading. So, the only interest of the Radio is for people to read books.



    The role of books increased during this period full of turmoil – says, for his part, the president general director of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Răzvan Dincă: Probably in these moments, with all the threats at Romanias border, with what is happening near us, with what has happened in the last three years with this terrible pandemic, which has affected the entire world, people feel the pain and try to find comfort also in reading books, and if they do not have access to other forms of comfort such as art, culture, in written form or otherwise that could alleviate this pain, I think that books have an even more important role.



    All the stands of this year’s edition of the fair can also be found in virtual format on the gaudeamus.ro website. The book fair initiated and organized by Radio Romania is financed by the Ministry of Culture, and entry is free. (LS)

  • December 7, 2022

    December 7, 2022

    BUDGET
    The finance ministry has made public the draft state budget of Romania for next
    year. The document is based on an estimated GDP growth of 2.8%, an 8% inflation
    rate, a growing number of employees and a declining 2.7% unemployment rate. The
    ministries set to receive less money include the energy, justice and public
    healthcare, whereas the defence, development, transport and education
    ministries will receive substantially higher budget appropriations. The ruling
    coalition made up of the Social Democrats, and Liberals and the Democratic
    Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania intends to endorse the draft budget tomorrow
    and send it to Parliament the next day, for discussion next week.


    SECURITY Romania has constantly worked to
    identify solutions to enhance security at the Black Sea, the Romanian foreign
    minister Bogdan Aurescu said in Ankara on Tuesday, when he had
    a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mervlut Cavusoglu. The two officials
    discussed the best avenues for cooperation, both at bilateral level and within
    the NATO framework. They finalised and agreed on the text of the political
    declaration setting up the Romania – Turkey High Level Strategic Cooperation
    Council, organised as a regular meeting of the two countries’ governments and
    focusing on strategic areas of mutual interest, which will be launched in 2023.
    Another topic approached in the meeting was cooperation in the energy sector,
    recognised by both officials as a priority, particularly in light of the recent
    challenges. An agreement was reached to strengthen joint efforts to ensure the
    security of Romania’s energy supplies by transiting Turkish territory. Also,
    the multidimensional effects of the war in Ukraine have been analysed, with
    special attention paid to the refugee crisis and food security.


    JUSTICE The Romanian justice minister Cătălin Predoiu will
    take part in the meetings of the Justice and Home Affair Council and General
    Affairs Council of the European Union, between December 7th and 14th.
    According to a JHA Council news release, on the sidelines of the two meetings the
    justice minister will also have meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg with
    counterparts from other member countries and EU officials. At the JHA Council
    Mr. Predoiu will present Romania’s position with respect to the EU judicial
    instruments and policies in the judiciary currently on the Council’s agenda. The
    home affairs section of the Council is scheduled to make a decision regarding
    the accession of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia to the Schengen area.

    ECONOMY The GDP of the European Union saw a 0.4% growth and
    that of the Euro-zone a 0.3% increase in the 3rd quarter of this
    year compared to the previous quarter, with the most substantial growth rates
    reported for Ireland, Cyprus, Malta and Romania, according to data released on
    Wednesday by Eurostat. The economic growth rate in Ireland was 2.3%, and in
    Cyprus, Malta and Romania 1.3%. The most substantial decline is reported for Estonia
    (negative 1.8%), Latvia (negative 1.7%) and Slovenia (negative 1.4%). Among EU
    member countries, the most significant annual growth rate is reported for
    Ireland (10.6%), Croatia (5.5%), Cyprus (5.4%), Malta (5.2%), Portugal (4.9%) and
    Romania (4.7%), the only negative rates being reported for Estonia (negative 2.3%)
    and Latvia (negative 0.4%).

    OIL Global oil
    prices dropped to the lowest level this year, in spite of the estimates of some
    international experts that expected the EU and G7 ban on Russian crude and the
    cap on crude prices to trigger market turbulence. In Romania, the lowest petrol
    price is EUR 1.3, and diesel is sold for EUR 1.54. On the other hand,
    neighbouring Hungary is facing a fuel crisis caused, according to AFP, by the
    price cap introduced by Viktor Orbán’s government a year ago. The fuel shortage
    comes in the context of a 30% decrease in imports as foreign companies cut down
    their sales to Hungary as a result of the price cap, the country’s association
    of independent petrol stations said.


    GAUDEAMUS The 29th
    edition of the ‘Gaudeamus’ Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania, kicked off in
    Bucharest today. Until Sunday, 200 participants will be exhibiting releases in
    various formats, addressing all age brackets and fields of interests, as well as music and educational games. 600 events have been announced in addition to
    various related projects. As a novelty, 2 areas have been arranged within the
    Fair, for interactive activities targeting the youngest visitors. Pavilions are
    also available online on gaudeamus.ro. The honorary president of this year’s
    edition is the writer Ana Blandiana.


    FOOTBALL In the FIFA
    World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday, in the round of 16, Portugal smashed Switzerland
    6-1, while Morocco scored a surprising win against Spain 3-0 on penalties. In the
    quarter-finals on Friday, the Netherlands will be up against Argentina, and
    Croatia takes on Brazil, while on Saturday England will be facing defending
    champions France and Morocco will take on Portugal. The semis are scheduled for
    December 13 and 14, and the final on December 18. (AMP)

  • December 2, 2022 UPDATE

    December 2, 2022 UPDATE

    VISIT The president of Romania Klaus
    Iohannis had a meeting in Athens on Friday with his Greek counterpart, Katerina
    Sakellaropoulou, who reiterated Greece’s full support for Romania’s Schengen
    accession. The two officials praised the very good relations between the two
    countries, strengthened by cultural affinities and by a long common history,
    and emphasized the close cooperation at EU, regional and international level. Given
    the current security situation generated by Russia’s illegal military
    aggression against Ukraine, they emphasized the importance of maintaining
    trans-Atlantic unity and solidarity and reiterated the support that their
    respective countries will continue to give to Ukraine and to Ukrainian refugees,
    as well as to the R. of Moldova. The Romanian president is in Greece for a
    2-day official visit.


    COMPANIES The number of new
    companies running on foreign capital set up in Romania in the first 10 months
    of the year is 30.7% higher than in the corresponding period of 2021, according
    to the National Trade Registry Office. The 6,175 new companies have a combined
    share capital of over USD 35 million. At the end of October 2022, 243,022
    companies in Romania had foreign share capital. The largest number of companies
    had Italian investors, but the highest capital value was reported for Dutch
    companies. In related news, Romania’s software industry is growing steadily,
    with the combined turnover in the sector expected to reach a record-high EUR 11
    billion this year. According to a survey, the upward trend has been steady for
    the past 10 years, and the growth rate almost tripled during this period. In
    2021 there were over 30,000 software firms in Romania.


    GAUDEAMUS The 29th edition of the
    Gaudeamus Book Fair hosted by Radio Romania kicks off next week.
    200 publishers will be exhibiting their latest and current releases in various
    formats, addressing all age brackets and fields of interests, music as well as
    educational games. 600 events have been announced in addition to various
    related projects. Pavilions are also available online on gaudeamus.ro. The
    Gaudeamus Book Fair is financed by the Ministry of Culture.


    POLITICS The National Congress of the Alliance for the Unity of
    Romanians (AUR), a nationalist party in opposition in Romania, Friday endorsed
    its political promotion strategy for 2023. It includes building a mobile
    hospital and organising medical caravans which would also present the party’s
    views on the main areas of interest. The party president, George Simion, added
    that some of the subsidies received by the party will be used for purchasing
    school buses. The head of the party’s National Council, Claudiu Târziu, said
    national reunification is AUR’s country project and requested the governments
    of Romania and of the R. of Moldova to initiate immediate consultations in this
    respect.


    SCHENGEN The Dutch government Friday decided to agree with Romania’s
    and Croatia’s Schengen accession, but will oppose the accession of Bulgaria, on
    grounds that the country does not meet the required conditions. The Swedish
    parliament’s committee for European affairs also voted in favour of Romania’s
    accession. The Romanian PM Nicolae Ciucă and the foreign minister Bogdan
    Aurescu hailed the decisions concerning Romania. A possible enlargement of the Schengen
    area is one of the topics on the agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs Council
    meeting due on December 8. (AMP)

  • A fresh turn for children’s literature published in Romania

    A fresh turn for children’s literature published in Romania


    The Fairy-Tale Association of Writers for children and teenagers is a professional association. It was established in 2018 and it seeks to promote contemporary Romanian literature for children. The Association also supports creators and facilitates the access of children coming from underprivileged families to books and tales. Due to the numerous ongoing projects, thousands of children and youngsters had the chance to meet their favorite writers and their works, in libraries, schools, museums, community centers or bookfairs and festivals. Each year, the Fairly Tale writers travel to villages and underprivileged communities, in a bid to meet children there, staging creative workshops and making book donations as part of the Fairy Tale Caravans. The LittleLit Festival the Association has organized connects literature for children written in Romania to the international one, while the educational resources the Fairy Tale writers create support pupils, teachers and librarians. This year, the Fairy-Tale Association has held a series of educational workshops which promoted friendship, inclusion, diversity and tolerance. The workshops have been tailored for children aged 6 to 20, living in several rural localities across Romania. The workshops are part of the project Play Your Book! which kicked off with a book-raising campaign. We sat down and spoke to one of the founders of Fairy Tale Association, writer Victoria Pătrașcu, about the role of the Association and about the workshops held this year.



    Victoria Patrascu:



    “Fairy-Tale, the Association of writers for childrens and teenager books is an association which, ever since it has come into being, in 2018, has sought to support creators of literature for children in Romania and, especially, to facilitate the access of children, and mainly those living in underprivileged areas, to contemporary literature for children. We shall not refrain from admitting that quite a few of the communal libraries have an outdated or a limited amount of book supply, and the children living there do not get round to reading contemporary stories, that is why they do not find themselves in the literature they read. Obviously, they also do not have the chance to meet writers of contemporary literature. On a number of occasions we found out those children had been literally taken aback by the fact that we, the writers, were alive and kicking, we were living human beings, we were writers of our time. Every time we went there, our encounters with those children are extraordinary, and in the long run they are impressed with the tales we tell, thereby discovering how exactly they can tackle literature. Our project, Play your Book!, one of the most recent ones, starting off from the tales, seeks to enable us to play and learn at the same time. I held workshops in two localities in Dambovita County, in Conțești and Titu. The meeting we had in Conțești was extraordinary. There is also a community of traditional Rroma population and I interacted with a great many Rroma children who came to the library for the first time, and on that occasion they discovered that fabulous world of books, of stories or drawings, many even got an access pass for the library, and we were brimming with joy because of that. Allow me to also mention the fact that we were not alone in our undertaking, we had two extraordinary partners, namely EduCab, the Communal Libraries Network and the Arthur Publishers, the one who helped us take new books to those places and reshuffle the already outdated book supply we found there.”



    “Play your Book !” continued with the work on a pedagogical kit, prepared by the women members of the Fairy Tales Association. It is an important project, meant to offer educators and librarians alternative methods to explore the stories which as part of childrens literature. Through this pedagogical kit that will be given out to a great many librarians, teachers, primary school teachers and cultural educators, the project caters for the dissemination of the European values and encourages critical thinking in as many communities as possible across the country.



    One of the women writers, founders of the Fairy Tale Association, Victoria Pătrașcu, is a writer of books and plays for children. Victoria Patrascu had her debut with The Day Sleep Ran Away, brought out by the Nemi Publishers in 2008 and the Book for Children Publishers, 2017, the book that enjoyed a real success, being subsequently turned into a stage play, featuring the Momolino troupe, or into a radio drama, as a Radio Romania production. In 2012, Victoria Patrascu published an anthology titled The Dwarf Oak Tree, the Best Father that Can Be, brought out by the Childrens Book Publishers. The book was a finalist as part of the Ready for Press Gala. In 2013, The Oak Tree, the Best Father that Can Be was turned into a radio play and broadcast by Radio Romanias National Radio Drama Desk. In 2017, the volume was awarded the Excellence Prize for Childrens Literature, awarded by the Itsy Bitsy Radio Channel. Other books for children followed. Aaaaa Love Story and the Little Notes Chance, brought out by Cartier Publishers, TiriBomBamBura, Five Rolling Stories, brought out by the Guthenberg Books Publishers, Letters from Lapona, Zuralo and the Charmed Little Wheel, Zuralis Song, Gaston Tomberon, the hero of Acheron, The Untamed Women, A Recipe for Courage, Ariadnas Amazing Journeys. Victoria Patrascu is also the author of The Little Pretzels Adventures, brought out by the Univers Publishers and The Dragon Number 32.



    With details on her writers undertaking, here is Victoria Pătrașcu herself.



    “I have been trying hard that, apart from the activities I am involved in, with the Fairy Tale Association, I should find time for myself to write. The most recent story I wrote is The Dragon number 32, it saw a rather belated launch as part of this years edition of the Bookfest Bookfair in Bucharest and I was very happy when, yet again, I had a face-to-face meeting with the children. It is the story of a streetcar, rolling from the city center to the outskirts and somehow connecting the two worlds. It is a streetcar where little girl equally discovered the real and the fantastic Bucharest, since many times, children, when they look out the window, can see more things that we, the adults, can see. It is a story inspired by my daughter and by the rides I took to her school, by the people I met for many years, in streetcar 32. From that streetcar, connecting Rahova to the city center, I saw so many derelict yet still beautiful buildings, blocks of flats looking like bedrooms or giants, for the little girls in the story. It is a very touching story, also speaking about the homeless people who sometimes live in the belly of Dragon number 32, a story that can open many debates with the readers, a book that was sensationally illustrated by Mihaela Paraschivu.”(EN)






  • European Book Day in Cluj

    European Book Day in Cluj

    In late April this year in the city of Cluj Napoca, north-western Romania, right in the city center at the Casino – the Center for Urban Culture an event will be taking place, which is supposed to bring together children, young people from disadvantaged categories, publishers from Romania and writers.


    The event is called European Book Day and we are going to find out more on it from Bianca Mereuță, director of the Signatura publishing house and organizer of this event in Romania:


    Bianca Mereuta: With European Book Day we intend to bring the young people closer to books in a manner as creative as possible, ways that young people may find interesting, pleasant and even funny so that they may see books as an alternative to multiple stimuli they face in everyday life and which are so exciting. European Book Day began in Austria, it was founded by our Austrian partners. It is a project co-funded by Erasmus+ in which five countries are staging events through which young people from vulnerable environments with limited access to cultural events and books may get into contact with authors, the world of books and education and with other young people. They may thus spend some good time together and share the joy of reading. The project is underway in four European countries and the fifth is the communicational partner of the entire concept. Like I said Austria is the initiator of the project and the event will be held in Romania on April 27th. It will be followed by the events in Sweden in May and it will come to an end in Germany in November. European Book Day is targeting the young people.


    European Book Day is at the beginning, at its first edition and attendance is free. But what is the event like? And what exactly is going to happen during this event? Here is again Bianca Mereuță:


    Bianca Mereuta: European Book Day wants to bring youngsters close to books, whet their appetite for reading. So, youngsters from disadvantaged categories and young people who have access to education and books from well-off families will meet and spend some good time together. Prior to the main event, with young people from disadvantaged categories we held a series of workshops of creative writing and art during which they managed to create literary works, which are going to be on display during the European Book Day. In this way we tried to show them that reading, books and creativity are available to everyone. Everybody can create and we all have the resources to create but in order to achieve this goal we must have a foundation of culture and the awareness of the importance of education. On April 27th starting 11:30, young people and adults alike, accompanied by children of course, are expected to join us at the Casino – the Urban Culture Center and enjoy a series of book-inspired events and we also hope that we are going to spend together a couple of good hours. Young people need to think outside the box and see beyond the easy alternatives they have to quickly satisfy their needs. They need to be aware of this long-term promise, that of education, which is easily done step by step but which is actually constructive for the personality of a human being.


    At the end of our discussion Bianca Mereuță, organizer of European Book Day shared the future expectations in relation to this project.


    Bianca Mereuta: We’d like to turn European Book Day into a multiannual event which reaches out to as many young people around Romania as possible. They need that. So, European Book Day will hopefully grow and have an impact in the hearts and minds of those coming to Cluj these days and linger in their memory. We hope they’ll understand the habit of daily reading.


    We should also note that starting this year Romania has a National Reading Day, which is marked on February 15th as according to statistics the daily average time a Romanian spends reading is five minutes and most people read about a book a year. And in a country where 10% of its citizens are buying a book a year, the school plays an essential role in cultivating an apparently obsolete activity, reading as a way aimed at saving us from a superficial environment, where we are making decisions without thinking. Reading builds deep and solid connections inside the mind of the reader, be they children or adults, the Ministry of Education said, and on that day changed the school timetable so that students were able to enjoy one hour of reading in classes. Teachers recommended children to bring to school one of the books they liked and read from it in classrooms. The objective of this action was to promote daily reading as a habit.


    (bill)


  • Queen Elisabeth and King Carol I

    Queen Elisabeth and King Carol I

    Wedded in 1869, King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth, Romanias first royal couple, generally had a calm and warm marriage until the late 1890. Proof in this respect, among other things, is brought by the 2 volumes recently released by Humanitas Publishers, comprising the correspondence exchanged by the two spouses and entitled “With warm love, Elisabeth. Always faithfully yours, Carol.



    Born in Neuwied in 1843, Elisabeth sought and managed to encourage artists and arts in her new country. She was in fact keen on literature and writing easily in German, Romanian, French and English using the pen-name Carmen Sylva. It is in arts that she sought refuge after the death of her only child, princess Maria, at the age of 5, in 1874. She would express her need for maternal love years later, in her relationship with one of her ladies in waiting, Elena Văcărescu. Born into an eminent family of local noblemen and scholars and awarded twice by the French Academy for her literary skills, Elena Văcărescu was for a brief period involved in a politically unacceptable romance with Carols adopted nephew, crown prince Ferdinand, the heir to Romanias throne.



    This is actually the trigger of the correspondence between the King and the Queen included in the second volume of the book “With warm love, Elisabeth. Always faithfully yours, Carol, as historian Alina Pavelescu tells us:



    Alina Pavelescu: “This is the volume where the human dimension of the protagonists is best revealed. Their letters revolve around the scandal prompted by Prince Ferdinands romance with Elena Văcărescu. (…) The affair resulted in Queen Elisabeth being exiled for several years, and most of the correspondence dates back to this exile, a period when her perfect marriage with King Carol I experienced its biggest crisis, perhaps even bigger than the fact that the queen could no longer have children and therefore heirs to the Romanian throne. The King displays a great deal of composure and reason and patience in trying to make her understand what she had done wrong, and in the way he tries to put behind some of the most delicate and potentially unforgivable moments in his relationship with his wife.



    But what was the actual story behind Prince Ferdinands engagement to Elena Văcărescu? Romanița Constantinescu, one of the editors of the correspondence volume, explains:



    Romanița Constantinescu: “Actually that marriage was not as unlikely as it seems today, and apparently the whole situation was on the edge. Around Easter time in 1890, Ferdinand got engaged to Elena and asked the Kings permission to marry her. Although concerned with the political consequences, the King did not reject the idea out of hand, primarily out of love and respect for the Queen, who encouraged the affair, and for his nephew, the crown prince, as we learn from these letters. He left the decision to his Council of Ministers, and as we know the Council, chaired at the time by general Ioan Emanoil Florescu, did not approve the engagement.



    Romanias politicians denied the marriage in order to avoid a prospective competition for influence over the throne between the local noble families related to Elena Văcărescu. Apart from the suffering inflicted on the two lovers, this decision affected Queen Elisabeth as well, who was forced into exile in several European countries, to return to Bucharest only in 1894. Silvia Irina Zimmermann, the other editor of the correspondence volume, tells us more about the Queens exile:



    Silvia Zimmermann: “These are not only the letters of a queen, but also the letters of a skilled writer and fine artist. We thought that period had been a bleak time, a break with literature, but the letters tell us something else. Queen Elisabeth spent her exile years in Italy, in Venice and Palanzza, until June 1892, and at her mothers estate in Neuwied until the end of July 1894. In one letter, the Queen tells her husband she was so ill and upset that she lost all inspiration and drive for writing. However, her exile years were particularly productive both in terms of literature and in terms of decorative arts, with some of the most outstanding works still on display in Romanian museums. During these years, Queen Elisabeth worked on 3 poetry volumes and 2 plays, published under the pen-name Carmen Sylva between 1891 and 1893.



    Also during those years, the Queen started writing a number of texts which, after her return to Romania, were included in her memoirs and in her fairy tale collections. In other words, Queen Elisabeth was able to convert the trials of her exile into works of art. (tr. A.M. Popescu)