Today I invite you to listen to a talk with the French professor emeritus Alain Fischer who came to Bucharest to inaugurate an event organized by the French Institute on February 11 called “In the heart of the Sciences” to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Stay tuned.
WEATHER The weather will be cold all over Romania in the next couple of days, maily at night and in the morning with flurries and strong wind in some of its regions. Temperatures are expected to drop down to minus 20 dgrees centigrade, says the National Meteorology Administration. The weather is cold today in almost he entire territory execpt for some regions between the Carpathians, where temperatures are to be higher than the average for this month. The sky is overcast particularly in some southern and eastern regions with highs ranging between 1 and 9 degrees Celsius. Capital city Bucharest is also in for a couple of cold days, with a noon reading today of 2 degrees.
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CELEBRATION Military and religious ceremonies, performances and exhibitions took place on Friday in all the major cities in Romania, marking the Union of the Principalities. In Orthodox churches, special services were performed and bells were rung for a minute. 166 years ago, on January 24, 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia, after having been elected ruler of Moldavia on January 5. The political decision by the principalities to unite was the first stage in the creation of the modern Romanian state. Leading politicians sent messages on the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. “January 24 is a moment of assessment and reflection on the legacy of our ancestors and on the responsibility we have to preserve and promote it,” president Klaus Iohannis emphasised. PM Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that the Union is an example of how an important political project undertaken in accordance with the will of the people can become reality. Romanians enjoy an extended weekend on this occasion, as Union Day has been declared a public holiday. Many have chosen to spend it in mountain resorts.
PROTEST Railway workers, reserve officers, police staff, miners, foresters, steelworkers, Bucharest Metro employees and pensioners Friday took part in a protest rally in front of the Government headquarters. People are unhappy with the government order that froze salary increases for many public sector personnel at the beginning of this year, and because public pensions are no longer adjusted to the inflation rate. According to Radio Romania, a trade union delegation had talks with government officials, but without results. A reorganisation of central public institutions and state-owned companies was also announced these days. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, restructuring the public sector is a priority for the current governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.
DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu will have a meeting with NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, January 28, reads a statement from the North Atlantic Alliance. On January 14, Emil Hurezeanu received the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O’Brien. According to a foreign ministry news release, on that occasion the Romanian official appreciated the US contribution to the security and defense of NATO’s Eastern Flank, as well as to the development of the strategic approach to the Black Sea region. The two officials also appreciated the bilateral relationship, highlighting ‘significant’ achievements such as Romania’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver program, the development of economic and energy sector cooperation, and coordinated Romania – US – EU action.
ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania in the presidential elections in May. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.
CORRUPTION The mayor of the popular Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia, the Liberal Vlad Oprea, was placed under court supervision on Thursday, with bail set at over EUR 100,000, as part of a corruption-related investigation. Charges of abuse of office also entailed a ban on him holding the mayor position. According to prosecutors with the National Anticorruption Directorate, among other things, Vlad Oprea allegedly demanded and received almost EUR 240,000 in bribe from a businessman, in exchange for expediting the paperwork for the building of a hotel in the resort.
EXPULSION The Romanian Embassy in Belgrade has asked for clarifications from the Serbian authorities as to why a Romanian national was expelled from the country. Other EU and third country citizens taking part in an NGO training workshop were also involved in the incident. The Romanian, a member of an organisation involved in social projects, was taken to a police station in Belgrade, along with other participants in the workshop. Without explanation, but citing national security reasons, they were ordered to leave Serbia within 24 hours, and banned from entering this country for one year. The Romanian national left the country safely. The expulsion of EU citizens from Serbia is unprecedented. (AMP)
PROTEST Railway workers, reserve officers, police staff, miners, foresters, steelworkers, Bucharest Metro employees and pensioners Friday took part in a protest rally in front of the Government headquarters. People are unhappy with the government order that froze salary increases for many public sector personnel at the beginning of this year, and because public pensions are no longer adjusted to the inflation rate. According to Radio Romania, a trade union delegation had talks with government officials, but without results. A reorganisation of central public institutions and state-owned companies was also announced these days. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, restructuring the public sector is a priority for the current governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.
Perhaps the most famous road in Bucharest is Victory Road – an important artery in the center of the capital, which stretches from the United Nations Square to Victory Square (where the Romanian Government building is located) and has a length of 2,700 meters. Victory Road is one of the oldest arteries of Bucharest. Before the reign of ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu (1654-1714, reign between 1688-1714), the artery did not exist, being partly called Brașov Road and another section being known as Big Street. The union of the two roads resulted in today’s street in 1692, opened by Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu under the name of Mogoșoaia Bridge – this was a princely street, ensuring the connection between the prince’s estate in Mogoșoaia and the princely palace near the Old Court, at the end of the street. Thus, the new artery becomes the main road in the capital. It is along this street that boyar houses, churches, inns (which will later become hotels), shops, luxury stores, cafes, restaurants or state institutions would be erected. The street initially had wooden sleepers, and later it was paved with stone. In 1882, the first electric street installations appeared in front of the Royal Palace on Victory Road. The name “Victory Road” was given to this street after the Romanian army made its triumphant entry into the capital on this road on October 8, 1878, after the victory in the War of Independence (1877-1878).
More about the rich history of this old princely street from the coordinator of the Department of Modern and Contemporary History at the Bucharest Municipality Museum, Camelia Ene:
“This name, “Victory Road”, an incursion into the history of a princely street, may seem at first glance, an outdated topic. But it is not, because it is a very important artery of the city, the first south-north axis of this important settlement, loaded with history. Victory Road has a name with a special resonance. It simply refers to the victory that the Romanian armies obtained in 1878, following the War of Independence. But Victory Road is much older. It is the first road traced during the reign of Prince Brâncoveanu, who managed to unite portions of the slums located on winding streets, as foreign travelers said, and go to Mogoșoaia, the place where he built a palace, his personal estate. There had to be a connection between the Royal Court and his house, his residence, but of course it also passed near the houses of his byzades or sons”.
What is the present-day outlook of this road? Camelia Ene compares it to an elegant lady:
“Today, Victory Road is a street that, when we walk on it, burdened with personal problems, we probably forget to see the beauty of the buildings. I consider it an elegant lady because it shows us so many architectural styles that blend together, the taste that the commissioners had for Western architecture. We have eclectic, French, Art Nouveau, baroque, neo, baroque styles. We have so many buildings that simply overwhelm us with their beauty, but also with the fact that they are imposing. Maybe if we stopped in front of one of them and asked ourselves the question – who lived here? When was it built? This curiosity would lead us to search the archives and find out how Victory Road was born. The road was built from south to north. Great families who created this city are people who built the history of this street through the houses that were built, but you should know that some were built on the site of other houses. The street is formed from the front of the Church of Saint Spyridon, from the United Nations Square to Victory Square. It crosses an area with old houses. This is the place where, during the Revolution of 1821, Bimbașa Sava, commander of the Arnauts, mercenaries of Albanian origin, who protected the ruler and the boyars, was killed. Walking along Victory Road we have the CEC Palace on the left, built in 1900 on the site of an old inn, In 1878, after the Romanian army paraded victoriously on Victory Road on October 8, after the War of Independence, its official name was changed to Victory Road”.
Victory Road remains one of the most important landmarks of the capital, from a historical, commercial, architectural and stylistic, political and cultural point of view. On this road we encounter important buildings at local or national level, including the National Museum of History of Romania, the CEC Palace, the Royal Palace (hosting the National Fine Arts Museum), the Romanian Athenaeum, the National Military Circle, the Museum of Collections, the Enescu House and some of the capital’s most luxurious shops or hotels.
Theatre and documentary films are presently dominating Romania’s cultural life. Bucharest is seeing the National Theatre Festival (FNT) a cultural event at its 34th edition, which this year unfolds under the motto, “The Dramaturgy of Possible”. By 28 October, theatre goers have the opportunity of watching performances from a selection, which according to organizers, is meant to express ‘possible scenarios’. The edition’s formal selection comprises over 30 performances from Bucharest and abroad.
Among these there are “The Anthology of Disappearance” written and directed by Radu Afrim; William Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ directed by Andrei Serban; ‘Hedda Gabler’ of Henrik Ibsen, directed by Thomas Ostermeier. The event also brings together several theatre troupes from abroad, from countries like Germany, Ireland, Poland and Belgium.
The event, a production of Romania’s Theatre Union, UNITER, is being funded by the Ministry of Culture.
As of Sunday, the city of Sibiu, in central Romania, is hosting the International Documentary Film Festival Astra, also known as AFF. Over 100 documentaries are to be screened during the event, due to end on 27 October.
The screenings are being made in several locations around the city such as cinema and theatre halls and the New Cinema Dome, built in the city’s Big Square; a state-of-the-art facility which offers special visual experiences, where viewers are becoming part of the artistic world, which they are also invited to explore.
The festival’s awards are to be granted by a professional jury in four sections: “Central and Eastern Europe”, “Romania”, “Emerging Voices of the Documentary Film” and “Students Competition”. Young European Filmmakers are this year enjoying unique opportunities in the aforementioned festival. Eight projects by European film producers and directors are going to benefit special mentoring sessions by renowned professionals of the film industry.
Students are also benefitting a special programme, DocStudent Hub, during which they will be attending workshops, master-classes and practical activities in the fields of art, production and distribution of documentary films. According to organizers, these activities also enjoy the participation of students and professors of prestigious universities in Prague, Zagreb, Vilnius, Bratislava, Zlin, Cluj Napoca and Bucharest.
The International Documentary Film Festival, Astra, which was launched as a novel project in 1993, was one of the most important non-fiction film festivals in Europe included by the European Film Academy on the list of those, which can do direct nominations for the European Film Awards.
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The first definite documentary attestation of Bucharest dates back to 1459. With a rich history, the capital of Romania presents itself today as a point of major interest. Some of the tourists are welcomed by a group of enthusiastic and experienced local guides who organize free walking tours. They are led to the most important objectives, always finding out the most interesting information. Today we are learning about three free walking tours: Communism vs. Monarchy, Old Town and Dracula, as well as Old Town and Communism. They have been included for over seven years in a project called Btrip Bucharest Walking Tour.
Marius Burda, the initiator of this project, says that the inspiration came from countries that already had a tradition of free walking tours for tourists.
“I was once in Sweden. I saw a couple of tours in Stockholm and I really liked them. I said that we could adapt something like this for Bucharest as well. In the spring of 2017, we started. I did the project together with Ștefania, my colleague, who is an experienced guide, and we had to work out several details: which route we choose, what a foreigner would be interested in seeing in Bucharest, how we present the city, because, for most of the time it had a bit of a negative image, and we wanted to turn that whole image into a great experience. Then we decided that the first tour would be called Communism versus Monarchy.”
This tour starts from the Romanian Athenaeum, an emblematic building, and ends at the point of maximum interest for foreign tourists, the Palace of Parliament.
“On this route, we are actually talking about two regimes that changed both Romania and Bucharest, communism and the monarchy. We present the last 200 years of history of the city of Bucharest at the architectural, political level. That’s what this tour is based on: beautiful stories about Bucharest. There are many foreign tourists, for example, who come to Bucharest from countries with a tradition of monarchy, from Norway, from England, and then for them this tour is quite easy to understand and attractive. At the same time, they didn’t have communism, and then it’s all the more interesting. Residents of Bucharest or those passing by came, saw the tour, and were surprised. Indeed, we know the history, but somehow a local informs you better about the city. For example, we talk about the Romanian Athenaeum, we say how it was built, what its history was, then we go to the Statue of King Charles, in front of the National Art Museum, where we talk about the monarchy, and in Revolution Square, where we talk about the Romanian revolution. “
Tourists participating in the tour receive a catalog with images that present the evolution of the places visually, from the past to the present. Many remain impressed, shocked to see that, for example, in Revolution Square, 35 years ago, there were tanks and battles. The tour continues on Calea Victoriei, with Marius Burda, tour guide.
“There we have a hundred stories. We stop at the former National Theatre. Many do not know, for example, that the former National Theater used to be the site of the Novotel hotel. Bombed in the Second World War, it was subsequently demolished. We then go down to Cișmigiu, where we present to them the most beautiful and oldest park in Bucharest, and the last stop is at the Palace of the Parliament, in Izvor Park, where we tell them how the communist regime transformed the city from scratch. It literally razed an entire neighborhood of houses, with everything that was there, and built one of the largest buildings in the world.”
The second tour is also in English.
“It’s called Old Town and Dracula. We only do it in the Old Center area of Bucharest. We meet at Halul lui Manuc, Manuc’s Inn, and there we have a set route only in the central area. In the second tour we present the stories about Old Bucharest, the legend of the city. Many foreigners come to Bucharest and then leave Bucharest for Bran Castle, or Peleș Castle, just being attracted by the legend of Vlad Țepeș. It was a shame not to use this. We present the whole story to them historically, we tell them how the city transformed, how it became Little Paris, then we take them to the Old Center, to see the beautiful churches, at Stavropoleos, at Saint George. We really have something to see.”
The third tour is in Spanish. Marius Burda, tour guide and initiator of the Btrip Bucharest Walking Tour project, says that the decision to have a tour in Spanish came as a result of the large number of tourists speaking this language, who had difficulty understanding English.
“Within our project, we found two very beautiful people, Esu and Gema, originally Spanish, who moved to Romania. With their help, we decided to do a tour for Spanish speakers in Bucharest. The Spanish tour is actually a combination of the two stories from the English tours. We leave with them from Manuc’s Inn and finish the tour at the Palace of the Parliament. It takes about three hours. The other tours last two and a half hours, so we have quite a few stories to tell. Most of them, from my point of view, taking into account that we have a Spanish tour, come from the area of Spain. But many Italians also come. At the same time, many are coming from Germany, from England. We ask how they heard about Bucharest, why they chose Romania, why did they came to Bucharest, how they like Bucharest? Many people have a very good opinion about Bucharest. They say they like the architectural mix. On Calea Victoriei, in a few hundred meters, the architecture changes, they go from old buildings, built over a hundred years ago, to communist buildings. You don’t see something like this in any capital. And in the area of the old center they have everything. Again they are amazed. Our restaurants, our clubs are open until morning. In other European capitals they close at a certain time.”
True friendships are tied at the end of the tours. The proof is the photos on the freetourinbucharest.com website and on social networks. And one of the most important aspects of these tours is that tourists, if they wish, receive all the information to experience Bucharest differently, just like a local.
More than two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Romania continues to play a key role in international efforts to support the administration in Kyiv. From logistics and information support, to the efforts made to support Ukrainian grain exports, Bucharest has proven its usefulness and value as a NATO and EU member state. Consequently, as early as 2022, Romania was placed by the Kremlin on the list of “unfriendly” countries, and criticism and even threats from Moscow have multiplied. In this context, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, James O’Brien, traveled to Bucharest as part of a tour that also includes visits to Bulgaria, Switzerland and Slovenia.
During the meeting he had with the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, the American official stated that the US is working with Romania regarding the security risks arising in the context of the war in Ukraine. He emphasized the cooperation in the field of aerial, maritime and land surveillance for the detection and stopping of Russian drones that have reached the Romanian territory. O’Brien has also said that Romania has done a lot to build its own capacity in all these dimensions and appreciated the cooperation between Bucharest and Kyiv, which he said is ‘essential for the Ukrainian people’ and ‘also helps Romania be safer’. ‘The longer Ukraine can fight Russia and keep Russia occupied and Russia withdraws, the safer Romania will be. Our work with Romania is to make sure that the fight cannot expand and that Romania can well defend its territory and people against any risk of this battle coming its way’ O’Brien said. In turn, the representative of the Romanian government highlighted the need to strengthen the allied presence on the NATO’s entire eastern flank and said that this aspect is imperative for the security and stability of the extended Black Sea region and beyond.
Despite the tense security context, Romania has not reduced its diplomatic efforts for full accession to the Schengen Area, a right that has been denied to it for years for political reasons. Starting from March 31, both Romania and Bulgaria were included in the European free travel area only with air and maritime borders, Austria being the country that until now has prevented, by veto, the introduction of Schengen rules at land borders as well. In a discussion held in Bucharest with her Romanian counterpart, the German Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, praised the efforts made by Romania for European solidarity in the matter of asylum, as part of its effort to fully join the Schengen area. On the other hand, the Romanian Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, has expressed his hope that the Schengen rules will be introduced at Romania’s land borders this year. (LS)
17 counties across Romania and the capital Bucharest were, on Tuesday, under code orange alert for strong winds, which caused serious damage in localities in 13 counties and in Bucharest. Wind speeds generally reached 80 – 85 km/h, and at high altitudes in mountainous areas, gusts exceeded 120 km/h. The rest of the country was under code yellow alert for strong winds. There were breakdowns in the electricity supply and the fire brigade had to intervene to clear the construction elements uplifted by the wind, the fallen trees and the electricity poles that fell on the roadway. In Bucharest alone, firefighters intervened in almost 300 cases to manage the damage caused by the strong wind, and in Ilfov county, near Bucharest, 29 requests were handled.
According to a press release by the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations – ISU, the most frequent problems were caused by fallen trees on the roadway or cars, as well as sheet metal parts detached from the rooftops of buildings, plaster detached from buildings as well as damaged building rooftops and fallen poles. In the country, road traffic was temporarily disrupted on numerous sections of roads due to fallen trees on the roadway. Moreover, railway traffic was also temporarily affected. Houses and outbuildings were also damaged. The strong winds equally caused several fires. Firefighting aircraft of the Romanian Air Force joined, in these situations, the firefighters who were fighting the flames. Actions were made difficult by the strong wind, which caused the flames to spread rapidly. Also, there were breakdowns in the electricity supply in numerous localities in several counties.
The teams of electricity distributors intervened to fix the malfunctions, including in Bucharest, where there were several requests. The mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, gave assurances that the pace of moving the cables underground was accelerated, in order to avoid such situations in the future. According to the general mayor, in the last three years about a thousand kilometers of cables were removed from the poles and replaced with underground cables. As to the the fallen trees, he said, on a private television station, that the risk of their collapse is more difficult to anticipate, given that their roots happen to be cut when various works are carried out.
For the coming days, meteorologists announce temperatures above the normal values for this period of the year in most regions of Romania. The wind intensity will decrease compared to the previous period, however it will still intensify in the mountains, especially in the Eastern Carpathians. (LS)
Francophonie – Romania is hosting an economic mission of the International Organization of La Francophonie, as well as a dedicated economic forum on its sidelines, a high-profile platform addressing businesses from French-speaking countries. Attending will be entrepreneurs and government officials from 88 member states. In an opening statement delivered on Wednesday, the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, highlighted opportunities to further develop trade and investment between Central Europe, including Romania, and other French-speaking countries. On the sidelines of the event, Romanian companies can talk to potential business partners from Africa, Asia, North America, the Caribbean or Europe. Agri-food, IT, green energy and medical industry are but some of the sectors featured in the economic forum.
Schengen – On March 31, Romania will join the Schengen area with its air and maritime borders. Starting this day, Romanians travelling to EU space and Schengen member states will no longer go through customs and passport control, but will go straight to boarding gates. Romania’s partial accession to Schengen will be marked on Friday through the inauguration of a new international departures terminal at the “Traian Vuia” Airport in Timișoara. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis are expected to attend the opening event.
Press freedom – The European Council and the European Parliament have given the green light to the final draft of the Media Freedom Act, which compels members states to guarantee editorial independence of public service media by ensuring sustainable and predictable funding. The law protects online content and ensures enhanced transparency of media ownership. Authorities will be prohibited from pressing journalists and editors to disclose their sources, an underlying principle of investigative journalism in addition to access to information. The Media Freedom Act will also introduce an independent committee for media services comprising media authorities from member states, which will advise the European Commission regarding member states’ degree of compliance with the law.
Energy – The Romanian government has approved the extension until March 31, 2025 of the electricity and natural gas price cap scheme for consumers. At the end of Thursday’s meeting, the Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja explained that measures are also included so that after the expiry of the mentioned deadline there should not be any sudden price increases. The executive also approved the extension by three months of the period of application of the civil liability car insurance rates practiced by insurers on February 28, 2023, when an adjustment of a maximum of 6.8% is allowed. The capping was valid until the end of this month, but now it will apply until June 30, 2024. According to the Finance Ministry, the measure is necessary to combat the excessive price increase and the gradual stabilization of the profile market, so as to avoid negative effects in other sectors of the economy.
NATO – The Romanian Foreign Ministry launched, on Thursday, the “Born in NATO” campaign, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Romania’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance and of the 75th anniversary of NATO’s creation. The campaign is dedicated to young people born after Romania joined NATO in 2004 and aims to promote the role and values of the North Atlantic Alliance. Co-initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, the campaign will include a series of events, between March and December 2024, with the aim of familiarizing young people with the values and objectives of the Alliance. At the launch of the campaign, the Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu spoke about Romania’s involvement within the Alliance and about the country’s contribution to strengthening security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. She also encouraged young people to get actively involved in society to promote the values on which NATO is based, such as individual freedoms, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. For her part, the US ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Ann Kavalec, highlighted the close collaboration between the two countries, emphasizing the role and values of the Alliance in ensuring regional and global security and stability. He also pointed out that the Strategic Partnership Romania – US reflects the common commitment to promoting peace, security and democracy.
Council – NATO countries have strongly condemned Russia’s latest airstrikes against Ukraine and pledged to continue strengthening its defense, according to a statement issued at the end of Thursday’s meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, convened at ambassadorial level, at Kyiv’s request. “Russia’s continuous attacks against the civilian population and critical infrastructure in Ukraine demonstrate the urgent need for continued support from our side”, said the Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mircea Geoană, who chaired the Council meeting, which was joined via video conference by the Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. NATO mentions in the press release that the allies are providing Ukraine with unprecedented military, financial and humanitarian assistance.
Presidency – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has ratified the law banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. The law seeks to reduce the exposure of children and teenagers to tobacco products and stipulates fines up to 20,000 EUR, depending on the severity of the offense. The head of state also ratified the law on developing social services to prevent disenfranchised children from getting separated from their families. Under the new law, local authorities must organize daycare centers in local communities, with half of the expenses getting covered by the state. (VP, LS)
The orthopaedic surgeon Cătălin Cîrstoiu (50), a dean at the “Carol Davila” Medical School in Bucharest and the manager of the Emergency University Hospital in the capital city, is running for mayor general of Bucharest.
He was introduced as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party. The Social Democrats’ president, PM Marcel Ciolacu criticised the work of the incumbent mayor general and said Bucharest needed someone to coordinate a team, to be a manager and a catalyst of high performance in all areas.
His coalition partner, the Liberal leader Nicolae Ciucă, spoke about consistency and cohesion in the Bucharest local administration, and about a common denominator for what the City Hall and the district mayors should do.
The appointment was criticised by Save Romania Union in opposition, which backs the incumbent mayor Nicuşor Dan for a new term in office.
Another 2 candidacies have already been announced: the incumbent mayor of Bucharest’s district 5, Cristian Popescu Piedone, backed by the Humanist Social Liberal Party, and Mihai Enache, backed by AUR party in opposition.
Cătălin Cîrstoiu’s campaign will be managed by Gabriela Firea, the president of PSD Bucharest, and by her Liberal counterpart, Sebastian Burduja, 2 politicians who had previously announced their own plans to run for mayor general in Bucharest.
Cătălin Cîrstoiu explained why he accepted the challenge of running for office:
Cătălin Cîrstoiu: “As a physician with a sense of civic engagement, I have reached the conclusion that health is not only about the methods employed in hospitals. Patients’ health is tremendously influenced by clean air, by efficient public transportation, by an efficient road infrastructure. In short, by a beneficial environment in which, when it comes to the City Hall, citizens do not need to claim their rights, but rather they find these rights as a given.”
Shortly after the new candidate was introduced, the Bucharest mayor general, Nicuşor Dan, stripped the Liberal deputy mayor Stelian Bujduveanu of his main executive powers. “For 3 years we had a right-wing majority in the Bucharest Local Council, made up the of the National Liberal Party, USR and the People’s Movement Party, but now the Liberals have decided to form another majority with the Social Democrats, which no longer matches the position the deputy mayor was holding,” Nicuşor Dan explained.
Stelian Bujduveanu coordinated areas such as transportation and acted as a liaison with the Bucharest Street Administration and the Bucharest Public Transport Corporation. These responsibilities have now been taken over by the mayor general himself.
Meanwhile, the Central Technical Committee coordinating the organisation of local and European elections convened for the first time on Wednesday. Citizens will be invited to polls first on 9 June, when local and European elections are to be held concurrently. Also this year, presidential elections are scheduled in September and general elections will be held in December. The Constitutional Court Wednesday dismissed a notification submitted by the opposition against bringing forward the presidential election, so the first round will be held on 15 September and the second on the 29 September. (AMP)
Elections – In Bucharest, the Central Electoral Bureau was legally established for the European Parliament and local elections on June 9. Besides the seven judges from the High Court of Cassation and Justice, chosen by drawing of lots, the Central Electoral Bureau also includes the president and the two vice-presidents of the Permanent Electoral Authority. The following political groups and organizations of national minorities are also represented: Social Democratic Party – PSD, National Liberal Party – PNL, Save Romania Union – USR, Alliance for the Union of Romanians – AUR, Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR, PRO Romania and the Parliamentary Group of National Minorities in the Chamber of Deputies. The opposition parties Force of the Right, People’s Movement Party – PMP and REPER are dissatisfied because, although they requested this, they did not manage to have representatives in the Central Electoral Bureau, as they do not meet certain criteria. The leaders of the Force of the Right consider it an abuse and announce that they will address the High Court of Cassation and Justice. In another move, the Central Electoral Bureau on Sunday rejected the registration of the United Right Alliance made up of USR, PMP and the Force of the Right, following which the three parties will not be able to have candidates under the same electoral sign in the summer elections. The parties say they will challenge the decision at the High Court of Cassation and Justice.
Ambassador – The Russian ambassador to Bucharest, Valeri Kuzmin, was summoned, on Sunday, to the headquarters of the Romanian Foreign Ministry in relation to a series of recent statements made by the Russian side. On the occasion of this summoning called by Minister Luminiţa Odobescu, the ambassador was notified about the deep dissatisfaction of the Romanian side with regard to the distorted, truncated and inconsistent manner in which important topics of bilateral relevance are addressed, including in the public communication of the Embassy of the Russian Federation, topics which originate in the historical past. On Friday, the former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, currently vice-president of the Security Council, declared that the recent resolution of the European Parliament regarding the return of the Romanian gold treasure sent for safekeeping in Russia in 1916-1917 is ‘impertinent’ and the European Union ‘can only be sent to hell’, reported the official Russian press agency TASS. Also according to TASS, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zaharova, said that Moscow not only returned to Bucharest all the gold that Romania sent to Russia in the 1916-1917 period, but also forgave it a huge debt, far exceeding the value of that gold treasure. We remind you that the European Parliament adopted a resolution asking Russia to fully return Romania’s national treasure that it illegally appropriated. MEPs point out that, despite several attempts at diplomatic negotiations after the First World War, Romania’s national treasure, sent to Russia between 1916 and 1917 for safekeeping was never fully returned.
Gaza – The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip on a wider scale. The statement was made on Saturday, the day the German air force parachuted pallets with four tons of essential goods into the enclave and before a two-day trip to the Middle East by Scholz. He traveled on Saturday to the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red Sea, to meet with King Abdullah of Jordan and then to fly to Israel. On the other hand, Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the offensive planned by Israel in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than half of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave have taken refuge.
Madrigal – The “Madrigal Marin Constantin” choir filmed, in a world premiere, a video at the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Being on tour in South America for the first time, the National Chamber Choir organized the filming of the second episode of the series “Romanian contemporary music in contemporary ancient spaces”, at an altitude of 2,400 meters, in the “Lost City of the Incas”, one of the most beautiful and mysterious ancient spaces of the world. The first episode of the series was filmed in Sarmizegetusa, in Romania, and was released on January 15, on the National Culture Day.
Protests – Trade unionists of the Sanitary Solidarity Federation decide, these days, whether to start an all-out strike. They are consulted through an online referendum, as the federation considers the 20% salary increase approved by the Romanian government as insufficient. The increase would be granted in two equal installments, until the summer. On Monday, the union leadership is scheduled to have a meeting where a decision could be made regarding the protest. Last week, several thousand members of the Sanitary Solidarity Federation protested in Bucharest asking for the index-linking of salary incomes according to the inflation rate and the updating of the amounts related to increments and on-call services. (LS)
Elections – In Bucharest, the Central Electoral Bureau was legally established for the European Parliament and local elections on June 9. Besides the seven judges from the High Court of Cassation and Justice, chosen by drawing of lots, the Central Electoral Bureau also includes the president and the two vice-presidents of the Permanent Electoral Authority. The following political groups and organizations of national minorities are also represented: Social Democratic Party – PSD, National Liberal Party – PNL, Save Romania Union – USR, Alliance for the Union of Romanians – AUR, Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR, PRO Romania and the Parliamentary Group of National Minorities in the Chamber of Deputies. The opposition parties Force of the Right, People’s Movement Party – PMP and REPER are dissatisfied because, although they requested this, they did not manage to have representatives in the Central Electoral Bureau, as they do not meet certain criteria. The leaders of the Force of the Right speak of an incredible abuse and announce that they will address the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and USR president Cătălin Drulă claims that they have signals that the power would like to block the participation of the United Right Alliance in the June 9 elections. The Central Electoral Bureau is to pronounce on Sunday on the registration of this alliance formed by USR, PMP and the Force of the Right. If it were rejected, the three parties would not be able to have candidates under the same electoral sign in the summer elections.
Ukraine – Romania condemns the Russian elections in the temporarily occupied and illegally annexed Ukrainian territories. The Romanian Foreign Ministry appreciates, in a post on the Internet, that the elections organized by Russia in these regions violate international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, are illegal and illegitimate, and their result is null. The Romanian diplomacy strongly condemns the organization of polling stations in Transnistria region in the Republic of Moldova and in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia, without the consent of the authorities in Chisinau and Tbilisi, respectively. On the other hand, the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Bucharest, Valeri Kuzmin, was summoned to the headquarters of the Romanian Foreign Ministry, in relation to a series of recent statements by the Russian side. On the occasion of the summoning called by Minister Luminiţa Odobescu, the ambassador was notified about the deep dissatisfaction of the Romanian side with regard to the distorted, truncated and inconsistent manner in which important topics of bilateral relevance are addressed, including in the public communication of the Embassy of the Russian Federation, which originate in the historical past.
Russia – Sunday is the last day of voting in Russia for the presidential election, which is expected to give a new six-year mandate to Vladimir Putin. More than half of the voters went to the polls in the first two days, marked by sporadic incidents, but mostly by drone attacks on Russian territory, attributed to Ukraine. A new attack on a refinery in southern Russia was reported on Sunday in Krasnodar, with regional authorities saying it was caused by a fire and that one person died of cardiac arrest. All week there have been such attacks, and President Putin has warned that Kyiv’s attempts to disrupt the electoral process will not go unpunished. The team of the deceased leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, informed that, on Sunday, there were several protests against the predictable re-election of the acting president Vladimir Putin. In Russia’s Far East, in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Irkutsk and other Siberian cities, people took part in the “Noon Against Putin” at lunchtime, Navalny’s team reported in a live broadcast on YouTube. At the same time, listening to the call of Putin’s opponents, hundreds of people queued at the same hour at a polling station in Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. Other Putin opponents, such as the exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives in the United Kingdom, called on people not to be afraid and to take part in the campaign.
Madrigal – The “Madrigal Marin Constantin” choir filmed, in a world premiere, a video at the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Being on tour in South America for the first time, the National Chamber Choir organized the filming of the second episode of the series “Romanian contemporary music in contemporary ancient spaces”, at an altitude of 2,400 meters, in the “lost city of the Incas”, one of the most beautiful and mysterious ancient spaces of the world. The first episode of the series was filmed in Sarmizegetusa, in Romania, and was released on January 15, on the National Culture Day.
Protests – Trade unionists of the Sanitary Solidarity Federation decide, these days, whether to start an all-out strike. They are consulted through an online referendum, as the federation considers the 20% salary increase approved by the Romanian government as insufficient. The increase would be granted in two equal installments, until the summer. On Monday, the union leadership is scheduled to have a meeting where a decision could be made regarding the protest. Last week, several thousand members of the Sanitary Solidarity Federation protested in Bucharest asking for the index-linking of salary incomes according to the inflation rate and the updating of the amounts related to increments and on-call services. (LS)
Elections – The Romanian government adopted on Monday, in an extraordinary meeting, a decision that establishes the calendar of the combined elections of June 9, 2024. According to the emergency ordinance on holding the two elections simultaneously, recently adopted by the executive, the local officials will be able to run on behalf of another political party if they announce that 45 days before the date of the elections. The document is criticized by the opposition. The United Right Alliance requested the Ombudsman to notify the Constitutional Court in relation to the emergency ordinance on merging the European Parliament elections with the local ones. The representatives of the Alliance state that they have identified provisions in the law adopted on Friday that violate both the Constitution and some previous decisions of the Court.
Protests – The employees of the Romanian healthcare system protested, on Monday, in front of the headquarters of the Government, the Labor Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Parliament, the main dissatisfaction being related to salary incomes. Several thousand trade unionists, members of the Sanitary Solidarity Federation, participated. People continue to be dissatisfied, although the Government approved, last week, an increase in the healthcare staff’s salaries by 20% in two equal installments, in March and June. The trade union representatives believe that the increase is insufficient and state that the extra amounts do not cover the inflation rate. Moreover, they claim that the government’s emergency ordinance does not include any provision regarding increases or the hourly rate of on-call services.
Tennis – After a year and a half break, the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep will return to the tennis courts, the former world leader leaving, this morning, for Miami. The athlete has not played an official match since August 2022 and will now make her debut at the WTA 1000 tournament in the USA (March 17-31). Outside the WTA ranking, Halep received a wildcard from the organizers, an invitation that allows her to be on the main draw of the tournament. We remind you that Simona Halep received the right to return to the tennis court after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne has recently reduced her suspension for doping from 4 years to 9 months. The athlete managed to prove that the doping substance she unintentionally ingested came from a contaminated food supplement.
Partnership – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, on Monday had a telephone conversation with her Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa, in the context of the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Japan. The economic, sectoral and cultural projects were reviewed and their development opportunities were highlighted. Starting from the interdependence of security situations, the two ministers addressed the latest developments regarding Europe and the Indo-Pacific area. Both sides highlighted Romania’s and Japan’s firm support for Ukraine and each country’s contribution to the effort to mitigate the multiple negative effects of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including on its neighbors.
Moldova – The Constitutional Court in Chişinău decided on Monday that the phrase “Romanian language” should remain in all the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, including the Constitution, the magistrates rejecting a notification submitted by socialist and communist deputies, Radio Chişinău reports. At the end of March last year, the deputies of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BCS) submitted a notification to the Constitutional Court requesting the verification of the constitutionality of the decision to change the name of the state language, from Moldovan to Romanian, in all the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, including in the Constitution. The main argument of the authors of the complaint was that the parliamentary group of the ruling Action and Solidarity party changed the Constitution with the votes of a simple majority of deputies, and not with two-thirds of the votes. The respective bill was voted by the Moldovan Parliament in the final reading last year, and the president Maia Sandu promulgated the law.
NATO – Romania firmly supports the Open Door Policy of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, and “Sweden’s accession proves that NATO’s door remains open and that together we are stronger”, said the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr. On Monday, the ceremony of raising the flags of Sweden, Romania and NATO took place at the Romanian Defense Ministry headquarters, on the occasion of Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Alliance, in the presence of the minister and the ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Romania, Therese Hyden. According to a press release, during the ceremony, Angel Tîlvăr declared that Sweden, as a NATO member, will equally contribute both to the development of the Alliance policies and decisions and to the consolidation of allied forces. In turn, Therese Hyden stated that with Sweden’s joining NATO, the North Atlantic Alliance will be stronger and Sweden will be safer.
EC – Romania received, on Monday, 642 million Euros from the European Commission for the Just Transition Platform – FTJ STEP, representing a single exceptional pre-financing within the ‘Strategic Technologies for Europe’ (STEP) platform – the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Adrian Hat announced. The platform will support the development of European industry and the stimulation of investments in critical technologies in Europe. According to the minister, at present, Romania has received sums worth 1.23 billion Euros within the Cohesion Policy 2021 – 2027, and by the end of this year, it will have in its accounts at least 5 billion Euros from the new Cohesion Policy. (LS)
The President of the European Commission, the German conservative Ursula von der Leyen, received, on Thursday, in Bucharest, the approval of her political family, the European People’s Party (EPP, center-right), to run for a second term at the helm of the European Commission. “We have 90 days until the European Parliament elections” on June 6-9, she said from the podium of the Romexpo compound, thanking the participants for their “trust” and broad “support” (400 votes for, 89 against). The congress in Bucharest was hosted by the National Liberal Party – PNL, affiliated to the EPP and part of the governing coalition in Romania together with the leftist Social Democratic Party – PSD, member of the European socialists group.
The EPP has the largest group in the current European Parliament, and polls regarding voting intentions in the 27 member states continue to credit it with the first place. Which, the analysts write, will allow the EPP to remain at the helm of Europe, with a Commission in which, as before, the socialists and, respectively, the liberals from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)-Renew Europe will be co-opted. Von der Leyen announced in Bucharest the priorities for the next five-year virtual mandate, with focus on supporting Ukraine invaded by the Russian troops, European defense and the fight against extremism. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, should not win this war that he started and through which he tries to move the borders by force, von der Leyen said, adding that they remain with Ukraine, and this is the only way in which they can preserve the freedom and prosperity of the European Union.
At the EPP Congress, an extensive electoral manifesto was unanimously voted, in which the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the free travel Schengen Area is demanded, among other things. The unanimity cracked, however, after only a few hours. Austria still has objections to the admission of the two countries, members of the EU since 2007 and which will only enter Schengen at the end of this month with the air and sea borders, not with the land borders. About 25 million Romanians and Bulgarians remain, the press writes, second-rate Europeans, only because this is the will of the Austrian conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer whose party is, in turn, affiliated to the EPP. Although the community statistics contradict them, the chancellor and his executive team accuse, with an insistence that is already tiring for everyone, the waves of illegal migrants from Africa or Asia that would arrive in his country through Romania. In Bucharest, Nehammer discussed both with the president Klaus Ioahnnis,the ex-Liberal leader, and with the social-democratic prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, but his position remained unchanged: currently, the Schengen system does not work, therefore, it cannot be extended. (LS)