Radio România Internațional

Tag: Bucharest

  • October 22, 2016

    October 22, 2016

    CETA – Romania will carry on negotiations with Canada on lifting visa requirements for Romanians, irrespective of the decisions on the EU – Canada free trade agreement. President Klaus Iohannis said, at the end of the European Council meeting in Brussels, that talks on this topic would follow their appointed course and that there was no deadline for completing them. Negotiations on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) have been resumed in Brussels today, after last night they were suspended because of the opposition of the Belgian region of Wallonia, which is against a number of provisions in the text. Romania has pinned its hopes on CETA, on which the lifting of visa requirements for its citizens depended. More specifically, Bucharest had reached a deal with Ottawa to allow visa-free entry for its citizens as of December next year, in exchange for Romania giving up its objections to CETA. In fact, President Klaus Iohannis had announced yesterday morning that an agreement had been reached on a gradual elimination of visas. Because of Wallonias veto, the EU-Canada trade agreement is currently suspended, and so is the issue of visa requirements for Romanians.




    OFFICIAL VISIT – The PM of Romania, Dacian Cioloş, says he has only heard praises for the professionalism of the Romanian troops taking part in missions in Sarajevo and Pristina. Dacian Cioloş and the Defence Minister, Mihnea Motoc, were on an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo yesterday. In Sarajevo, the two had talks with the commanders of the NATO and EU missions and meetings with the Romanian military taking part in missions in the Western Balkans. PM Cioloş said the region had great strategic importance for Romania, which is interested in ensuring an improvement of the local situation. Romania has 40 troops deployed as part of the EUFOR mission in Bosnia, alongside 20 other countries, including 15 EU member states. In Pristina, the head of the Romanian government announced that in 2017 the number of Romanian troops participating in the KFOR mission in Kosovo would increase, although it would not reach its past levels. At present 56 Romanians take part in NATOs KFOR mission.




    ILLEGAL MIGRANTS – Small groups of illegal migrants were found yesterday on Romanias western and north-eastern borders. In the west, 7 Pakistani citizens were caught trying to illegally cross into Romania from Serbia. In the north-east, 6 Afghans attempted the illegal crossing of Romanias Ukrainian border. They said they were planning to reach a western European country.




    NATO – The Black Sea region is a geostrategic region where threats for NATO and for its eastern and southern partners overlap, including migration, terror groups and trafficking, said Gen. Nicolae Ciucă, Chief of general Staff of the Romanian Army. He represented Romania at the Strategic Military Partner Conference organised in Bucharest by NATOs Allied Command Transformation. Attending were representatives of 70 NATO member and partner countries. Columbia and Nigeria took part for the first time in talks in this context. The Strategic Military Partner Conference convenes every year and is the main NATO forum discussing the transformations and future challenges for the Alliance and its partners. The main topic of this years talks was the prospective enlargement of partnerships with the North-Atlantic Alliance.




    TENNIS – The WTA Finals kick off tomorrow in Singapore. The tournament has 7 million US dollars in prize money. The Romanian Simona Halep, seed no 3 in this competition, yesterday found out her opponents in the group stage. She will play in the Red Group against top seed and world no 1 Angelique Kerber (Germany), Madison Keys (SUA) and Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia). The White Group includes Polands Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic), Garbine Muguruza (Spain), with the last spot in this group to be filled by either Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova or Britians Johanna Konta. Simona Halep takes part for the third time in the WTA Finals, after having played the 2014 finals against Serena Williams, and leaving the competition last year in the group stage. The tournament in Singapore is due to end on October 30. Also today, the Romanian player Monica Niculescu (no 51 in the world) takes on Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, in the Luxembourg final, in a tournament with 250,000 US dollars in total prize money.

  • The road from town to village

    The road from town to village

    Heavy traffic on the main streets linking the central area of Bucharest to the outskirts is a regular morning townscape, with cars and mini-buses staying in line to enter Romanias capital city. It is a phenomenon that has gained ground in recent years, as many people have moved to Bucharests satellite localities, but continue to commute to their offices every day, in the heart of the city. This is one of the elements defining a trend which was identified in Romania as early as 1997: every year a growing number of people choose to leave towns and move to villages and not vice versa. This internal migration is natural and has always been registered, but the emphasis is now being laid on the intensity and purpose of the phenomenon, says Vladimir Alexandrescu, the spokesperson for the National Institute for Statistics. He gave us more details about what happened in 2015.



    “Some 78,000 people have migrated from village to town, whereas approximately 107,000 others went in the opposite direction, moving from town to village. Experts can now draw some conclusions on the direction of this movement and the intensity of the phenomenon, analysed during a 16-year time span, as of 2000. For instance, in 2000, some 47,000 migrated from villages to towns, whereas 82,000 others migrated from towns to villages. There is an obvious difference. This trend has been further reported, with a relatively equal intensity so far. It became apparent in 2000. Before 1989, people had followed a different trend, moving from villages and setting their domicile in towns, in search of a job. The opposite trend was registered after 1989, and the intensity of the phenomenon was greater.



    By simply taking a look at the number of cars running from the outskirts to the city centre and vice-versa or taking a glimpse at the lavish newly built houses in the rural areas surrounding Bucharest, it is easy to draw a conclusion as to who is moving out. But things are not that simple, as Vladimir Alexandrescu underlines:



    The phenomenon gained maximum intensity in the 2008-2010 period, when the effects of the global economic crisis became apparent. It reached its peak in 2010, when no less than 133,000 people migrated from towns to villages. An annual difference of 30,000-40,000 people has been maintained since 2000, with a maximum difference being reported in 2010, when 133,000 people left towns, as compared to 96,000 people who left villages.



    Many of those who choose to abandon city life and settle down in villages are accompanied by children, the migration flow being more intense in the 20-30 age bracket, says the spokesperson for the National Institute for Statistics. The migration of pensioners or of those who reach retirement age is just as intense. “Those who already owned properties in rural areas, choose to return there, once they retire, as life in the countryside is cheaper, more affordable than in urban areas, Vladimir Alexandrescu underlines. It is equally important that they have not only a house, but also a plot of land, the air is less polluted, they can grow vegetables, which in some cases is one of the main reasons prompting them to move out.



    Andra Matzal, a journalist and translator, is one of those who choose to take a huge step and move 30 km off Bucharest. Andra Matzal.



    “I made this choice after having lived in Bucharest for years. I somehow got tired of the hustle and bustle of city life. Furthermore, I played with the idea of learning anew those very simple things that you tend to forget when living in a big city. And I refer to planting your own vegetables and growing your own produce, doing a certain type of physical work, which can only be beneficial, other than doing fitness. It is not easy to pay a rent in downtown Bucharest, nor in remoter districts. Apart from high rents, you have to pay for everything, from transport to outings with your friends. A coffee is extremely expensive. And, since I discovered that I can drink here a coffee which costs 3 lei, and not 8 lei, Im not willing to spend more. And this is ok, as the real price of things differs from that posted on shelves, for instance.



    In spite of all that, Andra Matzal does not live like a farmer, but she leads a sort of hybrid life, vacillating between urban and rural lifestyles. She commutes from her village to Bucharest, which is equally tiring and interesting for a journalist, and then she returns to her house in the countryside, where she can find peace of mind. Andra Matzal:



    “First of all, I think Ive changed a lot in the past four years. I learnt many practical things, from how to work the land or cook the vegetables we grow. There are also less concrete implications of these works. For instance, you have a more direct relation with nature. On the other hand, Ive become more selective when it comes to social activities. As a journalist, you have an almost natural tendency to be at the ‘epicenter of things. I also had the incredible chance to meet people that I couldnt have met otherwise. As a rule, you tend to surround yourself by people just like you. Or, coming from a city and settling in a place like this, you dont meet people like you, but discover people with different life stories, backgrounds, different temperaments and lifestyles, and you have a lot to learn from them. Last but not least I believe I am more organised and pragmatic than I used to be, and maybe a little more daring, braver.



    Some of the people that Andra Matzal has met in recent times, are also former Bucharesters, who just like her left the capital city and moved in the countryside. Some of them are experimenting, just like her, this type of hybrid existence, others chose to settle down further away, closer to the mountains and live a truly rustic life. To all of them, moving out meant individual adaptation, which will, in time, also have a strong impact on society as a whole.


    (Translated by C. Cotoiu)

  • Places worth visiting in 2016

    Places worth visiting in 2016

    In recent years, Romanias capital city, Bucharest, has become an increasingly attractive city- break destination, thanks to its flight connections, its hotels, whose facilities have improved significantly, and the rapid tourist development of Bucharests Old City Center. Also making Bucharest attractive as a tourist destination are its large-scale cultural events, such as the George Enescu International Festival. Another top tourist destination for foreign visitors is the Danube Delta, an immense wetland area, with reed beds which offer shelter and nesting place for lots of bird species, some of them on the verge of extinction. It is also in the Danube Delta that the European Unions southernmost town can be found, Sulina. Following the instatement of free navigation on the Danube, in 1829, the town of Sulina became one of Romanias thriving cities in the late 19th century, and the most important harbour on the Black Seas western coast.



    However, Transylvania retains the top position among Romanias most attractive tourist destinations, since here you can find most of the Apuseni Mountains natural attractions, the Saxon fortified churches, a wide range of cultural traditions as well as a quite diversified cuisine. Marian Constantinescu is editor-in-chief of “Travel Magazine and President of Romanias FIJET Tourism Press Club, an organization of tourism journalists.



    Marian Constantinescu believes Romania also has other places that are worth visiting in 2016: Many people became acquainted with the destination of the year 2016, it is highly commended by international publications and websites. On the other hand, Id also like to underline that tourists have more connections to the north-eastern city of Iasi. There are foreign hotel chains that have entered the market in Iasi, and from a town-planning and architectural point of view, today Iasi stands out as a city that can quite aptly claim the status of European cultural city. Iasi is worth visiting, with all its museums and, undoubtedly, also because it is a nostalgic city. There is a growing number of tourists coming from Israel, and the moment those international chains appeared in Iasi, it was a signal there were possibilities to do tourism in style.



    Located in north-eastern Romania, Iasi is one of the countrys largest cities, as well as a prominent university centre. The area surrounding the Palace of Culture, one of the citys landmarks, has been restructured and became an important commercial area, with lots of spaces tailored for event tourism. Also worth visiting in Iasi are the Three Hierarchs Monastery, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Golia Monastery, the Union Museum, the Printing Press Museum as well as the building of the “Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre.



    Journalist Marian Constantinescu did not stop at one Romanian tourist destination alone, which is worth visiting this year: Theres also something else which is worth visiting, the more so as spring is drawing near: the wooden churches in Maramures, for which European funding has been earmarked. They are included on UNESCOs World Heritage List and a circuit of the churches and monasteries in Maramures must be done by all means. I recommend a destination people usually pass through, yet they do not make their stopover there, the town of Targu Mures.



    Situated in northern Romania, Maramures boasts a significant forested area and equally impressive hunting and fishing resources. Along the centuries, the forest has provided to the inhabitants of Maramures the necessary raw material for the emergence and development of a genuine wood civilisation. Wooden churches and the tall wooden gates specific to Maramures stand proof of this civilization, being real works of folk art. Apart from woodworking, tourists will undoubtedly notice that each household is turned into a miniature-weaving centre, particularly in wintertime.



    Everything is made in a household, from folk costume pieces, which villagers usually wear on Sundays, when they go to church, or on big holy days, to carpets, rugs, and other artefacts, such as the traditional “cergi, that is fleecy blankets, or bed covers, which are usually white, or in black and red stripes. Apart from its famous wooden churches, Maramures boasts one of the most fascinating and wild areas in Romania, the Vaser Valley. 50 km long, this valley can hardly be compared to any other valley in the Carpathian Mountains. You can travel along the Vaser Valley, either by foot, as a backpacker, or by taking a ride on the traditional train, called “Mocanita. Either way, the trip will undoubtedly be a memorable experience and equally an adventure.



    Travel journalist Marian Constantinescu has also extended us the invitation to visit another tourist destination, which is within two- hour drive from Bucharest: “A big surprise for tourists is one of the former capitals of Wallachia, Targoviste, which now has an interesting tourist circuit to offer, including many museums. It earns its fame to ruler Vlad the Impaler, the more so as there is confusion nowadays, between Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. And, lets be honest, Dracula is and will further be the best selling and most advertised brand. Furthermore, its free advertising, as no one spends a dime on it. The stronghold is very well restored and worth visiting, just like the history, archaeology and art museums, which complement it. Decision-makers in the tourism industry have designed an interesting circuit, and you have a big surprise when visiting Targoviste.



    The big attraction of Targoviste is undoubtedly the Princely Court, a compound made up of 15th-18th century constructions. The first princely residence with an inner court and towers, whose ruins are still visible today, just like part of the walls and the underground, was built by order of ruler Mircea the Old (1386-1418). The succeeding rulers had the constructions dating back to Mircea the Old restored and added new ones. For instance, during the rule of Vlad the Impaler (1456-1462) the Chindia Tower, with a purely defensive role was built. It still juts over the vestiges of the Princely Court in Targoviste. The Princely Church, which is also on the premises of the Princely Court, was erected by order of Petru Cercel (1583-1585).

  • Samusocial shows us ‘Who we are”

    Samusocial shows us ‘Who we are”

    Adult homeless people from Bucharest have succeeded in mounting their first painting and graphic art exhibition: “Who are We?. The exhibitors were some of the beneficiaries of the project themed “People Through Art, run by the Samusocial Association from Romania.



    In the special setting offered by the Romana Gallery in Bucharest, 11 of the participants, homeless people, were very happy to exhibit paintings depicting their personal experiences. The paintings were covered in rags before the inauguration, and visitors had the opportunity to unveil them, to discover the universe of those people as well as the secrets of a world that surrounds us, but which we dont have enough time to take notice of.



    The coordinator of the “People Through Art project, visual arts educator Anca Florea, who also works as a volunteer for Samusocial, told us how it all started and how the project progressed.


    “It was my idea to initiate the project, I also wanted to work with other categories of people, to do something which is different from what we normally do. And it seemed to me the homeless have got potential. I met some of those people in private, people who could have done something in the field of arts. And I thought there might be more such people. And then, the idea crossed my mind, to initiate such a project. Then I approached Samusocial and named the project “People Through Art. They already had an occupational workshop project, where all sorts of decorative objects were manufactured. They called some people and we decided to have a workshop focussing on art for arts sake, painting and graphic art. We did some art only for personal development and in order to develop peoples expression capacity and artistic skills. It exceeded my expectations, we found people who were more open and willing to do things.



    The exhibition challenges us to know the others, to discover them as creators of beauty. Taking a look at the exhibited works, we just cannot help wondering who we are and what qualities lay dormant in our psyche. As for Anca Floreas experience with the people who were summoned for Samusocials art workshops, it came out as a telling example of mans ultimate need for beauty. Anca Florea told us something about a man who attended the workshop only once.



    I popped in, one morning, and he was already there, we introduced ourselves to one another. I asked him where he slept overnight and he told me he didnt sleep, he had been walking. Because it was very cold, we had a ringing frost. And that touched me deeply: he had been walking all night so as not to die of cold and yet, he was there. And he didnt complain for a single moment. I gave the workshop assignment, it was a technical assignment, he stopped for a while and suddenly said, ‘give me a sheet of paper so that I can make you a beautiful drawing. And I was so impressed with the fact that that man, having suffered so much, felt the need to do something beautiful. I think all of us have such a need, when we suffer, to compensate with something beautiful. And that seemed to me very relevant for what I do in my workshop.



    We asked Anca Florea what she thought of her students and how she drove them into discovering art :


    I found them really nice. A bit more reluctant, in the beginning. I was a bit more reluctant as well, as I hadnt had such an experience before, it was for the first time when I worked with homeless people. But they were also very perceptive and very open, and with a very pleasant atmosphere in the studio. Which means that I had a good time working with them, we cracked a joke or two, we laughed, we also did our job, I really had a good time in their company and they are the respectful type, they are people with whom you can get on, and with whom you can work. In my guiding efforts, I tried to get each of them find their own direction and their own style, I got them find topics for their paintings and drawings themselves. As thats what a work of art is about, its about putting something of you in there. And I tried to get them initiate their own pursuit and find those things which are important to them. So it was entirely up to them to find topics to that effect. Furthermore, I tried to give them some craftsmanship tips. When I work in personal development workshops I try to get people find their own direction. They have already built their own style. They work together, but they have their own style and I think thats something important, being able to find your own way of expression.



    One of the exhibiting artists is Liviu Lucian Marcu. He spoke about his paintings, which stemmed from his love for life, just like the titles of his works reveal, “The table of noise, or “The cherry-merry scumbag.


    All my life I was a drunkard, I loved life … so, I am somehow the opposite of Brancusi: I am a Moldavian, he is from Oltenia, he has ‘The Table of Silence, I have ‘The Table of Noise. In my mind, that table should have had glasses turned upside down, drunkards, tape recorders, a drunkard sleeping on the table. I couldnt paint them all, since I found it hard to do that, and it also was my first ever such work. I shall further develop it in the near future, I hope. The works I have done, I shall start them all over again. This time Ill be doing the work properly.



    In his turn, Bogdan Florin Ionescu paints faces.


    “I painted people, our folks, people I met in the painting studio. I had never painted before. At first I thought it was some sort of play and I relaxed. While playing, I got to like it.



    Some 20 people turned up for the workshop, but there were not more than 4 of them in the studio constantly, and they were not always the same. As for exhibitors, they were 11, the organizer of the “People Through Art “project has told us. That happens because, at the state-run soup kitchens, people were having their meals served at different times, so they were unable to turn up for the workshops constantly. But when they show up, they put in a lot of joy and thirst for the beautiful when they paint.



  • The George Severeanu memorial house

    The George Severeanu memorial house

    The ‘George Severeanu’ Museum is one of Bucharest’s most important museums, although less known to the public at large. It is one of the institutions included in the Bucharest History Museum. Located in downtown Bucharest, near the Victoria Road and the Romana Square, the house sheltering the museum was the residence of doctor Severeanu, a trailblazer in two very important domains: radiology and numismatics. This house is important not only for its intrinsic value but also for the exhibition it is hosting: a collection of “Maria and George Severanu” antiquities and coins.



    Dan Pirvulescu is the head of the history section of the Bucharest City Museum and he will tell us more about the Severeanu family: “Doctor George Severeanu was born on July 26, 1879 into the family of doctor Constantin Severeanu. Ever since his childhood, he showed a passion for collecting coins and historical objects, a passion which his father encouraged. In parallel with this passion, doctor George Severeanu also developed a significant medical career specializing in the field of radiology, being one of the pioneers in this specialization in Romania. He was also a university professor, mentoring an entire generation of doctors in the early 20th century. He was an outstanding personality of the Romanian numismatics and collected, all along his life, more than 11,000 numismatics and archeological objects, among which 9,000 coins. Doctor Severeanu was also involved in the setting up of the Romanian Numismatics Society alongside other personalities of the time. The year 1931 marked another landmark in his career, as he became the first director of the newly set-up museum of the city of Bucharest. His efforts also focused on the creation of a numismatics and medals section within the museum as well as on the publishing of the first magazine of the institution called ‘The Bucharests’. After 1938, George Severeanu took the first steps towards donating his collection to the Bucharest Museum. Shortly after his death, in the same year 1938, the donation documents were finalized by his wife. Maria Severeanu had a critical role in the development of doctor Severeanu’s career. She was the daughter of a boyar, Isaia Lerescu, who bequeathed her the house that is now showcasing the collection of Maria and George Severeanu.”



    Thanks to the fortune inherited by his wife, doctor Severeanu was able to enrich his collection along the years. And it was also thanks to her connections that he found the right premises to display this collection.



    Here is Dan Pirvulescu again at the microphone: “The building is considered a historical monument at present. It was built in the late 19th century by Take Cioranu who sold it to Isaia Lerescu, father of Maria Severeanu, in 1879. The house is representative for the architecture of Bucharest back in the day, a building characterized by the eclectic style. It has a surface of 379 square meters, with a basement, a ground, a first floor and a large attic. The collection is displayed in seven beautifully adorned halls with chandeliers, wooden ceilings, mirrors, painted windows, stoves and original furniture. There are several sets of crystal doors, which are also very beautiful. An old garage for carriages and several outbuildings are also located on the premises.”



    Part of doctor Severeanu’s collection is also displayed around the house. Here is Dan Pirvulescu again: “In 1994, the main collection of George Severeanu’s exhibition as it originally became known to public back in 1956, was removed for safekeeping due to the advanced degradation of the premises. It was only 10 years later that the city hall commenced a programme of refurbishing and consolidating the building, a programme that was completed in 2008. The permanent exhibition of the Severeanu Museum is still closed to the public, but we’ll hopefully open it next year. In the meantime we’ll be staging a couple of exhibitions, which include part of the doctor’s collection. At present, based on an agreement with the Archeology Institute of the Romanian Academy, we have staged a temporary exhibition with archeological artifacts from the Maria and George Severeanu collection as well as a large number of ancient coins. The doctor’s collection is one of the largest in the country and includes ancient Greek vases, Tanagra figurines, bronze artifacts, Roman glassware, jewels and ceramics belonging to the ancient cultures of Cucuteni, Vidastra, Wittemberg and Boian, purchased by Severeanu in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy.”



    The numismatic collection — a very spectacular collection– comprises coins from the ancient Greece, from Getae-Dacia, from Rome, Byzantium, from the Celtic world, coins issued in the Romanian principalities in the Middle Ages as well as coins from the modern period of history.

  • Romanian-German Relations

    Romanian-German Relations

    For many years now, Germany has been Romanias main trade partner and the third-largest investor in this country, and the development potential remains high. Romanias relationship with that state is a strategic one, president Klaus Iohannis said after the talks with his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, in Bucharest. Germanys president, on a three-day visit to Romania, said that Romania needed a legal and safe framework to benefit from its economic potential. He made it clear that Germany closely followed the reforms and the anti-corruption fight in Romania. Justice, he said, can provide solutions to the existing problems and the National Anti-Corruption Directorate is one of the main pillars of the reform process.



    The Romanian-German talks in Bucharest also focused on the forthcoming NATO summit in Warsaw, which in the two presidents view, must convey a strong message of solidarity, unity and cohesion under the present international circumstances. Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romanias stand on the balanced and proportional strengthening of NATO eastern flank, its southern dimension included, given the security developments in the Black Sea area. After the German foreign minister had recently said that NATOs actions on the eastern flank irritated Russia, the German president had to explain in Bucharest that Germany did not deny the evidence and the threat, but it wanted a more favourable climate for its relationship with Russia.



    On Monday, President Joachim Gauck also had meetings with parliamentary and government officials. On that occasion, the Senate speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu deplored the fact that many Western countries had not agreed to Romanias Schengen accession for domestic policy reasons. He said that the European free movement area had been turned into a political instrument. As long as Romania is not integrated into the Schengen area, we have a missing element that places us on a lower position than other European countries, Tariceanu went on to say.



    On the second and last but one day of his visit to Romania, Germanys president Joachim Gauck will give an address on Europe, at the invitation of the New Europe College and the German Embassy in Bucharest, and together with president Klaus Iohannis he will travel to Sibiu, European capital of culture in 2007 and an important hub of coexistence between Romanians and ethnic Germans. Moreover, Joachim Gauck commended the Romanian model of interethnic coexistence and thanked the Romanian authorities for the way they manage the German minoritys cultural and identity problems. He said that was what Europe actually meant. The Romanian and German president agreed that Romania and Germany should cooperate in concrete projects of restoration of the fortified Evangelical churches in Transylvania.

  • Romanian-German Relations

    Romanian-German Relations

    For many years now, Germany has been Romanias main trade partner and the third-largest investor in this country, and the development potential remains high. Romanias relationship with that state is a strategic one, president Klaus Iohannis said after the talks with his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, in Bucharest. Germanys president, on a three-day visit to Romania, said that Romania needed a legal and safe framework to benefit from its economic potential. He made it clear that Germany closely followed the reforms and the anti-corruption fight in Romania. Justice, he said, can provide solutions to the existing problems and the National Anti-Corruption Directorate is one of the main pillars of the reform process.



    The Romanian-German talks in Bucharest also focused on the forthcoming NATO summit in Warsaw, which in the two presidents view, must convey a strong message of solidarity, unity and cohesion under the present international circumstances. Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romanias stand on the balanced and proportional strengthening of NATO eastern flank, its southern dimension included, given the security developments in the Black Sea area. After the German foreign minister had recently said that NATOs actions on the eastern flank irritated Russia, the German president had to explain in Bucharest that Germany did not deny the evidence and the threat, but it wanted a more favourable climate for its relationship with Russia.



    On Monday, President Joachim Gauck also had meetings with parliamentary and government officials. On that occasion, the Senate speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu deplored the fact that many Western countries had not agreed to Romanias Schengen accession for domestic policy reasons. He said that the European free movement area had been turned into a political instrument. As long as Romania is not integrated into the Schengen area, we have a missing element that places us on a lower position than other European countries, Tariceanu went on to say.



    On the second and last but one day of his visit to Romania, Germanys president Joachim Gauck will give an address on Europe, at the invitation of the New Europe College and the German Embassy in Bucharest, and together with president Klaus Iohannis he will travel to Sibiu, European capital of culture in 2007 and an important hub of coexistence between Romanians and ethnic Germans. Moreover, Joachim Gauck commended the Romanian model of interethnic coexistence and thanked the Romanian authorities for the way they manage the German minoritys cultural and identity problems. He said that was what Europe actually meant. The Romanian and German president agreed that Romania and Germany should cooperate in concrete projects of restoration of the fortified Evangelical churches in Transylvania.

  • Athlete of the Week – Rugby player Florin Vlaicu

    Athlete of the Week – Rugby player Florin Vlaicu

    Proving their mettle in the ongoing edition are Romania, Namibia, Argentina XV, Emerging Italy, Spain and Uruguay. Romania’s national rugby team, also dubbed the Oak Leaf Knights dominated their debut game against Namibia scoring two tries in the first half, one of which being a successful conversion of a penalty kick Romania first scored thanks to Florin Vlaicu who on 7 minutes converted a penalty kick. On 9 minutes it was also Florin Vlaicu who again converted a penalty kick, and early into the game the Romanian went 4 points up from their opponents.



    Our national squad succeeded in scoring a penalty try and found themselves eight points clear from their contenders. Late into the first half Ionut Dumitru scored another try, securing an 18-nil lead for Romania. Early into the second half it was also Vlaicu who missed the opportunity to convert a penalty kick, yet on 68 minutes Vlaicu converted a penalty kick, securing a comfortable 20-nil win for Romania. Namibia managed to convert a try late into the game, but the fate of the confrontation had already been sealed.



    For his excellent run in last week’s fixture against Namibia, Radio Romania International has designated Florin Vlaicu the Athlete of the Week.



    29-year old Florin Vlaicu is a Bucharester, born and bred, and is 1.86 meters tall. He is basically a utility back player, meaning that he can play several positions, fly-half, inside center or full back. In Romania, Vlaicu was signed up by Steaua Bucharest, Farul Constanţa and CSM Olimpia Bucharest. Over 2013-2015, with Bucharest Wolves, Vlaicu played in the Amlin Challenge Cup. Since 2015, he has been signed up by the Italian squad Rugby Calvisano. In 2006, at the age of 20, Vlaicu made his debut with the national team, in a fixture against Ukraine at the European Nations Cup.



    Florin Vlaicu participated in three editions of the World Rugby Cup, in France, in 2007, in Australia and New Zealand in 2011 and the one in Britain, in 2015. Until March 2016, Vlaicu boasts 89 caps for the national squad. Florin Vlaicu is the best scorer ever for Romania, with a record of 8 tries, 118 conversions, and 132 successfully converted penalty kicks, which earned the Romanian rugby player 702 points all told.


  • May 2, 2016 UPDATE

    May 2, 2016 UPDATE

    Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians, which make up the religious majority in Romania, celebrate as of Monday the Bright Week, the first week after Easter, when light is seen as the symbol of the Resurrection of Christ. In churches, on the second day of Easter, the same religious service was celebrated as the one on Resurrection night.



    More than 35,000 tourists were in Romanian seaside resorts for the first two days of the summer season, which started officially on May 1. Hotel had attractive offers during this period, with prices including various facilities. As a result, for instance, the resort of Mamaia was almost fully booked. High occupancy rates were also reported in the resorts of Vama Veche, Eforie and Costineşti. During the Easter holiday, tourists also had access to the new beach sections on the Romanian sea coast. The beaches on the south of the Romanian Black Sea coast were extended by several tens of hectares, as part of EU-funded projects with a combined budget of 170 million Euros.



    The Prime Minister of Romania, Dacian Cioloş, will submit to President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday a request to discharge Vlad Alexandrescu as Culture Minister and a nomination for his replacement. The dismissal comes against the backdrop of a scandal at the Romanian Opera House in Bucharest, triggered by discontent with the successive appointments for the director post as well as with the substantial imbalances between the salaries paid to the Romanian and the foreign dancers. Protests led to the cancellation of three shows, and PM Ciolos asked for Vlad Alexandrescu’s resignation. In messages posted on Facebook or published in the media, Vlad Alexandrescu says he was forced out because he upset various interest groups. The head of government said he had not been informed of the problems Vlad Alexandrescu claimed to have been facing and promised he would urge the new minister to carry on the reforms initiated by Alexandrescu.



    Some 200 US troops will reach the Republic of Moldova from Romania, for joint military exercises, between May 3 and 20, signalling a stronger American military presence in the region, Associated Press reports. According to the Defence Ministry in Chisinau, the US troops are accompanied by armoured vehicles. Taking part in the drills are 165 troops from the former Soviet republic. The US Embassy in Chisinău has announced that the exercises, which illustrate the on-going cooperation between Moldova and the USA, will include first aid and evacuation training, with a view to providing on-site maintenance and demolition assistance. The Republic of Moldova joined the NATO Partnership for Peace in 1994.



    The Romanian tennis player Patricia Ţig (134 WTA), Monday scored a surprising win against American Sloane Stephens (16 WTA), whom she defeated 6-2, 6-3, in the second round of the WTA Premier tournament in Madrid, which has 4.7 million US dollars in prize money. In the eighth-finals, Ţig will be facing the winner of the match between Madison Keys and Barbora Strycova. Also qualified in the second round of the Madrid tournament are two other Romanians, Simona Halep, seed no. 6, and Sorana Carstea. Halep played the final of the Madrid tournament in 2014, when she lost to Russia’s Maria Sharapova.

  • Events for Bikers

    Events for Bikers

    This spring a new edition of the Bike Fair was held in Bucharest. The event had a lot to offer for bikepolo, urban trail or indoor cycling marathon fans.



    Valentin Ionescu, general director with the Association of Bike Traders in Romania, who organized the event, told us more: “This was the second edition of the fair. The Bike Fair is in fact an annual bike exhibition, the only event of its kind devoted solely to the bike industry, to bike enthusiasts and the biker community. We tried to make the fair as appealing as possible to guests. Apart from the exhibition itself, showcasing the latest bike brands from Romania, we also organized a series of activities. During the three days of the event, visitors could basically test-ride brand new bicycles, the latest 2016 models, be they touring bicycles, mountain bicycles, bikes for children or any other model exhibited in the fair. In parallel, we invited biker communities to join us, and we built an indoor bike track. It was a thrilling experience: we had bikepolo games, there was a contest for children, organized jointly with the Romanian police, and we tried to provide some road safety education, telling the children what to do when riding a bike in traffic. We also had spinning classes, organized by WorldClass gym, and many other similar activities”


    Valentin Ionescu explains the basics of a bikepolo game: “The guys built a sort of arena, a large area covering some 600 square meters, where the game is played. The rules of the game are virtually the same as those of regular, horseback polo, except that instead of horses we use bikes. It’s a very intense and even somewhat dangerous sport, which is why we gave visitors the possibility of giving it a try, entering the arena, learning to play and seeing how it feels, apart from the demonstration games themselves. It was a novelty for the fair, because bikepolo is an underrated sport in Bucharest, and we thought we could increase its popularity by introducing it in the fair”.



    Children coming to the fair had a lot of attractions available to them. Valentin Ionescu: “Children could test-ride bicycles designed for them, coming in various sizes and for all age brackets. My colleagues on site asked them various questions: what kind of rear lighting you need, what kind of headlights to use, what do to when you see a certain road sign, the distance you need to take from the vehicle in front of you, about the right of way, and so on. The idea is to be ready from a very early age, to know the important stuff”.



    This was a fruitful cooperation with the Romanian Police, teaching the safety basics of riding a bike in the city.



    Cycling is a growing phenomenon, fueled by the expansion of the network of special bike tracks in large cities. This was also visible in the large number of visitors to the Bike Fair in Bucharest.



    Valentin Ionescu: “The event is gaining prestige. Prior to last year there was no single event devoted entirely to cycling. The first edition held last year was an important achievement. This year’s edition was on an even wider scale: an exhibition area 8,400 square meters, 65 exhibitors, over 16,000 visitors. The scope of the event shows not only how big the market is, but also how important this market is for Romanians”.



    With the success this year, organizers already look ahead towards next year’s edition. A separate bike fair is scheduled to take place this autumn, bringing together bike manufacturers with special discounts on offer.



    Valentin Ionescu: “People look for all sorts of bicycles: there are some who take out their bikes 10-20 times a year, so they are looking for a city bike or for a mountain bike, or a bike that you can use in amateur competitions. And then there are the passionate bikers, who enroll in contests, who need bikes that must rise to the expectations of a contest. There are also touring bikers, who use bikes to travel large distances, go on long trips, to the woods near Bucharest. Basically, every weekend the biker community organizers dozens of events, for all types of bikers”.

  • A humanitarian campaign for the disadvantaged

    A humanitarian campaign for the disadvantaged

    Starting this March, Bucharesters can donate clothes to the disadvantaged, by placing them in the container in front of the Embassy of the Czech Republic and the Czech Centre in Bucharest. These institutions, who had the initiative of placing the container, have collaborated with a series of NGOs to collect clothes and footwear, for humanitarian purposes. Similar containers have already been placed in over 90 towns and cities across Romania, but that in front of the Czech Embassy is the first placed in Bucharest. Iulia Ţurcanu, event coordinator at the Czech Centre, has told us how surprised she was by people’s reaction, the more so as they embraced the idea immediately. Iulia Ţurcanu.




    “It was something unexpected to us, too, because we have to empty the container every day, and not once a week, as we initially thought. Also, many clothes are donated at the weekend. This is proof of the fact that such actions were needed in Bucharest and that people are willing to donate and don’t want to throw away the clothes they no longer need. We found out that such containers had already been placed in several cities, after doing some research to find out how we could get a container. We had the idea in the autumn of 2015, when we collected clothes at the Czech Centre for the refugees on the Serbian border and took them there. People donated huge amounts of clothes and answered our call in large numbers. So we thought we would need space to collect clothes all year round and tried to find out what could be done. It was then that we discovered that Bucharest didn’t have something similar. Apart from clothes collection actions carried out on specific days and in specific places, there is no other place where you can go, all year round, to leave clothes, just like in Prague and other western cities. Apart from containers for plastic or paper recycling, there are containers for clothes”.


    The clothes donated by people and left in the container before the Czech Embassy are then taken over by local NGOs, which distribute them to disadvantaged people, both in Romania and abroad. Thus, the organisers want to react and respond to such situations, in which humanitarian aid is needed, to help groups of disadvantaged people, who are in permanent need. One of the NGOs that got involved in the action initiated by the Czech Centre is Samusocial (The Mobile Aid and Emergency Service) which provides support to desocialised people. Monica Tautul with the Samusocial Service has further details:




    “The Czech Centre team has brought the collected clothes to our headquarters, and we managed to distribute the donations over a short period of time, to both mothers who needed clothes for their children, and to grown ups, who are alone and who are in dire need of clothes. Another part of the donations made at the Czech Centre have been distributed in the street, the beneficiaries being people whom the Samusocial mobile team met in the streets of Bucharest. Also, the homeless and the families with children who come to our centre will also receive clothes, but as I’ve just said, most of them will be distributed in the street. Throughout the year, the Samusocial Association is carrying out various clothes collecting campaigns, and to that end, we use various communication channels, as well as our website and Facebook page, to announce details on our program. Thus, those who have the possibility of making such donations can bring them over, to our headquarters. I noticed that people have become increasingly aware of and responsive to such actions and are more willing to help others.”



    Iulia Ţurcanu has also underlined the Bucharesters’ availability to help others:



    ”Actually, the results have exceeded our expectations. We are a very small team at the Czech Centre, and I can honestly say it is not very easy for us to manage the clothes container issue right now. That is why we want to attract and involve in the project as many NGOs as possible, to help us distribute the clothes as soon as possible, because we don’t have enough storage space. So, I can say we have been pleasantly surprised by the incredibly high number of people answering our call and donating clothes. The container remains in front of the Czech Centre and it will stay there as long as people continue to bring in clothes. We hope to inspire as many people as possible through our actions and other initiatives of this type, because such projects are truly necessary”.

    (Translated by D. Vijeu)



  • Travelling Letters on the Subway

    Travelling Letters on the Subway

    The book ‘The History of Letters’ by Italian writer Mario-Ruggiero Lucci, endorses the idea put forth by Greek historian Hellanicos, which claims that the first letter ever sent was written by the daughter of Persian king Cyrus the Great. According to the book, the art of writing letters starts in the 6th century BC, over two millennia after the emergence of writing itself. However, this art form peaked in the 18th century, when it was even taught in school.



    The modern era has made this art form obsolete, with the emergence of brief and to the point e-mail or mobile text messages. Brief is now the norm. Which is what makes unusual the undertaking of the Bucharest subway managers, which handed travelers hand written letters in sealed envelopes.



    Evelyne Croitoru, head of the Metrorex press bureau, told us how that came to be: “Subway riders had a very pleasant surprise. Over 700 traveling letters with good thoughts, positive messages, meant to lift people’s spirits, were handed out. We worked with the ‘Art does not bite’ Association, a small group of volunteers who hand wrote the letters, which were placed in envelopes with a wax seal, with the message ‘Hand Forward the Joy’. The travelers were pleasantly surprised, they thanked us, someone told us that it was for the first time in their lives when they got a handwritten letter, others told us that our gesture made their day. In fact, it was the dialog that rewarded our effort.”



    Travelers were glad of the surprise, as our interlocutor told us: “The subway became more than just a means of transportation, it became a symbol of harmony, of emotion, of the joy of living in a nicer way. This event is in its second edition. We were encouraged by the warmth with which the travelers received our messages last year. We loved the interest shown by the media, and we are convinced that the subway is a great venue for such events.”



    The Bucharest metro has even more surprises in store, as Evelyne Croitoru told us: “We have more pleasant surprises in store for the travelers. One is the fourth edition of the Subway Classical Music Festival, which we also run with the ‘Art does not bite’ Association. We are talking about five days of live concerts in four major subway stations, which will delight the riders with tunes by Verdi, Mozart, Enescu and Strauss. Cristina Dobrescu and Loredana Munteanu are the architects and directors of the moments of joy we offer to the riders. We will provide details on a dedicated Facebook page.”



    There were even more events in the subway, with readings, songs, and even tango. We asked Evelyne Croitoru where they got the idea of turning the subway into a place for culture: “We realized people enjoy it when you offer them more than just a ride. We learned from other European countries, we looked at other subway systems, how nice it is when there is a flash mob event. A makeshift orchestra shows up playing Ode to Joy or something else, then they discreetly walk away, and people are happy, they applaud, then go on their way, delighted with the moment. We also noticed that a lot of people riding the subway are sad, deep in their thoughts, are worried, and we wanted to provide them with a break. We did it in the previous editions of the Subway Classical Music Festival, with the Traveling Book event, we had public readings at the subway, we had pantomime theater with the Masca Theater, and many other activities aiming to bring joy into the hearts of travelers, at least for a few moments.”



    We asked Evelyne Croitoru to read us a few of the messages in the traveling letters: “ ‘Dear traveler, life is full of challenges meant to put us to the test, with our strengths and our dreams, but be strong, remind people around you that they matter for you’. And here is another: ‘Dear traveler, you can keep this letter or hand it to a stranger in the city. Smile! Funnily enough, it works most of the time. In fact, almost every time. We wish you an excellent day! Signed: Metrorex.”



    The Traveling Letters event brought good wishes to people on the subway, a promise to make their trip a bit more pleasant.

  • The Dalles Family and Foundation

    The Dalles Family and Foundation

    Lying at the heart of Romania’s capital city Bucharest, on one of the city’s great thoroughfares and quite close to the University building, the Dalles Foundation is a place Bucharesters are very familiar with. However, facts about those who founded it and gave its name are less known, that is members of the Dalles family. Speaking now is the historian Dan Falcan, providing an outline of the family’s past.



    ”Ioan Dalles was of Greek origin, and his parents had arrived in the Romanian Principalities during the Phanariot period, just like many other Greeks. He was born in 1816 and became a merchant during his years of maturity. With the money he made from the business he bought a couple of estates, the most important being the one in Bucsani, Dambovita County, close by the town of Targoviste. It was a large and beautiful estate, purchased from princess Cleopatra Trubetskoy who had a famous house on the Victoria Road, which can be admired to this day. The Bucsani estate had a surface area of more than 100 hectares. Ioan Dalles married Elena Anastasescu, daughter of some landowners from Dambovita. Together they amassed a great fortune, the family being rated as one of the richest in the country, at that time, before 1918. The family was very hardworking, very dedicated to the people of those places and took great care of the peasants working on their estate. “



    That was the reason why, in 1907, the year of the great peasant uprisings, the Bucsani estate and the Dalles family were spared from the rage of the mutineers. But for all their being hardworking, honest and considerate, members of the family seem to have been haunted by bad luck and tragedy. With details on that, here is historian Dan Falcan one again.




    ”From Ioan G. Dalles’s marriage to Elena, three children resulted. Unfortunately, the elder one, George, died when he was only three, since at that time juvenile mortality rate was extremely high. Then they had a daughter, Dora, who was born in 1875, but who died in 1892, when she was only 17 as a result of unrequited love. But old Ioan Dalles had died in the meantime. We need to say Ioan Dalles was 33 years older than his wife, which was quite appreciable. However, they made a happy and united couple. So Ioan G. Dalles died in 1886, and their youngest child, Ioan I. Dalles, better known as Jean Dalles, the one who gave the name of today’s foundation, died rather young, at the age of 40. “




    Once Jean Dalles died, the family’s fortune and business were taken over by his mother. Elena Dalles would actually be the one thanks to whom the family’s name will make history. Surviving all sorts of misfortunes, she did not give up on her ideals, nor did she stray away from the charity-giving path, for a single moment. And that’s how the Dalles Foundation was born, of Elena’s desire. With details on that, here is historian Dan Falcan once again.




    ”No matter how hard fate hit her, she believed her big fortune must be made available to the others, so that she may be able to do as much good as possible. After Jean Dalles’ death, she took the decision to set up a foundation bearing the name of her son, aimed at promoting Romanian cultural values. Elena Dalles died in 1921 and her will stipulated that her entire fortune, accounting for more than 20 million lei, should be donated to the Romanian Academy, so that the foundation could be set up. Unfortunately, legal entanglements and the international economic crisis that broke out, postponed the setting up of the foundation until 1932, 11 years after Elena’s death. The ultimate aim of the foundation was the education of the Romanians. It was some sort of an open-to-everyone university. Anyone was free to attend its courses. The courses were offered by leading names of science and culture of the interwar period, such as historian Nicolae Iorga, composers George Enescu and Mihail Jora, writers Camil Petrescu and Mihail Sadoveanu.”



    Designed by architect Horia Theodoru and built by engineer Emil Prager, the building of the Dalles Foundation today is partially covered by a block of flats built by the communists in the 1950s. Yet despite that, the reputation of the foundation, which was operational as an open university during the communist regime as well, has in no way been marred by anything.





  • Bucharest City Break

    Bucharest City Break

    Even though Transylvania, Bucovina, Maramures and the Danube Delta are top of the list in terms of tourist destinations in Romania, Bucharest is one destination that is too obvious to overlook. Statistics show that in the last 15 years Romanias capital has tripled its capacity to accommodate tourists, to the amount of 20,000, used in 2014 by 1.5 million tourists. On average, they spent two nights in the city. 60% of the tourists came from abroad. Two nights amount to either a weekend or a city break.



    Dan Anghelescu, tourism consultant and secretary general of the Romanian branch of FIJET, the leading association of travel journalists, explained why Bucharest is now a major destination for tourists:



    Dan Anghelescu: “First of all, Bucharest has become a city break destination thanks to the 8 low cost airlines that fly into the main airport, at Otopeni. We already have about 90 direct flights, therefore 90 cities are linked directly to Bucharest, each and every day. The competition is fierce and the flow of tourists constant, therefore Bucharest is now on the list of European capitals as a city break destination. On the other hand, there is a lot to do in Bucharest, starting with a visit to the Palace of Parliament, the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon, which most foreign tourists find riveting. You also have many museums at very affordable prices, and then there is the Old Centre of the city, with many clubs, excellent food, and quite affordable. As a tourist, you can spend a great day in Bucharest with 40 Euros.



    With a population topping two million, Bucharest is by far the largest city in the country, followed by Constanta, the main port on the Black Sea, with about 400,000 people. Even though Bucharest is a city in the plains, it is not necessarily completely flat. There are a few hills, but their altitude is no more than 100 meters. The river Dambovita crosses the city northwest to southeast. At the same time, on the eastern edge of the city, Colentina River forms a row of lakes. During the summer, temperatures can exceed 30 degrees Celsius, while in winter they can go as low as minus 15. Dan Anghelescu has recently launched a project, BookingBucharest.ro, in order to provide as much help as possible to foreign tourists and to promote Bucharest as a tourist destination:



    Dan Anghelescu: “As a native of Bucharest who has worked in tourism for so many years, since I was also a tourist guide, providing tours of the city, I know Bucharest very well. I am proud of being a Bucharester, I am glad to see it develop and grow by the day. I started promoting it, because I noticed it is not as popular as it should, and we Romanians dont promote it properly. My colleague Traian Badulescu and I have started to put together a tourist guide of Bucharest, with the monuments you should see, the sites you should visit, where you can eat, useful information. This includes ways you can reach Bucharest, transit from the airport or the railway station, a map of the underground, a map of public transport, and so forth. Its all the information that a tourist needs. For the time being we have a Romanian and an English version, but we plan to have it in due time in Italian, French and Spanish.



    A city break package includes a flight, transit from the airport to the hotel and back, two or three-night accommodation, with optional trips, such as a city tour with a traditional meal or a 4 to 8 hour city tour accompanied by a guide. In summer you can see the city by riding the special double decker tourist bus. For the small amount of around 5 Euro, you can ride the bus the entire day, and you can get on and off any of the buses at any time.



    Dan Anghelescu: “The biggest expense is going to be the flight. If you manage to plan ahead of time and purchase a low cost ticket, you can get it as low as 30 Euros, which is as much as you may expect to spend to travel from the airport in Otopeni to the city. Five star accommodation is available, if you wish it to be at that level, and that is the type of accommodation typically used by casino goers. Regular tourists usually go for 3 or 4 star accommodation while on a city break, but you also have lots of young people going for hostels or rented apartments. Which means you can get away with 10 Euros per night for accommodation and 60 Euros for the plane ticket, if you plan ahead. From the airport in Otopeni there is also a bus going downtown, which costs 20 lei, that is less than 5 Euros.



    In addition to the more and more diverse hotels, and restaurants with more and more diversified menus, with clubs and casinos, Bucharest also has a rich cultural and artistic life. Concerts abound, with selections for the most discriminating tastes. To name just one important event, the George Enescu international symphonic music festival is hosted by the city every other year.

  • Preparations for RadiRo

    Preparations for RadiRo

    The famous conductor Kristjan Jarvi, musical director of the German Radio Orchestras and Choirs, will be the honorary director of the third RadiRo Festival, organised this autumn in Bucharest by Radio Romania. The directors of the previous editions were Christian Zaccharias and Cristian Mandeal. Jarvi won over the Romanian public with his spectacular first performance in the opening of the George Enescu Festival in 2015. Born in 1972 in Tallinn, Estonia, Kristjan Jarvi emigrated at the age of 6, together with his family, to the United States, and settled in New York. He studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music, and conducting at the University of Michigan.



    His original approach to conducting and his projects that combine various music genres prompted Reuters to describe him as “one of the canniest, and most innovative programmers on the classical scene.” He is currently working with several orchestras in Europe and the USA. As honorary director of RadiRo 2016, he will bring to Bucharest, for the second time, for two concerts, the German Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, the oldest such ensemble in Europe. Kristjan Jarvi said he was very honoured to take part in the event and to return to Romania, because the first time he came here he was impressed with the warmth and love of the Romanian public. Such connections, he went on to say, cannot exist without love and true commitment, and neither can music.



    The invitation to conductor Kristjan Jarvi was made by the president of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Ovidiu Miculescu, in Leipzig, where several meetings took place between the leaders of Radio Romania and ARD. On this occasion, talks were initiated regarding possible joint projects of the two institutions, with a focus on minorities issues and cultural initiatives. Also, the ARD director general, Karola Wille, said she was honoured to see the German Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra invited to take part in the International Festival of Radio Orchestras in Bucharest. The event, organised by Radio Romania, showcases the diverse repertoire, the innovative style and the artistic excellence of the radio symphonic orchestras in Europe.



    (Translated by Ana Maria Popescu)