Radio România Internațional

Tag: case

  • March 7, 2025

    March 7, 2025

    EU The European Union has put together an arms plan agreed on Thursday evening by the leaders of the member states. The plan will prioritise strengthening defence on the eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, to withstand Russia’s expansionist tendencies. European leaders have once again expressed their support for Ukraine and for providing security guarantees, together with the United States, if a ceasefire is agreed. Member states will have a fund of EUR 150 billion available for defence spending. The priorities are air and missile defence systems, artillery, high-precision strike systems, drones and anti-drone systems, various types of ammunition and AI technology. The Baltic states, Poland and Romania have garnered support for their view of prioritising the eastern flank in terms of EU-funded projects.

     

    TREASON The Bucharest Court of Appeals last night ordered that 2 members of the so-called “Vlad Ţepeş” Command be placed under pre-trial arrest. They are charged with treason and ties to Russian agents. Four other members of the organisation are under court supervision for a period of 60 days. Radu Theodoru, a retired major general, aged 101, is also being investigated as a suspect in the case. According to the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism Offences, the group aimed to replace the constitutional order and pull Romania out of NATO.

     

    ELECTIONS The non-affiliated mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, has today submitted his candidacy and list of support signatures for the presidential elections in May to the Central Electoral Bureau. The independent candidate Călin Georgescu, backed in the presidential race by AUR and POT parties (in opposition), will also register his candidacy today. On Sunday, the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu, backed by the ruling coalition’s electoral alliance, “Romania Forward”, is expected to arrive at the BEC headquarters. Another competitor is the former Social-Democratic prime minister Victor Ponta, who announced that he will run as an independent and that he will register his candidacy next week. Prospective presidential candidates have one week left to register with the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC), as the registration deadline is March 15. Candidates must submit lists with at least 200,000 supporter signatures.

     

    ECONOMY Romania’s economy grew by 0.9% last year, and in the last quarter of 2024 the GDP rose by 0.7% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023 and by 0.8% compared to the third quarter of 2024, according to unaudited data released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INS). The 2.9% drop in net exports, a result of the 3.6% decrease in exports of goods and services concurrently with a 3.4% increase in imports, had a negative impact on GDP growth.

     

    PROTEST Trade unionists at the Damen Shipyard, operated by a Dutch company in the south-eastern Romanian town of Mangalia, jointly with employees who have been laid off or idled, today picketed the Dutch Embassy and the headquarters of the administrator in Bucharest. The announcement was made by the “Navalistul” Union, which said in a statement that the action aims to warn against the major crisis the shipyard is facing. According to the source, there is a risk that the shipyard will be closed, which will affect the entire local community.

     

    SPORTS Romania’s champions CS Dinamo Bucharest defeated the Danish side Fredericia HK, 37-32 on Thursday evening in Odense in its last match in Group A of the men’s handball Champions League. Dinamo, which had already qualified for the play-offs, finished the group in fifth place and will face the German team SC Magdeburg in their effort to qualify into the quarter-finals. In football, Romanian champions FCSB were defeated at home by the French team Olympique Lyon, 3-1, in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16. The decisive leg will be played next week in France. (AMP)

  • De la preţul caselor la piaţa imobiliară

    De la preţul caselor la piaţa imobiliară

    Războiul din Ucraina a ridicat prețurile pe piața imobiliară. Creșterea
    prețurilor la energie și la alimente, resimțită la nivel global, este dublatǎ
    de creșterea prețurilor la chirii ṣi la vânzările de apartamente. Costul
    materiilor prime a cunoscut cotații fără precedent. Cărămizile, plăcile din
    ceramică, țevile din fier și oțelul beton sunt doar câteva dintre materialele
    de construcții pe care România le importǎ din Ucraina, alături de cantitǎṭi
    mari de minereu de fier pentru fabricarea produselor siderurgice. Începerea
    războiului a grevat mult achiziționarea acestora. Pe de altă parte, Rusia ocupă
    poziţia 3 în topul producătorilor de aluminiu şi poziţia 7 ca producătoare de
    ciment.


    În Bucureşti, oraşul cu cele mai multe tranzacţii din ţară, în februarie
    2022 au fost vândute aproape 11.000 de imobile, cu peste 50% mai multe decât în
    ianuarie. Preţurile la vânzare au înregistrat o creştere de peste 3,6%, până la
    valoarea de 1.545 euro pe metrul pătrat, în timp ce chiriile au crescut cu 1,65%,
    ajungând la o valoarea medie de 497 euro/lună pentru un apartament cu două
    camere.


    În februarie în Cluj-Napoca au fost încheiate peste 3.000 de
    tranzacţii imobiliare, faţă de 1.935 tranzacţii în ianuarie, ceea ce reprezintă
    o creştere cu peste 57%. Pe zona de vânzări, valorile proprietăţilor
    rezidenţiale din Cluj au atins valoarea de 1.907 euro/mp, cu aproape 7% mai
    mult faţă de luna precedentă, în timp ce preţurile la închiriere au crescut cu
    2%, până la 350 euro/lună. Odată cu afluxul constant de refugiaţi, închirierea
    apartamentelor pe termen scurt/mediu de către persoanele afectate de război a
    reprezentat o nouă oportunitate şi un nou segment de clienţi pentru agenţiile
    imobiliare. În noile condiții de cerere crescută de imobiliare, dezvoltatorii
    rămân, totuşi, în expectativă, principala temere fiind reținerea băncilor de a
    finanța noile construcții. Ṣi cumpǎrǎtorii se gândesc de două ori înainte să
    investească în imobiliare, preferând să-ṣi pǎstreze banii.


    În context, în 2021 au fost tranzacționate în România aproape 700.000 de
    imobile, cu 96.000 mai mult faṭă de 2020. Cele mai multe vânzări de imobile
    s-au înregistrat în luna decembrie (peste 74.000), iar cele mai puţine în mai
    (aproape 48.000).



    În altă ordine de idei, pentru prima dată din 2015
    încoace, nivelul salariilor din România a crescut cu o rată atât sub cea a
    inflaţiei, cât şi sub cea a creşterii preţurilor rezidenţiale. Evoluţia de până
    în 2020 a făcut ca Bucureştiul să fie una din capitalele cu cele mai accesibile
    locuinţe din UE, alături de Sofia, raportat la nivelul salariului mediu.


  • Preţul locuinţelor, în creştere

    Preţul locuinţelor, în creştere


    Există riscul ca prețul apartamentelor să crească în perioada următoare, ca urmare a cererii mari din piață, dar și a scumpirii materialelor de construcții. Este estimarea făcută de Cristian Erbașu, președintele Federației Patronatelor Societăților din Construcții. Potrivit lui Erbașu, mulți dezvoltatori imobiliari vor dori să investească în loc să-și țină banii în bancă pentru o dobândă de 0-1%, iar acest lucru va fi și cel care va regla prețurile. El estimează că scumpirea materialelor de construcții va duce automat la o creștere a prețurilor, mai ales că și forța de muncă e tot mai scumpă.



    Erbaşu a arătat că, în contextul în care materialele de construcţii s-au scumpit foarte mult, este greu de crezut că dezvoltatorii imobiliari vor reduce toate aceste costuri suplimentare doar din profitul lor. În România, acum 2-3 ani se construia, în medie, cu 400-500 euro pe metru pătrat, fără TVA. Acum deja s-a depăşit în România 600 de euro pe metru pătrat, a continuat reprezentantul constructorilor. Potrivit acestuia, în Polonia nu există un preț mai mic de 1.000 de euro pe metrul pătrat, iar în Belgia s-a depășit 2.000 de euro. Erbașu e de părere că, totuşi, profiturile investitorilor vor scădea şi vor deveni rezonabile, lucru de înțeles pe o piață în care cresc costurile materialelor de construcție, dar şi costurile cu forţa de muncă.



    În Europa, prețurile apartamentelor oferite spre vânzare au crescut în 2020. Cel mai mare salt a fost în Rusia, care a înregistrat o creștere cu 16% a prețurilor la apartamente, în timp de în România, majorarea a fost de 5%. Acestea sunt rezultatele analizei realizate de o platformă online de anunțuri imobiliare. Potrivit acestor date, în privința chiriilor pentru apartamente, bunăoară, se înregistrează scăderi continue. Cea mai importantă scădere e înregistrată în Portugalia și Bulgaria (-11%), urmată de Polonia (-5%) și România (-3%). În paralel, chiriile pentru acelaşi tip de imobile au crescut cu 4% în Rusia, respectiv cu 3% în Ucraina.



    Potrivit sursei citate, casele oferite spre vânzare au avut preţuri mai mari în Europa, cu o singură excepţie, şi preţuri mai mici în America Latină şi Asia-Pacific. Astfel, în Europa, cea mai mare creştere a fost înregistrată în Ucraina (36%) şi Bulgaria (34%), iar România a înregistrat o creştere de 9%, între primul şi ultimul trimestru al anului 2020. Singura ţară europeană în care preţurile pentru casele de vânzare au fost în scădere a fost Portugalia (-3%). În privinţa caselor oferite spre închiriere, în Europa s-a înregistrat o scădere de 30%, respectiv 26% în cazurile Ucrainei şi Bulgariei, şi creştere cu 28% în Rusia. În România s-a înregistrat o scădere de 6%. Pe segmentul terenurilor se înregistrează un salt al preţurilor de până la 24% în Ucraina, 19% în România şi 12% în Polonia.







  • 1-7 March, 2021

    1-7 March, 2021


    Parliament endorses state budget for 2021


    After fiery debates, with allegations and retorts flung back and forth between Power and Opposition, the state budget and social security budget bills for this year were endorsed by Parliament as drafted by the government. The MPs dismissed the thousands of amendments tabled by the Social Democrats and AUR party in opposition, which in turn accused the Government of discriminating in favour of the agencies run by their own people and of failing to implement previous legislation increasing pensions and child allowances.



    This is a novelty, PM Florin Cîţu said in turn, arguing that the dismissal of all of the Oppositions amendments was among other things a test of the unity of the ruling coalition. According to the PM, the budget focuses on investments, economic recovery, and the restructuring of public institutions.



    High-profile cases on trial


    The former Minister for Development, Elena Udrea, and the daughter of Romanias ex-president Traian Băsescu, Ioana Băsescu, were sentenced this week to 8 and 5 years behind bars, respectively, for money laundering and inciting bribe-taking. They had been indicted in a case that looked into the funding of the election campaign of the former president back in 2009. The ruling is not final.



    Another case tried this week concerned the anti-governmental protests of August 10, 2018. Under a final ruling, the Bucharest Court dismissed prosecutors request to reopen the criminal case against the heads of gendarme forces, accused of a disproportionately brutal response to the rally. Shortly after the court decision was made public, the closing of the “August 10 case turned into a dispute between magistrates and some politicians, discontent with the ruling. President Klaus Iohannis himself urged the Justice Minister Stelian Ion to provide explanations for this course of events. “Things cannot end here, the head of state argued.



    The Higher Council of Magistrates declined taking a public stand on the issue, as the justice minister had requested, but instructed the Judicial Inspection Corps to check all public statements concerning the investigation, in order to safeguard the independence, impartiality and professional reputation of judges and prosecutors.



    In a first stage, last June, the Directorate Investing Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) had closed the case on the August 10 protest, including the investigation against the gendarme chiefs, and the allegations of attempted coup. Later on, the former head of DIICOT ordered the reopening of criminal investigations into the gendarme chiefs.



    Romanian Police in action


    Over the past few days, the work of Romanian Police officers has once again come under scrutiny, after previous inefficient interventions and less-than-honourable conduct. Two workers redecorating a flat in the town of Onești, Bacău County (east), were murdered on Monday by the former owner of the apartment, angry for being evicted a few years before. The police opened fire in order to get into the flat where the man was keeping the 2 hostages, after negotiations between the perpetrator and the officers failed. The Interior Ministry promised a comprehensive report on the case, amid suspicions of police breach of duty. The chiefs of the county and local police forces were replaced, and the Prosecutors Office was requested to probe into suspected negligence.



    Also this week, workers from a police unit in Bucharest were detained under the charge of having tortured 2 young men last year who had reprimanded them for not wearing face masks and for issuing illegal fines.



    Not least, investigations are under way with respect to a search conducted by Transport Police on Wednesday near Bucharest at a different address than the one stipulated in the warrant. The police went to the wrong address and threatened to kill the innocent landlady and her daughter.



    Covid-19


    The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is gaining strength in Romania, where the number of infections in 24 hours is on the rise. The vaccine rollout pace on the other hand is also increasing. The number of people having received at least one dose of the vaccine has gone over 1 million this week.

    Romanian film wins Golden Bear

    Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, the most recent film of Romanian director Radu Jude, has won the Golden Bear at the 71st edition of Berlin International Film Festival – Berlinale, held in an online format. The film looks into the relations between the individual and society when the leaked sex video of a school teacher goes viral on the Internet, turning her life upside down. It is an elaborated film as well as a wild one, clever and childish, geometrical and vibrant, imprecise in the best way. It attacks the spectator, evokes disagreement, but leaves no one with a safety distance, the jury said about Jude’s film. The win comes six years after the director won the Silver Bear for his film Aferim!.(tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • January 15, 2021

    January 15, 2021

    VACCINATION The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis received
    the Covid 19 vaccine on Friday, at the Central Military Hospital in Bucharest. He
    subsequently said the vaccine is safe and efficient, and immunisation and
    compliance with the protection rules will help us overcome the pandemic. The 2nd
    phase of the vaccination programme started today in Romania. It targets the
    high-risk population and workers in key sectors. Since
    the start of the pandemic, Romania has reported more than 688,000 coronavirus
    infections. Over 619,000 patients have recovered and more than 17,000 died. Over
    3,300 new cases and 63 deaths were reported on Friday, and 1,091 patients are
    in intensive care.



    CORRUPTION Liviu Dragnea, former president of the Social Democratic Party and former Chamber of Deputies speaker, has been charged with influenced peddling in another corruption-related case, concerning his presence at the US president Donald Trumps inauguration in Washington in early 2017. Prosecutors claim the former Social Democratic chief received undue benefits for himself and his party, in the amount of 380,000 US dollars, consisting in the travel package, political consultancy and various lobby services. In the same case, his former adviser and Romanias consul general in Bonn, Gheorghe Dimitrescu is also accused of influence peddling. Liviu Dragnea is currently serving a prison sentence for inciting abuse of office. In 2019 he was sentenced to 3 and a half years in a case involving fictitious employment contracts in Teleorman County.



    GOVERNMENT The government of Romania is holding an online meeting today. On Thursday the finance minister Alexandru Nazare said the Cabinet was preparing a reform of state-owned companies, and that on Friday loss and debt reduction targets will be presented, as well as means to monitor their activity. The state budget bill for this year is to be finalized at the end of this month.



    CULTURE Romania celebrates today 171 years since the birth of poet Mihai Eminescu, with online events or events without a live audience. As a tribute to Romanias greatest poet, January 15 was declared the National Culture Day, aimed at promoting culture, arts and academic effort. This day has been celebrated since 2010 in Romania, the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, and in the Romanian communities abroad. Diplomatic and consular missions as well as Romanian cultural institutes abroad are hosting special events devoted to this day. In turn, Radio Romania will celebrate Mihai Eminescus role in the national and world culture, with special shows, interviews, documentaries and festive events.



    INNOVATION Only 14.6% of the companies with at least 10 employees in Romania reported any innovation activity in 2016-2018, which places the country last in the EU, according to a survey made public by the Eurostat today. At EU level, 50.3% of companies had innovation activities in the respective period, with the highest number of innovative enterprises reported in Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium and Germany. Bottom of the list are Romania, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. In Romania, the share of companies conducting innovative activities rose from 10% in 2016 to 14.6% in 2018.



    INAUGURATION In the US, president elect Joe Bidens team has cancelled a train trip and a rehearsal for the inauguration ceremony due on January 20, over concerns for Bidens security. Washington mobilised police forces and the National Guard, amid information pointing to attempts to organise armed protests to prevent the Biden administration from taking office. According to Radio Romanias correspondent, the FBI is looking into large-scale and disquieting online activity related to possible violence at the inauguration ceremony. Over 200 suspects tied to the US Capitol riots of January 6 have been identified so far, and more than 100 have been arrested. Trumps impeachment procedure has been moved to the Senate, but debates are set to begin after the inauguration of the new president. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Two years since the August 10 protest

    Two years since the August 10 protest

    The judicial saga of the controversial “August 10 investigation continues in Romania. The case concerns the gendarme crackdown on a massive protest in the summer of 2018, when around 100,000 Romanians, many of them returning from abroad, gathered in Bucharests Victoria Square to demand the resignation of Viorica Dăncilăs cabinet.



    People were disgruntled with the Social Democratic government and its decisions regarding the laws regulating the judiciary, as well as with the sacking of Laura Codruta Kovesi as chief of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate.



    Hundreds of complaints were filed by the protesters, accusing the gendarmes of using excessive force, including tear gas, against them. Participants said the rally was mostly peaceful, and that the gendarmes were attacked by just a handful of troublemakers, who could have been easily controlled by the police.



    The “August 10 case, which looks into the gendarme intervention and is investigated by the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) was closed last month. Prosecutors argued at the time that there was a “moral complicity between the peaceful protesters in Victoria Square and the violent ones, which encouraged the latters aggressive conduct. The prosecutors also said there was no proof of an attempted coup, as the gendarmes and Social Democratic leaders had claimed.



    Last week however, the DIICOT chief Giorgiana Hosu reverted the decision to close the case, and greenlighted the investigation against former senior gendarme officials. She explained that the prosecutor who closed the case had not reviewed the evidence put together by the Military Prosecutors Office, and had not heard the suspects, victims and witnesses once again.



    According to Agerpres news agency, if the Court upholds DIICOTs decision, prosecution will be resumed, for charges including abuse of office, improper participation in abusive conduct, misrepresentation and fraud, aiding and abetting a perpetrator, fraud and misrepresentation.



    On Monday, the Bucharest Court of Appeals declined jurisdiction over the matter, and the case was referred to the Bucharest Court, as the former gendarme chiefs had requested.



    The Liberal deputy PM Raluca Turcan described August 10, 2018 as an ‘open wound of recent Romanian democracy, and emphasized that the violent repression of citizen rights must be punished. President Klaus Iohannis said last week that it was important for the ‘actual culprits to be brought to justice and that it is ‘rather bad that this is taking so long.



    Last year the interim president of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu said the situation on August 10 had been ‘mismanaged and handled a little recklessly, and that the Social Democrats had paid for this by losing the presidential election.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Prețul locuințelor în UE

    Prețul locuințelor în UE

    Preţurile locuinţelor din România au urcat cu 3,3% în
    primul trimestru din 2020, comparativ cu precedentele trei luni.     Este a şasea
    cea mai mare creştere înregistrată în rândul statelor membre ale UE, potrivit
    datelor publicate miercuri de Oficiul European de Statistică (Eurostat).




    În medie, preţurile au înregistrat o creştere
    trimestrială de 1,2% în Uniunea Europeană şi de 0,9% în zona euro.




    Creșteri semnificative de prețuri într-un singur an




    Dintre statele UE cele mai mari creșteri trimestriale ale
    preţurilor la locuinţe au înregistrat în Portugalia (4,9%), Estonia (4,8%),
    Slovacia (4%), Luxemburg (3,8%) și Polonia (3,6%), în timp ce singurele scăderi
    s-au înregistrat în Malta (minus 4,3%), Ungaria (minus 1,1%), Irlanda (minus
    0,8%) şi Belgia (minus 0,1%)




    Datele Eurostat mai arată că cele mai mari creşteri
    anuale ale preţurilor la locuinţe au fost raportate în Luxemburg (14%),
    Slovacia (13,1%), Estonia (11,5%), Polonia (11,3%), Portugalia (10,3%), Croaţia
    şi Letonia (ambele cu 9,1%) şi România (8,1%). Doar Ungaria a înregistrat o
    scădere a prețurilor cu 1,2%.




    Comparativ cu perioada similară din 2019, preţurile
    locuinţelor au crescut în primul trimestru din 2020 cu 5,5%     în Uniunea
    Europeană şi cu 5% în zona euro. Este cel mai semnificativ avans al preţurilor
    locuinţelor în zona euro din trimestrul doi din 2007.

    Prețul locuințelor și al chiriilor între 2007 și primul trimestrul al anului în curs (Sursa: Eurostat)

    pret-case-chirii-eurostat.jpg




    Aproape toți europenii plătesc mai mult pentru chirii




    Față de anul 2007, prețurile la locuințe au crescut în 21
    de state membre UE şi au scăzut în șase. Cel mai semnificativ avans este în
    Luxemburg (91,4%), urmat de Austria (91,3%) şi Suedia (82,8%). România a
    înregistrat a doua cea mai mare scădere a prețurilor din UE (-23,6%), după Grecia (-35,6%), în contextul în care
    proprietățile din țara noastră aveau un preț
    crescut în anul 2007 când se înregistra o importantă creștere a
    economiei, dar și a puterii de cumpărare.


    Mai exact, potrivit datelor publicate miercuri de
    Eurostat, prețul chiriilor a crescut constant din 2007 şi până în primul
    trimestru al anului 2020.




    Din 2007 până în primul trimestru al anului 2020,
    prețurile locuințelor au crescut, în medie cu 20,5%, iar cel al chiriilor cu
    20,8%. Cele mai mari creșteri ale chiriilor se înregistrează în Lituania (+
    101,8%), urmată de Cehia (+ 82,2%) şi Ungaria (+ 75,1%). România are o creștere
    a prețurilor la chirii de 57%    , în timp ce unica scădere in cele 27 de state
    membre se regăsește în Grecia (-17,5%).



    Prețul locuințelor a fluctuat în ultimii 13 ani, în tomp ce chiriile au crescut constant (Sursa: Eurostat)

    evolutia-pret-chirii-locuinte-eurostat.jpg

  • Microsoft case, again in the spotlight

    Microsoft case, again in the spotlight

    The Microsoft case, which the Romanian media at some point described as one of the most spectacular in the judicial history of post-communist Romania, has taken an unexpected turn, at least from the point of view of public opinion. Charges were dropped against six former ministers prosecuted for abuse of office allegedly perpetrated in 2003-2004, because the statute of limitations had expired.



    The officials in question are the former education ministers Ecaterina Andronescu and Alexandru Athanasiu, the former finance minister Mihai Tanasescu, the former government secretary general Serban Mihailescu and the former communications ministers Dan Nica and Adriana Ticau. In the case of a seventh person, the former education minister Daniel Funeriu, charges were dropped and his case closed because the memo bearing his signature had no legal effects.



    The ministers in question were investigated by the National Anticorruption Directorate for initiating or supporting government orders awarding a public procurement contract to a private company. Anti-corruption prosecutors say this company was considered, with no justification in reality, as the sole provider of Microsoft licences in Romania, so no public tender was therefore held.



    Former tennis player turned businessman Dinu Pescariu and another businessman, Claudiu Florica, were also indicted in this case for money laundering. The two are accused of laundering 22 million dollars through their companies. They pocketed some of the money themselves, while the rest went to high-ranking state officials.



    The case essentially concerns contracts for the purchase of IT licences for schools at inflated prices, signed under different governments of different political orientations. The damage to the state was huge, 70 million dollars.



    The whole case raises questions about the competence of the National Anticorruption Directorate, a body with a very good reputation among the pubic on account of its resounding victories in court and the praise heaped on it by the European Commission.



    Despite its unexpected ending, the Microsoft case can still be considered a telling example of a widespread practice in Romania: the awarding of preferential contracts. The case also reveals a profoundly toxic system in which politicians and businesspeople join hands to pursue their own financial interests, while political parties plant their own people in the higher echelons of the administration.


    (translated by: Cristina Mateescu)

  • La case en terre semi-enterrée appelée en roumain « bordei »

    La case en terre semi-enterrée appelée en roumain « bordei »

    Les traces de ce genre dhabitation ont été retrouvées aussi dans les espaces géoculturels avoisinants, puisquil caractérise surtout les populations sédentaires. Sur plusieurs sites de Roumanie, les archéologues ont découvert des traces de cases en terre datant depuis la préhistoire. Jusquau début du 20e siècle, la population rurale a logé surtout dans ce genre dhabitation. Aujourdhui, de telles cases en terre, on peut en retrouver au musée du village roumain de Bucarest, au Musée de la viticulture de Golesti et au musée de la culture Boian consacré à une culture néolithique du comté dOlt, à environ 150 km à louest de Bucarest.Bien que jugée comme un symbole de la pauvreté, la case en terre a constitué le meilleur moyen de vivre des habitants de régions dominées par des vents forts, des précipitations abondantes et par dimportants écarts de températures entre lhiver et lété.



    Dans un espace de léconomie rurale, souvent de subsistance, les ressources naturelles les plus accessibles ont été utilisées pour assurer des conditions minimales de vie. A lintérieur de vestiges de cases, les archéologues ont découvert des fragments de poterie, doutils, des os danimaux et des cendres. Vu que cette habitation était semi-enterrée, ses habitants bénéficiaient de stabilité, elle était plus chaude en hiver, et plus fraîche en été, bref ils profitaient dune protection contre les dangers extérieurs. Ce qui plus est, la case en terre était facile à construire et à entretenir. Une case était bâtie à une profondeur allant de 40 cm à 1 m 85 cm. Lempreinte au sol des plus petites était denviron 9 mètres carrés, alors que les cases plus généreuses allaient jusquà 35 mètres carrés. Leurs murs étaient construits en terre mélangée avec de leau ou bien avec de la paille et de leau et nétaient pas munis de fenêtres. Les finissages étaient eux aussi modestes et faciles à fabriquer. Les murs des cases en terre étaient plaqués avec des planches en bois alors que le plancher était tout simplement fait en terre battue. Une telle maison avait un toit incliné couvert de chaume, censée lui assurer lisolation hydraulique.



    Lhabitation semi-enterrée avait une ou deux pièces. Cest dans la pièce principale que se trouvait le foyer où la famille faisait le feu et ou ses membres prenaient leurs repas. Laccès de et vers ce genre de demeure se faisait via une sorte de toboggan en terre battue qui navait pas de marches. Habitation paysanne par excellence, la case en terre a été identifiée avec lespace géo-culturel oriental. Les voyageurs étrangers de passage par les Principautés roumaines au 17e siècle décrivent la case en terre et ses habitants et la présentent comme faisant partie dun mode de vie spécifique à la zone rurale roumaine de plaine.



    Les idées modernes de la fin du 18e siècle et de la première moitié du 19e siècle ont complètement renversé les opinions sur la case en terre et sur le mode de vie traditionnel des Roumains. Les valeurs occidentales ont remplacé celles orientales puisque les élites roumaines qui avaient fait leurs études ou tout simplement qui avaient voyagé à loccident, ont souhaité émanciper le monde rural de la pauvreté et remplacé les anciennes pratiques économiques et sociales. La case en terre est devenue du coup un symbole de la pauvreté et de la misère.



    Les adversaires les plus radicaux de cette habitation, ce furent les médecins pour lesquels la précarité signifiait maladies mais aussi manque de perspective. Finalement lambition des réformateurs sociaux roumains déradiquer la misère du monde rural avait porté ses fruits. Avec la création dun Etat et lintroduction des réformes, lalphabétisation et léducation des habitants du pays, le taux de maisons modernes construites à travers le pays augmente au détriment de celui des cases en terre. Ce sont surtout les Tsiganes qui arrivent à habiter des logements semi-enterrés puisquaprès la libération de leur servitude séculaire ils se sont retrouvés marginalisés. Vers la fin du 19e siècle, en raison la dynamique de léconomie, la majorité de la population rurale habitait de vraies maisons et les cases en bois ne sont que sporadiquement rencontrées dans les villages de plaines.



    De nos jours, la case en terre est plutôt une curiosité, que lon peut retrouver au musée ou dans le patrimoine de quelques excentriques, qui souhaitent vivre de la façon la plus éco possible. Dans la ville de Giurgiu, à une soixantaine de km au sud de Bucarest, il existe une case en terre bâtie en 1884 et qui na pas pu être démolie puisque déclarée monument historique.



    Hormis quelques pièces exposées dans des musées à travers le pays et quelques références linguistiques qui illustrent la pauvreté extrême, la case en terre appelée « bordei » a laissé aussi des traces dans le nom propres de la langue roumaine. Hormis un nom de famille très répandu, Bordeianu, sachez quun des parcs du nord de la capitale roumaine sappelle Bordei. Ironiquement, ce quartier est un des plus chic et des plus chers de Bucarest.