Radio România Internațional

Tag: festival

  • February 23, 2025

    February 23, 2025

    UKRAINE The interim president of Romania Ilie Bolojan takes part on Monday in an online summit on ‘Defence and Security Strategy of Unity. Action Plan’, organised in the neighbouring Russia-invaded Ukraine, the Romanian presidency announced. On Wednesday, Bolojan took part in a meeting on Ukraine and the security challenges in Europe in Paris. The interim president stated that participants in the meeting in Paris concluded that the best way to solve the crisis is collaboration between European countries and the United States of America, so that there is a ceasefire and a just peace, which cannot be achieved without the participation of Ukraine and the European Union in the negotiations.

     

    ELECTIONS In Romania, the electoral alliance supporting Crin Antonescu as a presidential candidate in May has been officially registered with the Central Electoral Bureau. The alliance, called  “Romania Forward”, comprises the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), in the ruling coalition, and is also backed by the group of ethnic minorities in the Romanian Parliament. A former education minister, Daniel Funeriu, and the incumbent mayor general of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, have also announced plans to run for president. The election campaign begins on April 4 and ends on May 3, with the vote scheduled on May 4 and the second round on May 18. In December the Constitutional Court cancelled the presidential election over foreign interference in the electoral process.

     

    AIRCRAFT US aircraft deployed at the Mihail Kogălniceanu base (southeastern Romania) are performing low-altitude training flights in and around Constanţa County these days, the Romanian Air Forces announced. They say the exercises will continue until February 28 and promised that all safety measures have been taken to reduce the noise impact on civilians. Officials say that these trainings aim to increase the response capacity of aeronautical personnel.

     

    FILM The Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude was awarded the Silver Bear for best screenplay at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. The distinction was awarded for his latest film, “Kontinental ’25”, the story of a female bailiff in the grips of a moral crisis, filmed with a phone in just 10 days. In his acceptance speech, Radu Jude thanked his team and said that the award proves that there is a lot of talent in Romania. The Golden Bear for best film went to ‘Dreams (Sex Love)’/'(Drommer’), directed by the Norwegian Dag Johan Haugerud. The second most important trophy of the Berlinale, the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, was awarded to the Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro for the production ‘The Blue Trail’ (‘O último azul’), and the Silver Bear for best director went to the Chinese filmmaker Huo Meng for ‘Living The Land’ (‘Sheng xi zhi di’).

     

    GERMANY Germany is holding elections for the next Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, the most likely to become the country’s next chancellor, said at a rally in Munich that he would be a strong voice in Europe in these “troubled times.” The campaign was overshadowed by the rise of the far-right party Alternative for Germany, which is expected to come in second place, ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, however, the fragmented political landscape requires complicated negotiations at a crucial moment for the strongest EU member state. Following a reform of the electoral law, the 21st Bundestag will have 630 MPs, 103 fewer than at present. The campaign was generally focused on hot topics such as illegal migration and, more recently, the challenges to NATO posed by the US President Donald Trump.

     

    HANDBALL  The Romanian women’s handball team Rapid Bucharest play away from home today against Buducnost, in a decisive match for the round of 16 of the Champions League. Whoever wins will play against the Romanian champions CSM Bucharest. Also today, Dunarea Braila play at home against Larvik for qualification in the quarterfinals of the women’s handball competition EHF European League. On Saturday evening, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea were defeated by the Danish team Ikast Handbold 36-34, in their last match in the competition’s Group B. On Saturday evening, CS Minaur Baia Mare qualified for the quarterfinals of the EHF European Cup men’s handball competition, although they were defeated by the Finnish team BK-46, 32-31 in Karis, in the second leg of the round of 16. (AMP)

  • FILMIKON International Film Festival

    FILMIKON International Film Festival

    The second edition of the FILMIKON International Film Festival has come up with a series of productions that have, throughout the years, been awarded by the ecumenical and inter-confessional juries as part of more than 30 film festivals worldwide. Also, the festival proposes a dialogue about Christian and human values, starting off from those productions.

     

    The inaugural edition of FILMIKON was held in Bucharest in 2024, yet the second edition was extended, being held in Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, and The Vatican. FILMIKON is part of the Jubilee Year 2025 program. Ileana Bârsan is a film critic and the director of FILMIKON. We sat down and spoke to Ileana about the significance of the Ecumenical Jury Award, granted to feature films in the competition of such international film festivals worldwide, like the festival in Cannes or the one in Berlin.

     

    Ileana Bârsan: “The name of the award may lead us into thinking that the productions in point have a close connection with religion, yet the productions do not target the people who have a close connection with religion alone. The panel of the Ecumenical Jury is made of pundits jointly nominated by SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communication) and Interfilm (an international inter-confessional film organization) and the prize is an independent one, awarded to productions of these international festivals laying specific emphasis on human and Christian values, values that early into this century we kind of lost. These are films that attempt to make us a little bit more mindful towards the others whom, since we’re running out of time and since we fall short of interest and generosity, we sometime lose. Films that come up with their own individual stories but which, in the long run, convey a universal message. It was the FILMIKON festival’s eventual aim, that of bringing productions awarded by the judging panels that are particular about these themes of nuances, films we can offer to the Romanian public, thus generating discussions, even concerns that can go beyond the cinema halls. It is very important that these film stories lay special emphasis on serious issues and topics about which we learn in the newsreel programs. That is why, through these films, we somehow begin asking ourselves questions, looking at ourselves a little bit, even wondering what we can do here, in our community and suchlike. Because, globally speaking, or I don’t know… when it comes to politics in general, we are a bunch of small-timers and cannot control these things, but we can control what is close to us. “

     

    For the first time since 2024, the Transylvania International Film festival, TIFF, has established an Ecumenical Jury. Romanian film critic Ileana Bârsan was one of the members of the panel. ‘Summer Brother’ directed by Joren Molter, the disturbing story of two brothers, awarded with the Ecumenical Jury Prize at TIFF 2024 and also the adventure movie ‘I, Captain” (Io, Capitano, directed by Matteo Garrone), winner of the SIGNIS Prize, Venice 2023, a contemporary odyssey that overcomes the dangers of the desert, the horrors of Libyan detention centers and the dangers of the sea, were included in the second edition of the FILMIKON International Festival.

     

    FILMIKON also presented several Romanian films that address current issues or tell the stories of real characters, which can serve as models. Here is Ileana Bârsan, FILMIKON director, with details: “’Where elephants go’ is a Romanian film made by Gabi Virginia Șarga and Cătălin Rotaru, a film that received a Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury, at TIFF 2024. It is the story of a child around whom some adults gravitate, who are more dazed and confused in their own life than the child himself. This kid, who has a medical problem, is full of hope and serenity and so full of life that he somehow manages to transform also the lives of others. The festival program also included the short film “Dead Cat” (directed by Ana-Maria Comănescu), which won the SIGNIS Award, TIFF 2024. “A mountain of love”, another Romanian film shown at FILMIKON, a very recent film, completed at the end of 2024, is directed by the priest Dan Suciu and has Bogdan Slăvescu as director of photography. It is a tribute film to a slightly different priest, who unfortunately died, Florentin Crihălmeanu. He was also the Greek-Catholic bishop of Cluj-Gherla between 2002 and 2021. They say he was an atypical priest, not only because he was very connected with people, especially the young, who considered him a spiritual leader, but he was also very passionate about mountaineering, so the film tells the story of his relationship with people and the mountain. And the last Romanian film from the FILMIKON 2 edition, made in 2019, “The Cardinal” by Nicolae Mărgineanu, is a film about the life of bishop Iuliu Hossu. A Greek-Catholic cardinal who meant a lot to the history of Romania, a hero of the Great Union, who was imprisoned in Sighet prison and ended up in forced residence. We are talking about a martyr’s path, unfortunately not unique in that period.”

     

    The Christus cine-concert and the film The Cardinal were also presented at the Vatican, as part of the program of the Jubilee Year 2025, on the occasion of the Social Communications Jubilee, held from January 24-26. The establishment of a jubilee year is a Catholic tradition of more than 700 years, which is repeated once every 25 years. (EN, LS)

  • January 21, 2025 UPDATE

    January 21, 2025 UPDATE

     

    ELECTIONS The Permanent Electoral Authority in Bucharest said political parties may begin to collect signatures for the candidates they will support in the presidential elections in May. The signatures can be collected only in physical format and a voter can support more than one candidate. The ruling coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, is yet to kick-start the election period and to officially endorse the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu as their joint candidate in their respective leadership bodies. The Social Democratic leaders met on Tuesday and in principle endorsed Crin Antonescu as their presidential candidate in May, and decided to hold a party congress on 2nd February to give the final vote on his candidacy.

     

    ECONOMY Romania’s fiscal structural plan has been approved by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), along with the plans of 20 other member states, the Romanian minister of investments and European projects Marcel Boloș announced on Tuesday. The decision comes as several countries, including France, Spain, Italy and Finland, are facing similar challenges and have requested an extension of the fiscal adjustment period from 4 to 7 years, until 2031. Marcel Boloș explained that for the business environment, the fiscal plan protects the flat tax rate, with the European Commission agreeing that governments should not overtax economic success. He also said that thanks to the plan, European funding is protected, because failure to comply with the fiscal treaty would have led to its suspension. On the other hand, the Romanian official also points out, this plan preserves the country’s international credibility, as non-compliance with fiscal commitments would have led to a decrease in the country’s rating, which would have made loans more expensive and more difficult to access. The plan also secures support for investments, including for SMEs in Romania through state aid schemes for small and medium-sized enterprises operating especially in the manufacturing sector, which will create new jobs and stimulate economic growth.

     

    EUFOR The Romanian defence ministry announced on Tuesday that Romania has taken over the command of the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR). With the command of EUFOR, the largest multinational operation in the Western Balkans conducted under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), Romania currently exercises command of 2 of the 9 military operations and missions under the flag of the European Union, to which it contributes troops and military equipment, the same source mentions. After Brigadier General Ovidiu Lungu successfully completed his term as Chief of Staff of EUFOR ALTHEA between May 2023 and May 2024, the Romanian Army increased its representation within the operation by taking over the leadership of the most important multinational force in the Western Balkans. The stability of the region is a priority for Romania, and it has strategic importance for European and Euro-Atlantic security, the defence ministry points out.

     

    CONGRATULATIONS Romania’s acting president Klaus Iohannis has congratulated the new White House leader Donald Trump on his investiture. “Romania, a close strategic partner of the US, wishes you the best of success for this important new mandate. We need a strong and vibrant transatlantic link, to the benefit of our joint EU-US security and prosperity”, president Iohannis posted on social media. The leaders of Romania’s biggest parties also congratulated Donald Trump on the inauguration of his second term in office on Monday.

     

    DONALD TRUMP A few hours after taking office, Donald Trump pulled the US out of the World Health Organisation and the Paris Agreement on climate. He also signed an executive order on an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development global tax arrangement and asked the Department of Energy to resume processing export applications for liquefied natural gas. He declared an energy emergency in the US and revoked a number of orders introduced by the Biden administration, including one on the risks of artificial intelligence. Trump also lifted the sanctions imposed by Biden on the Jewish settlers who committed violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank. He instructed the Justice Department to dismiss the cases connected to the attack on the Capitol, pardoned 1,500 of his supporters who took the building by storm in 2021, and reduced and commuted the sentences of others. Trump declared the illegal immigration on the border with Mexico as a national emergency and the drug cartels as terrorist organisations, and signed a document affecting the granting of birth-right citizenship. Donald Trump also suspended refugee programmes for 4 months, which led to the cancellation of flights to the US for over 1,600 Afghans, including relatives of US soldiers.

     

    FESTIVAL The 27th edition of the George Enescu International Festival will place special emphasis on cultural events and concerts all across Romania and for all Romanians to enjoy, the festival’s artistic director, the Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru told a press conference on Monday in Bucharest. He said this year’s edition will see a number of special events, including the commemoration of 70 years since the death of George Enescu. The festival will take place between 24th August and 21st September and will feature 80 symphonic, chamber, choir and instrumental ensemble performances from 28 different countries.

  • Preparations for the 2025 George Enescu Festival

    Preparations for the 2025 George Enescu Festival

    The International Classical Music Festival George Enescu is this year expected to be a genuine reference point for the classical music. The 2025 edition to be held between August 24 and September 21 will be a special one as it is going to commemorate 70 years since the great composer’s passing into eternity.

    “Every edition and the creation of the festival per se has been meant to render Enescu’s work more visual and globally emphasize his music and genius and we are carrying on in this direction. We are going to have more of Enescu’s compositions this year. A series of novel things are going to be presented during the festival regarding Enescu’s compositions, of course”, conductor Cristian Macelaru, the Festival’s artistic director says.

    According to him the festival’s 17th edition focuses on cultural events and concerts, to be staged in great numbers all over the country. This edition will also focus on anniversaries and commemorations: 50 years since the death of Dmitri Shostacovich, 150 years since the birth of Maurice Ravel, 100 years since the birth of Romanian conductor Marin Constantin, founder of the Madrigal choir, 100 years of activity for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, 45 years since the foundation of the Bremen Philharmonics and 70 years since the foundation of the Transylvania Philharmonics Orchestra in Cluj Napoca, western Romania.

    The George Enescu Festival is an international landmark in artistic excellence, says the Culture Minister Natalia Intotero. She believes the festival is much more than a mere artistic event, being also a symbol of Romanian cultural value, an opportunity of celebrating the legacy of a classical music genius.

    The Culture Minister has voiced satisfaction for the educational activities devoted to students and young artists this edition includes such as internships programmes, sessions of training and masterclass.

    The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, says it is with great joy that Bucharest hosts the aforementioned event. “It is one of our concerns to stimulate cultural, academic, sporting events so that Bucharest may become a brand for this type of activities. Romania’s cultural landscape needs the Enescu Festival as it imposes a certain standard and makes the other cultural operators comply with this standard,” the mayor went on to say.

    The 17th edition of the Enescu festival seems to be one of the most challenging from the organizational point of view: 80 symphonic and chamber concerts, choirs, music groups, ranging from two to ten musicians from 28 countries, are going to come to Romania and to Bucharest; out of these 18 are local, 9 from Germany, 6 from various European projects, others will come from France, Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia. 50 concerts and recitals are expected to take place during the festival in Romania alone.

    (bill)

  • George Enescu and AI

    George Enescu and AI

     

    The George Enescu International Competition is under way in Bucharest, impressing the music lovers night after night with outstanding artistic moments.

    Given that any cultural event, even the well-known ones, wants to draw a wider audience, on the occasion of the 143rd anniversary of composer George Enescu’s birth, ARTEXIM, the organizer of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, presented this year, for the first time, the immersive show “George Enescu – Poema Română: Immersive Experience”, at the Museum of Immersive New Art, which is intended to be a new series of concerts within the Enescu Festival 2025.

    Under this special project, the public is taken on an original audiovisual journey, exploring the life and work of George Enescu, through the lens of the “Romanian Poem”, Enescu’s first work, composed when its author was only 16.

    From the very beginning, a video introduces the audience to the atmosphere of a concert hall, where the orchestra starts performing the “Romanian Poem”. Against this musical background, the spectators are transported to the picturesque landscapes of Romania, the colors and textures of nature vibrating in sync with the musical notes. While Enescu’s music unfolds, the landscapes merge and transform into various significant places in the composer’s life, creating a visual biographical collage.

    Cristina Uruc, the ARTEXIM manager, talked about the collaboration with Les Ateliers Nomad, who created the virtual experience: “They are visual artists who work with the latest technologies and with artificial intelligence, who train AI and elements created by them to match Enescu’s music and generate new video images. This is exactly what this project is called, an experience, an experiment that together with those from Les Ateliers Nomad we tried to achieve. They have  amazing projects!”

    Due to state-of-the-art technologies, viewers are invited  to see, for the first time, photos of Enescu at different stages of his life and career, animated with the help of artificial intelligence. The video mixes scenes that showcase Enescu’s lasting impact on Romanian and international music, exploring his influence on future generations of musicians and composers.

    George Enescu – Romanian Poem: Immersive Experience is a new experience that combines history, music and technology to bring to life the world and work of George Enescu.

    On this occasion, a new series of concerts was announced, which will take place within the George Enescu International Festival, starting next year, in partnership with JTI – Immersive Experience.

    Gilda Lazăr, Corporate Affairs and Communications Director with JTI Romania, the main partner of the Festival, said: “We are part of this event and are reliable partners of many cultural events in Romania. Over the years we have created events and supported events, projects and cultural institutions. When this project was proposed to us, we obviously said yes. Why? Because “Poema Română”/”Romanian Poem” is Enescu’s Opus number 1, because, indeed, it was written in his youth and is addressed to an audience that did not get the chance to hear it. (…) It was not performed for 43 years and when it finally was, in 1990, it was not filmed, for some reason. Only after 10 years did we manage to reconcile with our past and have a new beginning. You know that the Romanian Poem is dedicated to Romania’s Queen Elizabeth. I imagined what it would have been like for a young man at that time, at 16, to realize that he was living in a kingdom. It was like living in a fairy tale, it was beautiful, it was normal to be excited. The presentation of the Romanian Poem for the first time, in Paris, it was a big event. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has in its archive the information sent by the Romanian ambassador to Paris, from that period.”

    We mention that a representative fragment from the Romanian Poem was used during the Iron Curtain as a signal for the Radio Free Europe broadcasts, which were addressed to Romanians under the communist regime.

    Gilda Lazăr talked about the partnership of JTI and the George Enescu Festival for almost 10 years: “Under the sign of novelty, next year, there will be four concerts, various shows, names like Gigi Căciuleanu or Ruxandra Donose, every Thursday and Friday, at MINA , during the Enescu Festival. This way we will continue a tradition started with the Brâncuşi immersive exhibition, which we also organized with the Art Productin Foundation, a few years ago.”

    The next edition of the George Enescu International Festival will take place between August 24 and September 21, 2025, under the High Patronage of the President of Romania. It is a cultural project financed by the Government of Romania through the Ministry of Culture.

  • The 2024 George Enescu International Competition

    The 2024 George Enescu International Competition

     

     

    The last day of meteorological summer brings the opening of the George Enescu International Competition, hosted by the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.

     

    Currently in its 19th year, the event is one of the best known and most prestigious competitions in international classical music. For about a month, until September 27, some of the world’s best performers, as well as up-and-coming artists and orchestras, will come together in Bucharest.

     

    The event will comprise several competitions for emerging artists, concerts and master classes given by celebrated classical musicians. On Saturday, August 31, the first day of the event, the agenda includes the opening concert and the award gala for the composition section.

     

    As of Sunday, September 1, successive competition rounds are scheduled, with some of the most promising young music talents taking part. Three competitions are held: cello, violin and piano.

     

    The novelty of the 2024 edition are the master classes. Held between September 23 and 27, they consist in conducting, violin, piano and cello workshops, coordinated by Maestro Cristian Măcelaru. The world-acclaimed Romanian artist is, among other things, the musical director of the National Orchestra of France, and of the Cincinnati Symphonic Orchestra.

     

    The opening concert, the 3 competition finals, 5 recitals given by jury members and by winners of previous editions, as well as the closing concert, will be aired live by Radio Romania Music. The public broadcaster thus carries on a 66-year long tradition of cooperation with the George Enescu festival and competition. Moreover, the opening and closing concerts can also be heard live on Radio Romania Culture.

     

    At the suggestion of Radio Romania Music, the 2024 George Enescu International Competition’s opening concert is included in the Euroradio Summer Season, one of the most important projects of the European Broadcasting Union, which airs concerts and recitals from the most important European festivals. Also part of the EBU Summer Season is the recital given by Liviu Prunaru and Valentin Şerban on September 13 at the Romanian Athenaeum.

     

    Also, during the 2024 George Enescu International Competition Casa Radio Publishers will release an album by the violinist Valentin Şerban and the pianist Daria Tudor, as part of the “Heirs of Musical Romania” collection produced by Radio Romania Music.

     

    The George Enescu International Competition was launched in September 1958. Alternating with the George Enescu International Festival, the Competition quickly grew into one of the most valuable events of this kind in Europe, and since 2002 it has been a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. (AMP)

  • August 9, 2024 UPDATE

    August 9, 2024 UPDATE

    MARKET The European Union is the biggest investor in the Republic of Moldova but also the main market for the Moldovan products. Deputy Prime Minister Dumitru Alaiba, who is also development minister in the government in Chisinau, says that roughly two thirds of the country’s exports are making it to the community market and over 80% of direct foreign investment comes from the EU countries. Romania, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany are the main investors in the Moldovan economy. Thanks to the measures aimed at liberalizing trade with the EU, the exports made by the Moldovan companies have reached impressive rates, Alaiba says. The country’s export of grapes and plums, for instance, has doubled since 2021 while the export of apples has grown one hundred times.

    RATE Romania’s Central Bank has revised down its inflation forecast for the end of 2024 to 4.0%, from a previous 4.9% and expects it to hit 3.4% by the end of 2025, according to data released on Friday. According to the bank’s governor Mugur Isarescu, the tendency to curb the inflation rate will continue for almost the entire projection interval, but the rate of disinflation is expected to slow down noticeably in the second part of it. It is also mentioned that the trajectory is marked by some oscillations, mainly induced by basic effects associated with past developments, such as increases in indirect taxes in January 2024, with a favorable effect in January 2025, or an increase in fuel excise duty in July 2024, with favorable effect in July 2025.

    FESTIVAL The biggest music festival in Romania, Untold, which kicked off in Cluj-Napoca, north-western Romania, on Friday night, brings together major artists from Romania and abroad. Besides concerts, it will also include numerous themed events and parties, and as a novelty, on the main stage, musical pieces will be interpreted in sign language for the hearing impaired people. Authorities have announced a series of measures aimed at ensuring the participants safety. Special attention has been paid to the prevention of drugs consumption and sale.

    WAR Ukrainian forces have carried on their onslaught in the Russian region of Kursk for the fourth consecutive day. The governor of Lipetsk, a region neighboring Kursk, said that last night the region was the target of a massive drone attack. According to Reuters, an air base in the area was also hit. This has been the largest Ukrainian ground attack launched on Russian territory since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine two and a half years ago. Unlike the previous incursions, in which Russian citizens fighting alongside the Ukrainian army were involved, this time regular Kyiv forces, supported by tanks and armored vehicles, including those received from the United States and Germany, are participating. Ukraine has not officially confirmed the attack, but President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted at it. According to the Financial Times, the Ukrainians have so far captured 11 villages and a total territory of 350 square kilometers.

    (bill)

  • June 27, 2024

    June 27, 2024

    FITS The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, central Romania, continues today with over 80 events scheduled. The famous US actor John Malkovich will step onto the stage with a show entitled ‘In the Solitude of Cotton Fields’. ‘Uncle Vanya’ by Anton Chekhov is another performance scheduled, and will be put on stage by actors from the National Theatre Satiricus Ion Luca Caragiale from the Republic of Moldova. The Bucharest-based ‘Stela Popescu’ Theatre will be presenting a concert-show directed by Razvan Mazilu and the Austrian Theatre brings in a performance entitled “The Carpathians like Stains on My Skin”. Street performances are expected to animate the medieval squares and pedestrian areas in the city of Sibiu. The programme is completed by gospel concerts and Portuguese Fado performances, while a Spanish troupe is expected to give a concert in Sibiu’s Big Square.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s national football side qualified for the round of 16 of the European Football Championship after a one-all draw against Slovakia in Frankfurt on Wednesday night. Razvan Marin scored the equalizer from a penalty shot and his performance pushed the side coached by Edward Iordanescu on top of the group. Our footballers will be up against the Netherlands on the famous Allianz Arena in Munich. Thousands of fans took to the streets of Romania to express their joy for the performance.

     

    NATO The Dutch Premier Mark Rutte is officially the future NATO Secretary General. The 57 year-old politician has benefitted from support from all 32 representatives of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s main decision-making body and his mandate is to kick off on October 1st. Rutte will replace the Norwegian chief Jens Stoltenberg and is known for his critical position against Russia and for supporting Ukraine in terms of its NATO and EU accession. The Netherlands is supporting Ukraine also militarily, including with F-16 jet fighters, which have been given the permission to strike Russian targets. Besides the war in Ukraine and the tense international political background, Rutte will have the task of negotiating with a possible US administration led by Donald Trump, if the latter wins the upcoming election where he runs against the incumbent president Joe Biden.

     

    SUMMIT EU leaders are convening today in Brussels in the company of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for talks on providing weapons to Ukraine and the latest developments in the war with Russia. This has been the second summit after the European Parliament elections early this month and the 27 heads of state and government will continue talks on distributing positions in the main European institutions. Ursula von der Leyen, from the European People’s Party, is favourite for the position of the head of the European Commission, while the former Portuguese premier Antonio Costa, from the Socialists, stands chances to head the European Council. The position of the president of the European Parliament will be shared by the EPP and the Socialists with the first two years and a half held by incumbent president Roberta Metsola from the EPP. The three main political groups are convening separately to decide their position on the final negotiation in the Council. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will be attending the EPP meeting while the country’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu the Socialists. Also high on the agenda there is the military aid for Ukraine, which has been blocked by Hungary, which is also blocking the distribution by Kyiv of the profits from the frozen Russian assets. The summit also marks the end of the Belgian EU presidency, which will be taken over by Budapest for the next six months.

     

    VISIT The head of the Romanian diplomacy Luminita Odobescu on Wednesday held talks In Warsaw with her Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting Romania-Poland-Turkey. Minister Odobescu has hailed the dynamic and complex character of the Romanian-Polish dialogue, assumed in the Strategic Bilateral Partnership and reflected in a busy agenda of political-diplomatic contacts and an excellent cooperation in the fields of security and economy as well as in sectoral areas. She also expressed the interest for the ongoing capitalization of the investment opportunities offered by the two states as well as in deepening cooperation in fields of mutual interest such as infrastructure, energy, agriculture and education. The Romanian minister has also hailed the effective cooperation at the EU and NATO levels as well as in regional formats. Regarding Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, the Romanian minister reiterated the need for the ongoing multidimensional support, including the military one as well as the importance of reconstructing the country’s infrastructure heavily affected by the war.

    (bill)

  • June 22, 2024 UPDATE

    June 22, 2024 UPDATE

     

    WEATHER Weather experts in Romania have issued a number of alerts for Sunday, June 23, concerning extreme heat and significant heat stress in most of the country. A code red alert for extreme heat will be in place the south of Romania. The heat wave will be persistent and temperatures will be extremely high for the 5th consecutive day, reaching 38-39 degrees Celsius, with lows around 20 degrees.

     

    EMPLOYMENT The number of public sector employees in Romania in April 2024 was 1,292,549,up 3,009 since the previous month, according to data made public by the finance ministry. Of the over 826,000 employees in the central public administration, more than 600,000 were working in institutions fully funded from the state budget. The largest number of such positions was reported in the education ministry (302,230), followed by the interior ministry (123,859), defence ministry (73,818), finance ministry (24,762) and health ministry (18,156). Working in local public administration institutions this April were 466,308 people, of whom 286,443 in institutions fully funded from local budgets and 179,865 in institutions fully or partly financed from other revenues.

     

    DISINFORMATION The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed in Washington a Memorandum of Understanding on countering information manipulation. Among other things, the document provides for the coordinated development of relevant strategies, as well as for the involvement of independent media, civil society and the academia in fighting disinformation. According to a news release, the two officials have also reviewed the progress made by Romania towards inclusion in the Visa Waiver Programme, and have reconfirmed their commitment to close cooperation in view of reaching this goal as soon as possible. During her visit to the US, organised in the context of celebrating 20 years since Romania joined NATO, the Romanian diplomacy chief also had meetings with the National Security Council senior director for Europe Michael Carpenter, with whom she discussed items on the Romanian-US economic and security agenda, as well as regional developments and preparations for the forthcoming NATO Summit in Washington. Also, during a meeting with Samantha Power, USAID administrator, Luminiţa Odobescu highlighted the two countries’ shared interest in strengthening the resilience of partners in the Black Sea region, with a focus on the Republic of Moldova.

     

    ORGANISED CRIME The Romanian interior minister Cătălin Predoiu had a meeting with the British ambassador to Bucharest, Giles Matthew Portman. The talks focused on measures to be taken in order to curb transnational organised crime. According to the interior ministry, another topic approached by the 2 officials was improving the efficiency of police work, including institutional reforms, so as to handle current challenges. Predoiu highlighted the very good cooperation between the two countries, as well as the opportunities to further develop it under the Romanian-British Strategic Partnership. The Romanian official pointed out that border protection is a priority for Romania, whose goal is to strengthen and protect the Schengen area. Mr. Predoiu also mentioned that the implementation of the Pact on migration and asylum would be both a challenge for the Member States, and an opportunity to improve national migration and asylum management systems.

     

    FESTIVAL Sibiu, in central Romania, is hosting the 31st International Theatre Festival (FITS). For 10 days, the public can choose from as many as 830 events, including theatre performances, music, dance, circus, exhibitions and public reading sessions, which bring together over 5,000 artists from 82 countries. Internationally acclaimed actors, directors and writers such as John Malkovich, Tim Robbins, Pippo delBono and Neil LaBute are also expected to attend. Many of the international productions in FITS may be viewed online this year, on the online platform “Scena Digitală” of the Sibiu “Radu Stanca” National Theatre, the main organiser of FITS 2024. “In terms of the number of participants, the number of partners, the diversity of projects in the festival, I believe this is the most complex cultural event in Romania and a major one at international level,” said the culture minister Raluca Turcan, who attended several events in the Festival, including the opening of the Romania-Poland Cultural Season, the first in the history of the 2 countries’ bilateral relations.

     

    SWIMMING The Romanian swimmer David Popovici defended his gold at the 200m freestyle event in the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, after also winning the 100m freestyle race. The next challenge for the Romanian swimmer is the Olympic competition, in which Romania will be represented by 93 athletes. The latest one to qualify is the wrestler Răzvan Arnăuţ, in the 60kg Greco-Roman category, after the International Olympic Committee disqualified several Russian and Byelorussian athletes. (AMP)

  • The International Week of New Music

    The International Week of New Music

     

    Dan Dediu, artistic director of SIMN: “We have a duty to bring the young generations to the forefront, to motivate them to keep writing music.”

     

  • May 26, 2024

    May 26, 2024

    MESSAGE In a message conveyed today on the occasion of the Day of the Romanians all over the World, President Klaus Iohannis has urged the Romanians to keep their identity, language and the Romanian traditions. Iohannis added that he constantly promoted the setting up of professional communities between the Romanians abroad and those at home, thus creating a tighter connection between the business people, scientists, physicians and Romanian artists from the world over, who worked together to accomplish many successful projects. Bucharest is seeing the last day of the 7th edition of a festival known as ‘Here and There’, an event that comprises a series of activities staged by the Department for the Romanians all Over the World jointly with the Union of the Fine Artists in Romania. For three days, the event has brought together Romanian artists from the country and abroad, activating in various fields of creation such as fine arts, design, music, film, etcetera and also members of academia and business environment from the Romanian communities abroad. This year’s edition has been attended by hundreds of Romanians from the Diaspora and the historical communities in 34 countries.

     

    TENNIS Four players from Romania are on the main draw of the Roland Garros tournament, the year’s second Grand Slam tournament, which kicked off in Paris. Today, Jaqueline Cristian will be playing Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the competition’s ninth seed. Sorana Cirstea, Romania’s best tennis player at the moment, has been designated the tournament’s 28th seed. In the first round she will be playing Ana Blinkova of Russia. In turn, Ana Bogdan will be playing the wild car winner Elsa Jacquemot of France. Irina Begu, also of Romania, will be up against Julia Riera of Argentina. We recall that a former world number one, Romanian Simona Halep, won the trophy in 2018. In 1978, Virginia Ruzici became the first Romanian to win this famous French tournament.

     

    AI Romania is going to have an AI Research Institute through which it intends to develop its own technological solutions, cooperate with international partners and train top experts in this field, the country’s Finance Minister, Marcel Bolos, wrote on Facebook. According to Bolos, the Ministry he’s leading has already started to use AI in order to detect anomalies as well as in its anti-fraud operations. The construction of the first center of AI research in Romania kicked off at the Technical University in Cluj Napoca through an investment of 21 million Euros.

     

    FILMS “Anora”, a thriller directed by American Sean Baker, has won the Palme d’Or trophy at the 77th edition of the Film Festival in Cannes. Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light”, a film about sisterhood in Mumbai, has reaped the Grand Prix, the festival’s second-highest honour, while ‘Emilia Perez’ of the French director Jacques Audiard, has won the Jury Prize. Romanian production “Three Kilometers to the End of the World” has reaped the Queer Palm, an alternative award given every year to productions addressing LGBT issues. Another two Romanian productions, NASTY, directed by Cristian Pascariu, Tudor D. Popescu and Tudor Giurgiu, which portrays the life of Romania’s tennis legend Ilie Nastase, and “Human Violins” by Ioana Mischie have also been screened during this famous international film festival.

    (bill)

  • May 22, 2024 UPDATE

    May 22, 2024 UPDATE

     

    PAY RAISE The government of Romania intends to raise the salaries of some categories of public sector employees by 10% this year, in 2 equal installments. A draft order in this respect has been put up for debate by the Labour Ministry. Some of the employees targeted by the measure have recently organised protests, but Prime Minister Ciolacu explained on Tuesday that the budget did not allow for more pay raises. The draft order concerns the employees of various cultural institutions, of the trade registry offices, diplomatic staff, defence personnel, town hall staff and employees of other institutions funded from the government’s and Parliament’s own sources.

     

    SECURITY President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that there is no direct threat against Romania and “no sign or indication” of any attacks or other “undesired events” targeting Romania. “Of the information I have, I can tell you that Romania is a safe country. Romanians have no reason to fear, but obviously we must always be ready for unexpected occurrences,” he explained. According to Iohannis, Romania, thanks to its NATO membership, benefits today from the most important security guarantees in its history. “It is very, very important for us to understand that we are not alone, we are together with our Allies and we can handle any situation quite well,” Klaus Iohannis pointed out.

     

    BSDA The Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu Wednesday said there are good prospects for the Romanian defence industry to conclude impressive contracts worth billions of euros. Attending the international exhibition “Black Sea Defense and Aerospace” in Bucharest, the PM said this is the biggest event devoted to the defence industry in the Black Sea region. The presence of 400 companies from 31 countries proves the importance of this event, Ciolacu went on to say. All the five operational fields (land, air, naval, cyber and space) are being represented, and the event’s main attraction is the multi-role F-35 jet fighter that the US Navy has for the first time brought to an exhibition in Europe. The event is aimed to identify opportunities and find production and business cooperation solutions contributing to the promotion of Romania’s defence industry worldwide.

     

    BACCALAUREATE In Romania, the high school graduates who were part of Olympiad teams and international arts or sports competitions Wednesday stood the compulsory speciality test in a special Baccalaureate session. The exam started on Tuesday with the Romanian language and literature test, with the alternate speciality test scheduled for Thursday and the native language and literature test on Friday. Students’ digital and linguistic skills will be tested in the following days, and the final results will be announced on June 4.

     

    FESTIVAL The International Theatre Festival ‘Shakespeare’ continues in Craiova, south-western Romania with a new series of theatre shows, multi-media installations, outdoor film screenings, book launches and round table talks.  ‘Macbeth’, produced by the Chisinau-based Teatrul Fără Nume company in the Republic of Moldova, and the ‘Twelfth Night’ directed by Andrei Serban at the State Theatre in Constanta were the festival’s main events on Wednesday. Shakespeare village, a British village from the 1600s built from scratch on the local hippodrome, is the venue for scores of concerts and shows, while the Craiova Promenade is hosting the Shakespeare Dimension cube, providing a virtual immersion into the Shakespearian world. At its 30th edition this year, the international event consists of 300 shows and events bringing together some of the world’s most famous directors and actors, such as Robert Wilson, Declan Donnellan, Peter Brook or Robert Lepage. (AMP)

  • Romanian-born actors in Cannes

    Romanian-born actors in Cannes

     

    One of the spring season’s most eagerly awaited cultural events in Europe, the Cannes International Film Festival, is under way, bringing to the red carpet high-profile names of the world’s film industry, much to the delight of photographers and fans.

     

    Romania is part of this select group, with the feature film “Three Kilometres to the End of the Worldˮ, directed by Emanuel Pârvu, included in the official competition, and with the documentary “NASTYˮ, directed by Cristian Pascariu, Tudor D. Popescu and Tudor Giurgiu.

     

    In the race for the big trophy, the drama film “Three Kilometres to the End of the Worldˮ tells the story of Adi, a 17-year old teenager from a Danube Delta village, who goes to school in the town of Tulcea thanks to his parents’ efforts. While at home over the summer, the teen enjoys the company of his family and his best friend, Ilinca. But when faced with a truth they can neither understand nor accept, the unconditional love Adi should receive from his parents vanishes all of a sudden, and the young man is left with only one solution.

     

    The film features the actors Bogdan Dumitrache, Laura Vasiliu, Ciprian Chiujdea, Ingrid Micu-Berescu and Valeriu Andriuţă. The cast also includes Adrian Titieni, Richard Bovnoczki, Alina Berzunţeanu, Vlad Brumaru and Radu Gabriel. After Friday’s screening, the film got standing ovations and positive reviews.

     

    On Thursday, the documentary “NASTYˮ will be shown in the festival’s Special Screenings section. The film portrays the Romanian tennis legend Ilie Năstase, the first rebel in the history of this sport, who dominated the national and world tennis scene in the ’70. Apart from his huge talent, Ilie Năstase rose to fame thanks to his rebellious persona and to his eccentricities and temper.

     

    Not least, “Human Violins: Prelude,ˮ directed and produced by Ioana Mischie, speaks about the transforming power of music in dark times. It is the story of Alma, a young woman who loves the violin but who lives in a world of terror, with Cabiria Morgernstern providing the protagonist’s voice.

     

    Another Romanian-born actor present in Cannes, Sebastian Stan, does not play in a Romanian film. He plays the young Donald Trump in Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice,” which examines Trump’s rise to power in ’80s America.

     

    In turn, the French-Romanian actress Anamaria Vartolomei plays in 2 films screened in Cannes. In one of them, “Mariaˮ, directed by Jessica Palud and focusing on the life of the actress Maria Schneider, Anamaria Vartolomei plays the lead, while in “The Count of Monte-Cristoˮ by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière, Anamaria Vartolomei was cast in a supporting role. (AMP)

  • May 16, 2024 UPDATE

    May 16, 2024 UPDATE

    VISIT The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu received the Hungarian minister for European affairs, János Bóka, who is visiting Romania, in the run up to Hungary taking over the six-month presidency of the EU Council, on July 1. The European and international context marked by multiple challenges and the transition period between two European electoral cycles were tackled. The Romanian official emphasised the interest in advancing the decisions regarding the EU enlargement policy in relation to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, as well as those regarding Romania’s accession to Schengen with its land borders too. The Hungarian side reconfirmed its support for the achievement of this goal. As regards the current state of bilateral relations, the importance of the strategic partnership between Romania and Hungary and the opportunities for sectoral cooperation were mentioned.

     

    SHOOTING The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in intensive care, and his health condition is stable. He underwent several hours of surgery after having been shot in the chest and abdomen on Wednesday, while in a city in the centre of the country, where he had chaired a government meeting. The suspected attacker was detained by the police. According to local media, he is a 71-year-old man, a poet and civic activist. The politicians in power say the attack was politically motivated. Robert Fico is a controversial left-wing politician, accused of pro-Russian sympathies. Returning to power last year, he cancelled military support for Ukraine and announced plans to reform public radio and television, opposed by citizens in street protests. World leaders condemned the attack on the Slovak prime minister, unprecedented in recent European history. Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said that such extremist acts threaten fundamental European values.

     

    FESTIVAL The city of Craiova (south), is hosting until May 26 the 14th edition of the International Shakespeare Festival. More than 300 world-class theatre performances, concerts, parades, workshops, book launches, installations, VR trips will cover the entire city of Craiova and its surroundings, in conventional spaces, and also in the most original and unexpected places. Shakespeare Village – a British village from the 1600, rebuilt from scratch on the Craiova Hippodrome, will be the venue for dozens of concerts and shows. Famous names in international theatre and performance creators can be found in the festival program, including Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, Declan Donnellan, Robert Lepage, Philip Pârr, Jesus Herrera, and Christian Friedel.

     

    FOOD WASTE The Romanian agriculture ministry Wednesday released for public review a draft resolution aimed at reducing food waste, given that Romania disposes of over 2.5 million tons of food per year. All food operators, prior to destroying foodstuffs past their expiration date, will have to enter annual plans to reduce food waste and annual reports on the amounts of food given away in a dedicated National Platform. According to the European Commission, food loss and food waste increase food insecurity risks and affect the environment, and account for some 16% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the Union’s food system.

     

    GOVERNMENT In Thursday’s Cabinet meeting the government passed a number of road and railway infrastructure investment projects. Over EUR 2.2 bln will be spent on revamping the approx. 150 km Focşani – Roman railway route in the east of the country in the next 3 years, the Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu said. According to him, a rough EUR 200 mln has been earmarked for the revamping of a 42-km long segment of the A1 Bucharest-Piteşti motorway. A similar amount will be used by the agriculture ministry to support farmers in the poultry and the pig farming sector. Next week the government is to come up with a decision concerning the salary issues notified by the culture ministry with respect to museum personnel around the country, as well as other professional categories, the PM added.

  • Romania in mini-holiday

    Romania in mini-holiday

    The Orthodox Easter, celebrated on May 5th, this year happens to be very close to Labour Day and that has offered the Romanians a spring mini-holiday, which ends on Monday, May 6th. Almost two thirds of the Romanians choose to spend this holiday at home, mainly people over 60 years of age and those with small incomes – says a recent survey.

    13.5% of the respondents say they don’t celebrate at all this day, while those who chose to take a trip on this day account for 12.5 %. As Labour Day is considered the beginning of the summer holiday very few of the respondents, 3.4%, say they go to the seaside for this holiday.

    However, over 50 thousand tourists are going to be in the seaside resorts on the Romanian Black Sea coast. In the sunny resorts of the south, like Vama Veche and Costinesti, parties have already kicked off. Thousands of young people from Romania and abroad have arrived at Mamaia North for the electronic music festival Sunwaves.

    According to organizers, 100 Romanian and foreign artists are to attend the aforementioned festival, which is to last for seven nights on the beach. Anti-drug enforcers have also arrived in the area in an attempt to convince the participants to stay away from banned substances. The participants are encouraged to be able to identify first-aid centers, refrain from drinking to excess and be cautious regarding strangers who may offer them drugs concealed as food, drinks, medicine or cigarettes. In case of special situations they are encouraged to directly contact anti-drug experts or call the emergency number 112 in case of health-related issues. A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, Monica Dajbog, has told Radio Romania that measures have been taken to ensure public order and for intervention in emergency situations. Around 25 thousand policemen, gendarmes, border police, firefighters and troops from other structures of the Interior Ministry have been deployed to enforce law and order during this mini-holiday in Romania, with emphasis on travel resorts, churches and other crowded places, such as rail stations and airports.

    Over 200 public events are to be staged in this period, which are expected to bring together roughly 167 thousand people. 2.6 million believers are expected to attend religious services at 12,200 churches on the Holy Night of Easter.

    According to surveys, though, the number of those willing to travel on Easter holidays is around 16%, five percentages higher than last year. However, most of the Romanians, roughly 80%, intend to spend Easter with their families at home, while three quarters of them want to attend religious services on the Holy Night of Easter.

    (bill)