Radio România Internațional

Tag: Great Union

  • Iconic documents of the Great Union

    Iconic documents of the Great Union

     

     

    The union of Transylvania with Romania on December 1, 1918, Romania’s National Day, has been committed to memory in multiple types of documents and sources. Some of them have become, in the over 100 years that have passed since then, standard points of reference for that great moment.

     

    One of the most famous images of the assembly that proclaimed the union of Transylvania with Romania is a must-see on the National Day celebration. It is displayed in all history textbooks, it is featured in documentary films on the event, and it is displayed in museums and public places throughout Romania. It is a photograph that depicts a crowd of people in the area known as “Horea’s Field”. They are mostly peasants, but a few military uniforms can also be seen. In the centre of the image, an elderly man in a peasant costume is holding a red-yellow-blue flag in his left hand, and his right hand is raised at 45 degrees. Around this character, five or six other people are also seen holding the national flag in their hands, with the colours arranged horizontally.

     

    The recurrence of this photograph is explained by the effort of the communist regime before 1989 to show the peasantry as the main decisive factor of the union. The photograph from Câmpul lui Horea overshadowed another photograph featuring the prominent figure of the Greek Catholic bishop Iuliu Hossu, a political prisoner and the one who read the proclamation of the union.

     

    A second image, just as much presented to the public as the one mentioned above, is a photograph of a group of approximately 50 women and men, peasants from the village of Galtiu, Sântimbru commune, Alba County. Several trees stand in the background, and on the left side we can see a man from the group dressed in black and white national costumes holding the national flag. In the middle, above all of them, there is a banner with the text “Galtiu. Long live the union and Greater Romania”.

     

    The author of the two iconic photographs is Samoilă Mârza, nicknamed “the photographer of the Union”. Romanians owe their only photographs of the Great Union events to Mârza, the two mentioned, but also eight lesser-known ones. Born in 1886, in Galtiu, Mârza graduated from high school in Alba Iulia, and was trained by a photographer in Sibiu. He participated in World War I and was assigned to the topographic and photographic service of the Austrian-Hungarian Army.

     

    At the end of the war, Mârza took three photographs that capture the consecration of the first three-colour flag of the Romanian National Military Council, on November 14, 1918. Four days before the meeting in Alba Iulia, Mârza arrived in his native village, took three photos with his fellow citizens before leaving for Alba Iulia. He carried the bellows camera, the tripod and the glass plates on a bicycle. Due to the weight of the devices and the cloudy weather, Samoilă Mârza took five photos of the meeting, three with the crowd and two with the official stands where the union act was read. In early 1919, Samoilă Mârza published his photographs in an album entitled “The great assembly in Alba Iulia in faces”.

     

    While not equally iconic, the audio documents related to that day are no less important. In 1918, the Greek-Catholic priest Gherasim Căpâlna was 24 years old, and in a 1970 interview preserved in the archives of the Oral History Centre of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, he remembered the organisation of the departure to Alba Iulia from the bishopric where he worked:

     

    Gherasim Căpâlna: “The news spread by word of mouth, from village to village, by priests and teachers. It was decided that the meeting should be held on Archangels’ Day, November 8. But the date was changed, and the decision was made, in Arad, that we should go to Alba Iulia on the first day of December. But there, in Alba Iulia, there were so many people that you couldn’t cross to the other side. First, the leaders got organised, and Gheorghe Pop de Băsești was appointed as president of the Assembly. He was the oldest, so he gave orders to every centre, in every county. Vaida-Voevod was the leader for our area, this is where he took shelter. And there was also doctor Theodor Mihali, a Deputy. The main engine, those who organised the assembly, were the priests and the teachers, without them nothing could have been done. They did it, and they did it at the risk of their lives. A special list was put together with the people who wanted to go to Alba Iulia, and we asked for the list so that we could get a train pass for them. The Railways Authority provided us with carriages, we left on Thursday and the meeting was on Sunday. On Friday we were on the road, on Saturday we arrived in Alba Iulia with no less than 100 people. Most of them had nowhere to sleep. They walked around the city and slept leaning against the walls of Alba Iulia.”

     

    The iconic documents of the historic assembly in Alba Iulia on December 1, 1918 also have their own little history, and today we integrate them into the bigger historical picture in order to understand it better. (AMP, LS)

  • The National Assembly in Alba Iulia on December 1st, 1918

    The National Assembly in Alba Iulia on December 1st, 1918

    The National
    Assembly in Alba Iulia on December 1st, 1918, proclaimed the Union of
    Transylvania with the then Kingdom of Romania, The 1,228 delegates thus confirmed
    the fact that Romanians in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire were part of the
    Greater Romania project, initiated by King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie.

    December the 1st,
    1928, was a cold winter day, yet it was also a day of joy. The Romanians do
    have a penchant for festivities, so today’s celebrating mood might make us
    believe the general enthusiasm back then was a moderate one. Nevertheless,
    documents of the time reveal the fact that crowds of people openly expresses
    their joy around December 1st. It was the joy marking the end of a
    bloodcurdling ending, that of the trench war, a joy that was blended into the
    advent of peace and the access to a new country, to Greater Romania, which
    claimed the lives of millions of servicemen on the front lines in the Carpathians
    or around river Danube. The joy of the Romanians living in the
    Austrian-Hungarian Empire was also bolstered by the fact that a great many of
    them had been in the line of duty for the whole four years of the war. They had
    fought on the front line and had seen death in all its harrowing forms. The 12
    battles on the Isonzo river alone, along Italy’s border with Slovenia, according
    to the testimonies of Transylvanian Romanians who fought there, were also
    reasons for everybody to hail peace, from the bottom of their hearts.


    The press of
    that time, the correspondence, diaries and memoirs back then are written
    evidence for the enthusiastic atmosphere around the day of December 1st,
    1918. People wanted to organized themselves, to do away with the after math of
    the war, to bring back peace, economic prosperity and personal safety. The
    early days of winters were also the days of the first snowfall, what with the
    fact that winter holidays were drawing near, while the return to normality made
    everybody view events with great optimism.


    Clement Bolfă was
    from the commune of Maieru, the County of Bistrița-Năsăud. He was 90 in 2000.
    He recalled that in 1918, when he was an eight-year old child and a 1st-grader,
    mobilizing joy seized the adults around him.

    I remember I was in
    school and I had a school teacher, Barna Ionuc, and he told us he had to travel
    to Alba Iulia to take part in an assembly, because Transylvania united with the
    Mother Country. And when he came back he told us how it was and then taught us children
    to sing The Union is written on our flag, The Great Round Dance , Join
    your hands and never part/ all ye with Romanian heart. I was on the verge of
    tears…The schoolteacher told us how Transylvania got united and how they cried
    out in support of the union. When he came from Alba Iulia he set up a festivity
    here and we were singing and there was such a joy! Those were the days!


    Emil
    Wagner was a former member of the National Peasant Party and a member of the
    Romanian National Party before 1918. He knew Iuliu Maniu, the leader of the
    National Peasant Party very well. In 2000, when he was 104 years old, he
    recalled the circumstances prior to December 1st 1918. Wagner was a
    member of the delegation that was to get in touch with the Romanian National
    Party of Bukovina, being sent by Maniu together with Ilie Lazar, another
    important leader of the National Peasant Party. Wagner recalled how in August
    1981 Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, a leading politician of the Romanian National
    Party and deputy of the Parliament in Pesta, had been empowered to demand the
    independence of Transylvania on behalf of the party:

    Vaida took the floor in the Hungarian Parliament and demanded the
    independence of Transylvania. Count Tisza, who was head of government, said
    that Vaida was a traitor. Then Iuliu Maniu took the floor demanding the same
    thing. Then, Ferdinand, a member of the Habsburg family addressed parliament,
    saying We can’t blame these people as being traitors because they are our deputies,
    they are not traitors. It is normal that they should demand the independence of
    Transylvania! Then, it was demanded that the independence of Transylvania
    should be subject to vote. Votes were cast, but Ferdinand did not vote.
    However, his proposal exonerated Iuliu Maniu and Vaida and they were not
    executed; Count Tisza had demanded that they should be executed.


    The
    women’s involvement in the achievement of the Great Union was no less important
    than that of men. The mothers, wives, sisters or daughters of the great men who
    achieved the union of December 1st 1918 were no less than their
    sons, husbands, brothers and fathers. Lucia Mihaly of Apsa, the daughter of a
    great Romanian lawyer, recalled that she had sewn the tricolour flag she had
    hoisted in the balcony of their house in Sighet, Maramures. The new civil
    servants swore allegiance to the Romanian state on that flag after December 1st, 1918.

    Lucia Mihaly:


    In 1918 my brother came from Cluj and brought a flag from Iuliu Maniu to
    my mother. I sewed it with coloured silk and my brother and I took the flag to
    the square in the middle of the town. Delegates from every village came there
    to go to Alba Iulia and swore they would not come back without a result. They
    either walked or went by wagon or on horseback because Hungarians didn’t let
    them go by train to Alba Iulia. My brother and Ilie Lazar carried the flag. And
    when my brother came back I put the flag on the balcony; it was October 24.


    Can
    there be a greater joy when a four year long destructive war is over? All the
    more so when a new country is born.

  • Ethnic Saxons and the Great Union

    Ethnic Saxons and the Great Union

    Austria-Hungary was breaking apart, and its nations wanted to form nation states. The minorities of Transylvania were not as determined to achieve that aim, and the ethnic German minority, the Saxons, was grappling with its own prejudices and an unsure future. However, the declaration made by Romanians on December 1, 1918 led the Saxons to formulate their own point of view. On January 8, 1919, the Saxon Central Committee convened in the town of Medias. The 138 delegates endorsed the union of Transylvania and Romania.



    Historian Vasile Ciobanu with the Social Humanities Research Institute in Sibiu, central Romania, told us the story of the Saxon declaration made 100 years ago: “Transylvanian Saxons, which lived alongside Romanians in towns and villages, knew about the preparations made for the assembly in Alba Iulia, they knew about the political transformations to come. In October 1918, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was beginning to collapse upon itself, the attitude of their representatives was favorable to the preservation of the Hungarian state. We have statements made in the Parliament in Budapest on October 23, 1918 by MP Rudolph Brandsch, then a decision issued by the representatives of the Saxons gathered in Sibiu at the National Saxon Council on October 29, 1918, when they spoke in favor of the preservation of the integrity of the Hungarian state. In November 1918, when events turned in favor of Romanians, the representatives of the Saxons gathered in Sibiu at the National Saxon Council, but also those in Budapest, the Saxon MPs in the Hungarian Parliament got in touch with Romanian representatives. The Central Romanian National Council formed in Budapest, represented by Ioan Erdei, who talked with Saxon representatives in Budapest regarding their attitude towards the decision that Romanians were to make in Alba Iulia. Also, the National Saxon Council, got in touch with the National Council in Sibiu, led by Andrei Barseanu, and found out that the Romanians had decided to unite with the Kingdom of Romania.



    The decision of December 1, 1918 was certainly the moment when the Saxons realized that there was only one possibility, that of accepting the newly formed Romanian state. Vasile Ciobanu: “Even if they continued having discussions with the new Hungarian government led by Karolyi, the Saxons decided to have an even attitude towards the Romanians and Hungarians, and took their time, waiting for the Romanian decision. When they saw that the decision of a majority of Romanians was clear, after December 1 the Saxons decided to rally with Romanians in their decision to unite with the kingdom. The decision was not easy, which is understandable, because the Saxons had been a part of the Kingdom of Hungary for 800 years, ever since they had been brought there by Hungarian kings. That being the case, it was difficult for them to change the leadership under which they lived. At the same time, they had had amicable relations with the Hungarian leadership, because the Hungarians had every reason to have good relations with the Saxons as a major political group in Transylvania. On December 1, 1918, the Saxons did not send representatives to the assembly in Alba Iulia. A single Saxon went there, representing the Saxon press, a lawyer who sent in a correspondence, written objectively and fairly, published in the most important Saxon daily, Siebenburgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt on 3 December 1918, which was then republished by other Saxon papers.



    We asked Vasile Ciobanu if there had been other points of view expressed at the Saxon gathering in Medias, other than that of accepting the union of Transylvania with Romania: “Initially there was a proposal, in a resolution prepared ahead of time by a group of Saxon representatives, to accept the union of Transylvania and Romania. However, there were a few voices raised with a counter-proposal. We have minutes from the assembly on January 8, 1919, telling us of this counter-proposal. The proposal was to wait for the conclusions of the peace conference regarding the status of Transylvania. It didn’t express very good opinions about the situation in Romania, and made specific reference to the large landholdings and the peasantry that had rebelled in 1907, 10 or 12 years before. The counter-proposal demanded that Transylvania preserved its status as before, to remain part of Hungary. That proposal was refused, its supporters, 4 or 5 out of 138, were persuaded that their version was inadmissible. They had to be persuaded because the assembly wanted to have a unanimous resolution, in favor of the unconditional union between Transylvania and Romania. In reality, the Saxon representatives tried to gain assurances from the Romanian representatives regarding certain rights they wanted to have in the future Romanian state. They specify in their declaration that they were relying on specific points made in the Romanian declaration in Alba Iulia, which, in its 3rd paragraph, referred specifically to the rights of national minority in the future Romanian state.



    The centennial of the Saxon council in Medias meant that Romania gained the benefit of a strong minority, a loyalty which in those troubled times was priceless.

  • December 4, 2018 UPDATE

    December 4, 2018 UPDATE

    EUROPEAN AFFAIRS – Romanian PM Viorica Dancila alongside members of her cabinet will attend a common meeting of the Government of Romania and the Commission of Europe in Brussels on Wednesday, in the run up to Romanias taking over the presidency of the EU Council as of January 1. On Tuesday, Viorica Dancila attended a conference on the future of Europe, organized by the Aspen Romania Institute, where she said that to Romania, EU accession marked the fulfilment of national aspirations, and democracy, economic growth and safety are the undeniable result of Romanias European path. Viorica Dancila also said the most important files to be discussed during Romanias term include the financial framework, migration, the reform of the Euro zone and innovation. The Romanian Prime Minister also said that in her capacity as head of government she will make all the necessary efforts for Romania to join the Euro zone in 2024.



    UKRAINE – Romanian defence minister, Gabriel Leş, who was heard on Tuesday by the Senates relevant committee, said that as regards the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, diplomacy and political dialogue havent had their final say yet and that Romania is closely and carefully watching the situation, alongside the NATO structures. According to Radio Romanias correspondent to Moscow, Russias Black Sea fleet will carry out drills in the Black Sea, south of the Kerch Strait in Crimea, as from Tuesday night until December 9. The respective area has been declared dangerous for navigation. The drills are unfolding soon after the Russian-Ukrainian naval incident in the Kerch Strait, when Russian ships seized Ukrainian naval vessels with 24 sailors on board, for allegedly having illegally crossed the border. In the wake of the incident, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko instituted martial law in the regions along the border with Russia and in those close to the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. Russian President Vladimir Putin has deemed the incident as a provocation staged by Petro Poroshenko to serve his electoral purposes. The Western states have condemned Russias actions and called on Russia to return the Ukrainian vessels and marines it had seized.



    FRANCE – French PM, Edouard Philippe, has announced the 6 month suspension of three fiscal measures which should have been enforced as from January 1, 2019, among which a fuel tax which was the root-cause of yellow vest protests. Violent clashes were reported between yellow vest protesters and the riot police in the streets of Paris on November 17. The yellow vests protested the rise in fuel prices, denouncing the decrease in the purchasing power as a result of the envisaged measures and accused the French President Emanuel Macron of adopting policies which favour the richer members of the French society. The protests, which have spread to other regions of France, have a significant impact on the French economy, namely millions of Euros, pundits warn.



    CLARIFICATIONS – The Romanian Foreign Ministry considers that the article carried by the DPA German Press Agency and taken over by the German public television channel ZDF on the anniversary of Romanias Great Union Centennial does not observe the historical truth. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that the necessary steps have been taken, through the agency of the Romanian Embassy in Berlin, for the two German institutions to make the required corrections. On December 1, 2018 ZDF carried a piece of news about Romanias National Day, taken over from the DPA, which said that Romania celebrated 100 years since the annexation of the former Hungarian province of Transylvania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry underlines that on December 1, 1918 at the National Assembly in Alba Iulia (in central Romania) 100 thousand people decided upon the union with Romania, with the participation of all parties, religious denominations and social categories. The resolution of the National Assembly in Alba Iulia was first signed by the representatives of the German minority in Transylvania and Bukovina, the Romanian Foreign Ministry writes in the communiqué. Also on Tuesday, the German Embassy in Romania announced it had requested the two German eidtorial teams to make corrections of the excerpts in the article on the Centenary. The Embassy underlined that any public reporting contradicting the fact that the Romanian modern state was set up following the unification of several regions, including Transylvania, does not correspond with the standpoint of the Federal Government.



    CORRUPTION – The legal committee in Romanias Senate on Tuesday postponed the vote on the request made the National Anti-Corruption Directorate to start the criminal prosecution of the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who is accused of bribe taking. The committee will draft a report after which the request for lifting the officials immunity will be voted in the plenum of the Senate. In early November, the DNA had asked for the Senates approval to begin the criminal investigation of Calin Popescu Tariceanu. Prosecutors claim that the speaker of the Senate indirectly received bribe worth 800 thousand dollars, between 2007 and 2008, when he was prime minister, from an Austrian firm. The money accounted for a 10% commission on the value of the contract addendum and was allegedly used by the dignitary for his own benefit.



    HANDBALL – Romanias national handball team will meet Norway on Wednesday. Romania has qualified to the main groups of the European Championship hosted by France, after defeating the German team 29-24. That was the Romanians second match in Group D. In the first match, the Romanian handballers defeated the Czech team. Romanias national handball teams best result so far was the bronze medal at the 2010 European Championship. The leader of Romanias national team Cristina Neagu scored 5 times in the match against Germany, thus becoming the best goal scorer in the history of the European Championships, with 206 goals. (Translated by L. Simion and D. Vijeu)

  • Romanian Parliament celebrates the Centenary

    Romanian Parliament celebrates the Centenary

    The solemn meeting dedicated to the celebration of 100 years since the creation of the Romanian nation state brought together, at the Parliament headquarters, the leaders of the main political factions who, in their messages, tried to make a connection between the wishes of the people who on December 1st 1918 fulfilled their dream to accomplish the Great Union, and Romanians expectations 100 years later.



    From President Iohanniss appeal to political leaders to switch the focus back on the national interest to PM Dancilas message of political peace, the reference to the lessons of history was a common feature of all public speeches. Nevertheless, there were also insinuations exchanged by the ruling coalition, the right-wing opposition and President Iohannis, at a time when Romanians are yearning for unity. Respect for the law and freedom were the fundamental values that Romanians fought for 100 years ago, and these values continue to mobilise citizens at present, President Klaus Iohannis has said.



    He added that at present Romania is a free society, it has stable institutions, it is a member of the EU and it has a strategic partnership with the worlds most powerful country, the US.



    Klaus Iohannis: “Just like a century ago, Romanians have great hopes for their countrys future and natural expectations from its leaders. Now when we celebrate the Centenary, more than ever before, Romanians are expecting a government able to live up to the heritage that has been passed down to them, they want responsible and honest political leaders, that should set ambitious political goals for Romania and not for their own short-lived interests.



    On the other side of the political spectrum, the Social Democrat PM Viorica Dancila and her party leader Liviu Dragnea made an appeal to unity. Moreover, the PM has said its time for political consensus and peace, for the best interest of Romania:



    Viorica Dancila: “I send a message of political peace to Romanias President, Mr. Klaus Iohannis. Im convinced that, irrespective of the political and electoral stakes ahead, in the official positions that we hold, as PM and as president, we have the duty to cooperate, to work together. This is a duty beyond any personal stakes. It is a duty to the Romanians and to Romania.



    A representative of the opposition, Liberal MP Gigel Stirbu has said that the Centenary must be a moment of reflection on the achievements of the past 100 years:



    Gigel Stirbu: “Is todays Romania the Romania that our forerunners, the artisans of the great historical act of 1918, imagined? What kind of heritage do we pass on to future generations?



    The leader of Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, in his turn drew a parallel between the great achievements of 100 years ago and present-day Romania:



    Dan Barna: “A generation before the Great Union, Anghel Saligny built the bridge system in Cernavoda. Romania had, at the time, the most spectacular engineering project in Europe. The politicians who have governed Romania since the Revolution have been unable to build, in 30 years in power, a single motorway to connect historical provinces.“



    Attending the solemn meeting in Romanias Parliament to mark 100 years since the Great Union were also the former presidents of Romania, Emil Constantinescu and Traian Basescu, Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church, representatives of the Roman-Catholic and Greek-Catholic churches, and heads of the diplomatic missions in Bucharest.


    (translated by: Elena Enache)

  • November 28, 2018 UPDATE

    November 28, 2018 UPDATE

    SOLEMN SESSION – The Romanian Parliament on Wednesday held a solemn session to celebrate one hundred years since the Great Union, of December 1. Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said that 100 years on, politicians, irrespective of party and doctrine, should answer the question whether or not they want to keep on promising much and delivering little or if they take the courage and responsability to lay the foundations of Romanias development in the second Centenary. Klaus Iohannis also underlined that the Romanians have big hopes for the countrys future as well as justified expectations from those who lead the country. In turn, PM Viorica Dancila urged the Romanian political class to show unity. The guests who have been invited to attend a solemn session in the Romanian Parliament include the former presidents of the country Ion Iliescu, Emil Constantinescu and Traian Basescu, members of the Government, the heads of the diplomatic missions in Bucharest, the president of the Romanian Academy, the Governor of the National Bank, the president of the War Veterans’ National Association, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church and representatives of the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic churches.



    GREAT UNION – November 28 marks 100 years since the completion of the historic process of Bukovina’s union with Romania. After a century and a half of foreign occupation, Bukovina became an integrated part of the country it had been severed from by the Hapsburg Empire. After the dismantling of the empire into national states, the National Council of Bukovina decided, with a majority of votes, the union with Romania. Previously, in March 1918, Bessarabia, another Romanian province, had united with the mother-country, followed by Transylvania, Banat, Maramures and Crisana. This is how the Romanian National Unitary State came to life. These days, the last preparations are being made for the military ceremonies which will mark the National Day on December 1, and 100 years since the creation of Greater Romania. Bucharest will host the largest national parade since 1990. Some 4,000 military and military experts, with over 200 military vehicles will march under the Triumphal Arch. Some 500 military from 22 allied and partner countries will join the parade, alongside the Romanian troops. 50 military aircraft will fly over the Triumphal Arch Square in Bucharest. A military parade will also be held in Alba Iulia, central Romania, the town where the Great Union of December 1 was achieved. Attending the event will be 1,600 military, equipped with 150 military vehicles and 23 aircraft. The local authorities say some 400 journalists, Romanian nationals and foreigners, have been accredited to attend the events held in Alba Iulia on Romanias National Day.



    VISIT – Bucharest’s general mayor Gabriela Firea is on a five day formal visit to Ireland. She will meet with the mayor of Dublin, Lord Nial Ring, for talks on urban mobility, health and social care. Ms. Firea will also participate in the draw ceremony for the 2020 UEFA European qualifying tournament. The event will enjoy the participation of the mayors of the 12 host cities, Bucharest included, of the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, as well as representatives of football federations from the 55 countries that are affiliated to UEFA.



    BUDGET – Next year’s state budget is to be approved by the Government and submitted to Parliament for debates, most likely in the second week of December, the Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici has announced. The new budget provides for a 15% increase in the pension point as of September 2019 and a 1% drop in the VAT. The finance minister has also said that the budget deficit in the first 10 months of the year stood at 2.22% of the GDP, so Romania will manage to observe the 3% target established for this year.



    MOTION – The opposition National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union on Wednesday filed at the Senate a simple no-confidence motion against the tourism minister Bogdan Trif. The document titled ‘Romanian tourism: an incompetent minister and a country with no brand’, is to be debated and voted on in early December. The signatories claim the activity carried out by Bogdan Trif as minister is marked by ‘a total lack of transparency’ and call for his resignation. Despite the fact that Romania boasts tourist attractions that are unique in Europe and even in the world, Romanian tourism accounts for very little as share of the GDP (1.3%), the signatories also say. The Liberals blame minister Trif for worsening the economic climate in tourism. Romania has tourism-generated revenues of 2.24 billion Euros, while the Romanian citizens spend 3.12 billion for similar services abroad.



    MARTIAL LAW – Martial law was enforced on Wednesday in ten regions in Ukraine, most of them along the border with Russia, but also in two regions in the south-west: Odessa and Vinnytsia, which neighbor Transdniester, and also in the internal waters in the Azov Sea – Kerch Strait area. In order not to affect the presidential elections due in March next year, the measure will be enforced for only 30 days. Martial law entails lesser civil rights and traffic. Also, public gatherings are forbidden, and radio and TV broadcasts censored. The decree signed by president Petro Porosenko was enforced after on Sunday, three Ukrainian ships were seized by the Russian coast guards in the Black Sea, near the Kerch Strait. The incident ended in six Ukrainians being injured, two of them quite seriously, according to Kiev.

  • November 28, 2018

    November 28, 2018


    SOLEMN SESSION – The Romanian Parliament holds a solemn session today to celebrate one hundred years since the Great Union. Romanias president Klaus Iohannis and the speakers of the two chambers, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and Liviu Dragnea, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and the Custodian of the Romanian Crown, Princess Margareta will give speeches on the occasion. Also speaking will be members of the parties represented in parliament. The guests to the event include the former presidents of the country Ion Iliescu, Emil Constantinescu and Traian Basescu, members of the Government, the heads of the diplomatic missions in Bucharest, the president of the Romanian Academy, the Governor of the National Bank, the president of the War Veterans National Association, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church and representatives of the Greek and Roman Catholic churches.



    GREAT UNION – November 28th marks 100 years since the completion of the historic process of Bukovinas union with Romania. After a century and a half of foreign occupation, Bukovina became an integrated part of the country it had been severed from by the Habsburg Empire. After the dismantling of the empire into national states, the National Council of Bukovina decided, with a majority of votes, the union with Romania. Previously, in March 1918, Bessarabia, another Romanian province, had united with the mother-country, followed by Transylvania, Banat, Maramures and Crisana. This is how the Romanian National Unitary State came to life.



    VISIT – Bucharests general mayor Gabriela Firea is on a formal 5-day visit to Ireland. She will meet with the mayor of Dublin, Lord Nial Ring, for talks on urban mobility, health and social care. Ms. Firea will also participate in the draw ceremony for the 2020 UEFA European qualifying tournament. The event will enjoy the participation of the mayors of the 12 host cities, Bucharest included, of the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, as well as representatives of football federations from the 55 countries that are affiliated to UEFA.



    BUDGET – Next years state budget is to be approved by the Government and submitted to Parliament for debates, most likely in the second week of December, the Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici has announced. The new budget provides for a 15% increase in the pension point as of September 2019 and a 1% drop in the VAT. The finance minister has also said that the budget deficit in the first 10 months of the year stood at 2.22% of the GDP, so Romania will manage to observe the 3% target established for this year.



    MOTION – The opposition National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union have today filed at the Senate a simple no-confidence motion against the tourism minister Bogdan Trif. The document titled Romanian tourism: an incompetent minister and a country with no brand, is to be debated and voted on in early December. The signatories claim the activity carried out by Bogdan Trif as minister is marked by a total lack of transparency and call for his resignation. Despite the fact that Romania boasts tourist attractions that are unique in Europe and even in the world, Romanian tourism accounts for very little as share of the GDP (1.3%), the signatories also say. The Liberals blame minister Trif for worsening the economic climate in tourism. Romania has tourism-generated revenues of 2.24 billion Euros, while the Romanian citizens spend 3.12 billion for similar services abroad.



    MARTIAL LAW – Martial law has been enforced today in ten regions in Ukraine, most of them along the border with Russia, but also in two regions in the south-west: Odessa and Vinnytsia, which neighbor Transdniester, and also in the internal waters in the Azov Sea – Kerch Strait area. In order not to affect the presidential elections due in March next year, the measure will be enforced for only 30 days. Martial law entails lesser civil rights and traffic curfews. Also, public gatherings are forbidden, and radio and TV broadcasts censored. The decree signed by president Petro Porosenko was enforced after on Sunday, three Ukrainian ships were seized by the Russian coast guards in the Black Sea, near the Kerch Strait. The incident ended in six Ukrainians being injured, two of them quite seriously, according to Kiev.




  • November 18, 2018

    November 18, 2018


    VISITS – The President of the
    European Court of Auditors, Klaus-Heiner Lehne will pay a visit to Bucharest on
    Monday and Tuesday, in the run-up to Romania’s taking over the rotating presidency
    of the EU Council, on January 1st, 2019. Klaus – Heiner Lehne will meet with
    Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, Prime-Minister Viorica Dancila, the Speakers
    of the two parliament chambers, the Public Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici
    and the Minister Delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba. Several
    high-ranking officials will travel to Bucharest next week, including the
    president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani. The officials will discuss
    topics of interest for the future of the EU and the good management, during
    Romania’s presidency, of major files, such as the multi-annual financial
    framework, Brexit, the future of the EU post Brexit and the evolution of the
    security policy.




    GREAT UNION – An event celebrating
    the Great Union Centennial has been hosted by Gyula in Hungary, the town that
    is home to the largest Romanian community in the country, which has its own
    Romanian school and newspaper. The event has been attended by Romanian cultural
    figures, university professors and local authorities. The Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi
    Institute for Romanians Worldwide has
    organized a conference on the contribution to the Great Union of Romanians in Hungary. A festivity was also held on the occasion, during which representatives
    of the Romanian community in Hungary, including headmasters of schools with
    teaching in Romanian, were awarded by the Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi institute, for the
    efforts they’ve made to preserve Romanian cultural values.




    RADIRO – The 4th
    International Festival of Radio Orchestras – RadiRo- starts in Bucharest today,
    organized by Radio Romania. This year, the festival celebrates Radio Romania’s
    90th anniversary and also the Great Union Centennial. Until next
    Sunday, the Radio Hall and the Auditorium Hall of the National Art Museum will
    be hosting 8 symphonic and 4 jazz concerts. The list of prestigious guests
    includes the oldest European radio orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony
    Orchestra, as well as the BBC Philarmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, and RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, participating for the first time in the festival. All concerts will be
    broadcast live by Radio Romania, recorded and subsequently broadcast by the
    Romanian Television and other radio broadcasting companies members of the
    European Broadcasting Union.




    GAUDEAMUS Today is the last day of the Gaudeamus – Radio Romania
    International Book Fair. The 2018
    edition has been devoted to the Great Union Centennial and Radio Romania’s 90th
    anniversary. The main topic has been illustrated by a representative stand,
    with a collection of 600 volumes devoted to the Great Union and dozens of
    events, launches, book presentations, film screenings and public readings. The
    public has also had the opportunity to meet some of their favourite
    writers, literary critics and historians.




    CONSECRATION – The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew,
    is expected to Romania on the 23rd of November, for a four-day
    visit, according to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Patriarchy. Together
    with the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, and other Romanian
    hierarchs, Bartholomew will attend on November 25th the consecration
    of the newly-built Cathedral of the
    Salvation of the Nation. Bartholomew has been to Romania ten times, last time
    in 2010.






    PROTESTS – Protests staged by the
    so-called ‘yellow vests’ have been reported in France, against the increase in
    taxes and fuel prices. Some 300,000 protested in Paris and in other towns,
    blocking entrances into the highway. 227 people have been wounded and the
    police made 73 arrests. People were mobilized through the social media, without
    any intervention on the part of the trade unions or political parties.






    FOOTBALL – On Saturday night, in Ploiesti,
    in the south, Romania’s national football team defeated the Lithuanian squad
    3-nil, in a match part of the Nations League’s group 4. As a result, Romania
    went up to the second place in the group, and will play a decisive match
    against Montenegro, in Podgorica on Tuesday. Romania will be able to keep
    fighting for qualification to EURO 2020 as holder of the second position in the
    group if Serbia, the leader of the group, qualifies directly to the European
    Championship.

  • October 27, 2018 UPDATE

    October 27, 2018 UPDATE

    AIR FORCES – The joint training and common missions carried out by the Canadian military dispatched in the area and the Romanian military are unfolding exceptionally well, the head of the Canadian Royal Air Force, general lieutenant Alexander Donald Meinzinger, said on Saturday, soon after he visited the Mihail Kogălniceanu airbase in south-eastern Romania. He met with the head of the Romanian Air Force, general Viorel Pană and with the Canadian unit dispatched at Mihail Kogălniceanu. The 135 strong unit (pilots and technical staff) is carrying out NATO air policing missions, alongside members of the Romanian Air Force. These missions are aimed at developing response and deterrence capabilities, sources with the Romanian Defence Ministry say.



    COLECTIV – A show inspired by the drama around the fire-ravaged Colectiv nightclub in 2015 is staged on Saturday and Sunday at the National Dance Centre in Bucharest. Titled “153 seconds, the show starts with the story of a survivor. The project has been coordinated by director Ioana Păun, who has collected testimonies made by the victims and opinions expressed by sociologists and psychologists and then staged a show on resignation and the possibility of making a change. The title “153 seconds comes from the duration of the fire which ripped through Colectiv, taking the lives of 65 people. On Tuesday, October 30, its three years since the tragedy struck the Bucharest-based club. We recall it was followed by massive protests which deplored corruption at the level of the central and local administration and led to the resignation of the Ponta-led cabinet.



    EUROPEAN FUNDS – Since joining the EU, back in 2007, Romania has had at its disposal European funds worth over 45 billion Euros to develop the country, says the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu. According to her, the cohesion policy is meant to improve the living standards of the European citizens, and the results are visible in Romania, too. Corina Creţu will pay an official visit to Bucharest next week, when she is due to meet Romanian high ranking officials and to have talks on the future of the European cohesion policy.



    POLL – 84% of the Romanians declare themselves patriots with a large number of them saying the disrespect for the national insignia, such as the coat of arms, the flag and the anthem should be punished by imprisonment or administrative fines. The results of the poll conducted by the CURS Polling Institute show 75% of the Romanians say they know personalities and institutions that had a major contribution to the setting up of Greater Romania. Some of the personalities which are mentioned most often include King Ferdinand, the Bratianu family and Marshall Averescu. We recall that this year Bucharest celebrates 100 years since the Great Union of December 1, 1918.



    SWINE FEVER – A case of African swine fever was confirmed on Saturday in a household in Vrancea county, eastern Romania, the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority has announced. The area has been isolated, disinfection measures have been taken and the line authorities have set up checking points on the main roads. Over 1,000 African swine fever outbreaks have been confirmed in 15 counties in Romania so far, and no less than 350,000 pigs have been culled. Romania has requested support from the EU to offer damages to the affected farmers.



    SUBWAY – The Metrorex trade unionists in Bucharest on Monday will resume negotiations with the management, on the new Collective Labour Agreement which expired on Saturday, October 27. Fridays talks failed to produce results. The unionists are mainly demanding pay rises and better working conditions. They warn to go on an all out strike as from November 10. The Metrorex Management claims a 42% pay rise, as demanded by the unionists, exceeds the limits of the companys budget.



    SPORTS – Romanian tennis player Marius Copil (no.93 ATP) on Saturday qualified to the finals of the Basel tennis tournament after winning a surprising victory in the semi-finals against the German Alexander Zverev, second seeded and no.5 ATP, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. This is the second ATP final in the Romanian players career, after that played in Sofia, earlier this year. Copil will face in the final on Sunday the winner of the match played by first-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland and seven seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia.

  • April 4, 2018 UPDATE

    April 4, 2018 UPDATE

    MEDIA The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Wednesday passed a draft that completes the Audio-visual law and under which radio and television stations in Romania must broadcast two advertisements of public interest. These are: “For a healthy economy, buy products made in Romania!” and “For a healthy environment, teach children to respect nature!” These two advertisements are to be broadcast free of charge without being included in the legal time slot allotted to commercials. The category of public interest announcements and advertisements also includes those referring to dangerous hydro-meteorological phenomena issued by the national authorities in the field. The draft will be submitted to the Senate for approval.





    SURVEY According to a survey published in Chisinau on Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Romania’s former president Traian Basescu are the political personalities abroad electorate in the ex-soviet Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova trusts the most. Putin comes first in the survey with 55% of the respondents being followed by Basescu with 44%. At the opposite pole there are Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili as well as the presidents of the United States and France, Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron respectively. The survey was carried out by the Moldovan Center for Sociological Research over March 10th and 27th.





    CENTRAL BANK The National Bank of Romania On Wednesday decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 2.25%, against the expectations of most analysts, who anticipated an increase in figures. The central bank also decided to maintain the earned deposit interest rate at 1.25% per year and the credit interest rate at 3.25% per year. The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania also decided to maintain the current level of the mandatory minimum reserves for liabilities in the national currency, the leu, as well as in hard currency for crediting institutions.





    MOTION The simple motion initiated by the National Liberal Party, in opposition, against the Culture Minister, George Ivaşcu, was rejected on Wednesday in a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies with the Romanian Parliament, just a day after the document had been debated in a plenary session of Parliament. The Liberals deplore what they call negligence in preparing the events devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Great Union and voice concern about the Government’s inability to properly organise the December 1 celebrations. They also say a public debate meant to find solutions and reconsider a national plan devoted to the Great Union Centennial is needed. In response, the Culture Minister, George Ivaşcu, gave assurances that he is constantly concerned about how to efficiently organise the celebrations devoted to all Romanians.



  • April 4, 2018

    April 4, 2018

    PROTOCOLS — The Superior Council of Magistracy, the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Judicial Inspection Corps have signed protocols with the Romanian intelligence structures- Bucharest sources say. Representatives of the Superior Council of Magistracy signed a protocol with the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI, in 2012, but it was terminated in 2017. In its turn, the Judicial Inspection Corps signed a similar protocol in 2016, just like the High Court of Cassation. These clarifications are made public in the wake of a scandal which broke out last week, following the publication of a protocol signed in 2009 by the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Office of the Prosecutor General, based on which SRI had provided assistance to prosecutors for seven years.



    MOTION – The simple motion initiated by the National Liberal Party, in opposition, against the Culture Minister, George Ivaşcu, has been rejected today in a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies with the Romanian Parliament, just a day after the document was debated in a plenary session of Parliament. The Liberals deplore what they call negligence in preparing the events devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Great Union and voice concern about the Government’s inability to properly organise the December 1 celebrations. They also say a public debate meant to find solutions and reconsider a national plan devoted to the Great Union Centennial is needed. In response, the Culture Minister, George Ivaşcu, gave assurances that he is constantly concerned about how to efficiently organise the celebrations devoted to all Romanians.



    CENTRAL BANK — The National Bank of Romania has today decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 2.25%, against the expectations of most analysts, who anticipated an increase in figures. The central bank has also decided to maintain the earned deposit interest rate at 1.25% per year and the credit interest rate at 3.25% per year. The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania has also decided to maintain the current level of the mandatory minimum reserves for liabilities in the national currency, the leu, as well as in hard currency for crediting institutions.



    UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment rate in Romania in February stood at 4.6%, the same level as in the previous month, a communiqué issued by the National Institute of Statistics shows. The number of the unemployed stood at 419,000 people in February, lower than in the previous month. In terms of gender, the unemployment rate among men exceeded by 0.8% the rate among women, standing at 4.9% in the case of men, and at 4.1% of women, respectively.



    ENCYCLOPAEDIA — A digital encyclopaedia devoted to outstanding personalities and historical moments which paved the way for the Great Union of December 1918 has been launched in Bucharest. It contains rare photographs, video clips and 3D images featuring significant historical moments. The “Romania 1918” app can be used free of charge and can be downloaded from the web. The encyclopaedia is available in Romanian and English, with a French version being under construction.



    FRENCH RAILWAY NETWORK DISRUPTION — France’s rail traffic has been severely disrupted today, as a wave of strikes against President Emmanuel Macrons labor reforms gets under way. The unions say some of the plans to overhaul the French state railway, SNCF, would allegedly lead to redundancies and limit the current rights of the railway staff. If no solution is found to the issue, the strike might continue until the end of June, with traffic being severely disrupted for more than 30 days. Only one in seven high-speed trains, TGVs, and one in five regional trains will be running today, on an average.

  • November 7, 2017

    November 7, 2017

    MEETING The government will cover cuts in town halls budgets, Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has today said during a meeting with representatives of the Association of Municipalities in Romania on the fresh fiscal amendments planned by the executive. On Monday, Bucharest’s mayor, Gabriela Firea, said the measures would also lead to cuts in investment budgets in town halls all over the country. Also on Monday, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose explained that the new fiscal measures are meant to strengthen economic-financial discipline, step up efficiency in the anti-smuggling fight and improve the VAT collection.




    PROTEST Employees of Romania’s largest carmaker, Dacia, owned by French giant Renault, are today staging a protest rally against the government’s decision to transfer the social insurance contributions from employers to employees; they also protest the delayed construction of the Pitesti Sibiu highway. The executive is to approve a series of fiscal measures such as the aforementioned transfer of the social insurance contribution from employer to employee, the payment by the employer of the so-called workmen’s compensation insurance, which should cover unemployment and medical leaves, as well as to bring income taxes down from 16 to 10%. These measures have attracted a lot of heat from major trade union confederations, the country’s president and the right-wing opposition. President Iohannis has said the date of these laws’ coming into effect, January 1st 2018, is badly timed.




    VISIT US president, Donald Trump, has today arrived in South Korea, the second leg of his large-scale Asian tour. Trump has visited the US camp Humphreys, 90 kilometers south of Seoul, which is home to 28,500 soldiers. The White House leader has further met his South-Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, who has hailed the historic relation between the two countries, which led to peace and prosperity in the Korean peninsula and the whole region. Moon says he hopes that Trump’s visit will diminish the South-Koreans’ anxiety caused by Pyongyang’s nuclear programme and will be a watershed moment in solving the north-Korean nuclear issue. The talks between the two officials have also focused on bilateral relations. On Monday, president Trump visited Japan and is to go to China on Wednesday. His tour, which is the biggest by an American president in the past 25 years, is also to include Vietnam and the Philippines.




    MOTION The Liberal opposition in Bucharest has today tabled a motion against Energy Minister Toma Petcu. According to the National Liberal Party, the sector is facing many issues related to soaring energy prices, stored natural gas, the shortage of infrastructure investment and decapitalized state companies. According to the Liberals, all these problems have been caused by of mismanagement and the Minister has to be sacked or step down.





    FAIR 50 businesses are representing Romania this year at the largest international travel fair underway in London. The Alba Iulia tourist destination in central Romania, the cultural circuits, spa and adventure tourism are all promoted during the fair. The theme of the Romanian stand illustrates the 100 years that have passed since the Great Union of 1918, which created the Romanian unitary state, when Bucharest gained authority over all the Romanian historical provinces. The Tourism Ministry is due to present as a first the Centenary logo, a unique element of identification for all the events Romania is to stage next year.


  • November 28, 2016

    November 28, 2016

    MIGRANTS – The Romanian border police have caught six Iraqi citizens, four adults and two children, who passed Romania’s border illegally, through Bulgaria, on foot, in an attempt to reach Germany. The migrants were helped to cross the border with Romania by four Bulgarian citizens, who entered the country legally by car, and are now in police custody. The Iraqi citizens will be taken over by the Bulgarian authorities, in keeping with the Romanian-Bulgarian protocol.




    DEFENSE – Romania’s Supreme Defense Council convenes on Tuesday in Bucharest to discuss, among other things, operations carried out outside the country’s borders in 2017 and the stage of implementation of the countrys national defence strategy for 2015-2019. Also approached will be measures taken by Romania with a view to implementing the sanctions imposed internationally between October 2015 and September 2016, as well as Romania’s medium and long term relationship with Moldova, whose president is now the pro-Russian Igor Dodon. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has said that Bucharest plans to further support Chisinau in spite of this new context.




    CORRUPTION- Romania’s Chamber of deputies is today voting on the anti-corruption prosecutors’ request to start the prosecution of the Parliament member Eugen Bejinariu. A former general secretary of the Government between 2003 and 2004, Bejinariu has been accused by prosecutors of abuse of office in the Microsoft 2 case. The damage in this case, which also involves former ministers and two former directors of Microsoft Romania, exceeds 67 million dollars.




    ACADEMY – The Romanian Academy is today marking, through a solemn meeting, the Great Union and Romania’s participation in WW1. Attending are President Klaus Iohannis, wo will deliver a speech on this occasion, as well as Princess Margareta, custodian of the Romanian Crown and Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church. 1st of December 1918 remains a symbol for the union of all Romanians. Declared an official holiday after the anti-communist revolution of 1989, 1st of December marks the completion, at the end of WW1, of the creation of the Romanian nation state following the union of all provinces with majority Romanian populations, that had been part of multinational empires, under Bucharest’s authority.




    ELECTION – Francois Fillon, the socially conservative former prime minister has won the primary race to become the presidential candidate of the French right wing next spring. Fillon, 62, gained support in the final days of the primary race after writing a book on the dangers of “Islamic totalitarianism”. Fillon thus defeated the more moderate centrist, Alain Jupe, the 71-year-old mayor of Bordeaux. A fervent Catholic, Fillon has a very liberal programme in terms of economy and a very conservative one when it comes to social issues. Fillon sees Russia as an ally in the fight against ISIS.



    HANDBALL – In the Carpati Trophy final, hosted by the central Transylvanian city of Cluj Napoca, Romania sustained a 29-24 defeat by Hungary. The fixture was also the last match for Aurelia Bradeanu, who will retire from competition. Scoring most of Romania’s goals was Eliza Buceschi, 5, while for Hungarys Kinga Klivinyi was the top scorer, with 10 goals.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)