Radio România Internațional

Tag: Great Union Centennial

December 2, 2018 UPDATE

GREAT
UNION CENTENNIAL – Some 150,000 Romanians celebrated the Great Union Centennial in Alba
Iulia, with events ending with an open air concert. Some 450 events were held
all over the country on this occasion. Despite the freezing cold, tens of
thousands of people attended the military parades organized on Saturday in
Bucharest, Alba Iulia and Focsani. Attending the events, President Klaus
Iohannis said he was honored to be president in the year of the Great Union Centennial.
In turn, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila called for unity in her speech in
Focsani. The military parade in Bucharest was the largest event of its kind in
the last decades. Some 4,000 military, of whom 500 from 20 partner and allied
states, paraded in Bucharest. More than 200 pieces of military equipment were
presented to the public, while 50 aircraft flew over the capital city. The combat
equipment included for the first time the Patriot missile air-defense system
and the Piranha 5 armored vehicles which, starting this year, are being
manufactured in Romania. Millions of Romanians in the Diaspora celebrated the
National Day of Romania as well.

DANCILA – Prime Minister Viorica
Dancila on Monday is attending the Central-European Initiative Summit in Zagreb,
which marks the end of Croatia’s one-year term at the helm of this institution.
The Initiative was founded in 1989 as a regional inter-government forum engaged
in supporting European integration and sustainable development by means of
cooperation among member states and the EU, international and regional
organizations, as well as other public or private institutions and NGOs. The
main topic on Monday’s agenda is ensuring security, supporting the economy and
boosting progress. Italy on January 1, 2019 will take over the rotating
presidency. Attending the summit will be the president of the European Bank of
Reconstruction and Development and European Commissioner for Enlargement,
Johannes Hahn. On Tuesday, a business forum on the role of innovation in competitiveness
will be hosted by Croatia’s Chamber of Commerce on the sidelines of the summit.

BUSH – US Stock
Markets on Monday will observe a moment of silence in homage to the former US
President George H.W. Bush, who passed away on Friday aged 94. Stock markets
will be closed on Wednesday, declared a day of national mourning in the US.
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message of condolences to his
counterpart, Donald Trump. Iohannis said President Bush was a great leader and
statesman, whose political legacy holds tremendous importance for Eastern
Europe. Due to his efforts, Romania and other states from the former Soviet
bloc found their liberty and started the path towards European and
Euro-Atlantic integration. It was also Bush, Iohannis argues, who laid the
foundations of what was to become the Strategic Partnership between the United
States and Romania.

PENSION
LAW
– The new pension law could be passed in Parliament by the end of the year,
Labor Minister Marius Budai has announced. The Senate has already voted the
document and submitted it to the Chamber of Deputies for approval. Under the
new law, the pension point will be increased in stages until 2021. The minimum
period of contribution stays at 15 years, while MA and doctoral studies are now
removed from the standard period of contribution. At the same time, the periods
of early retirement were reduced from six years to 12 months for extraordinary
circumstances and from 2 years to 1 year for special circumstances. Women who’ve
completed their minimum period of contribution and given birth to three children
benefit from a six-year reduction of their early retirement age. The Government
assures there will be no drop in pensions.

PROTESTS – French
President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called on Prime Minister Edouard Philippe
to receive leaders of Parliamentary parties and representatives of protesters after
Paris saw violent clashes between the riot police and protesters for the 3rd
weekend in a row as part of rallies caused by increased fuel prices. The
initiative reflects the Government’s constant concern for dialogue, the
presidency reports. During Sunday’s morning emergency meeting, the president
also called on the Interior Minister to see to the adjustment of the security
detail. The violent protests turned to street violence in Pairs, after the
peaceful protest was taken over by groups of hooligans looting stores and
setting cars and private lofts on fire. Emmanuel Macron promised the guilty
would be identified and brought to court. Over 100 people were injured and the
police detained some 400 people. The protest surfaced after the Government in
early October announced they would levy an environment tax on fuel starting
next year. Protesters also expressed disgruntlement with the low purchase power
and the increasing number of taxes.

HANDBALL – The Romanian
women’s handball team on Saturday grabbed its first win at the European
Championship in France, defeating the Czech Republic 31-28 in Group D. In the
other group fixture, Germany surprisingly defeated Norway 33-32. Romania will
next play Germany on Monday. The first three teams will advance to the main
group phase. This is the 13th time Romania takes part in the European
Championships. In 2015 our team ranked 5, while its best performance was in
2010 when they scooped bronze.

FOOTBALL – Romania will
play in Group F in the EURO 2020 preliminaries alongside Spain, Sweden, Norway,
the Faeroe Islands and Malta. National Arena stadium in Bucharest will be
hosting matches in the final tournament, three in the group phase and one round
of 16 match. The semi-finals and finals will be played in London on Wembley
stadium. The first two teams in each group will qualify to the European
Championship.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)

2 December 2018
December 2, 2018

GREAT
UNION CENTENNIAL – Events were held on Sunday too in Alba Iulia, central Romania, to mark
100 years since the Great Union. Despite the freezing cold, tens of thousands
of people attended the military parades organized on Saturday in Bucharest,
Alba Iulia and Focsani. Attending the events, President Klaus Iohannis said he
was honored to be president in the year of the Great Union Centennial. In turn,
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila called for unity in her speech in Focsani. The
military parade in Bucharest was the largest event of its kind in the last
decades. Some 4,000 military, of whom 500 from 20 partner and allied states,
paraded in Bucharest. More than 200 pieces of military equipment were presented
to the public, while 50 aircraft flew over the capital city. The combat equipment
included for the first time the Patriot missile air-defense system and the
Piranha 5 armored vehicles which, starting this year, are being manufactured in
Romania. Millions of Romanians in the Diaspora celebrated the National Day of
Romania as well.

DANCILA – Prime Minister Viorica
Dancila on Monday is attending the Central-European Initiative Summit in
Zagreb, which marks the end of Croatia’s one-year term at the helm of this
institution. The Initiative was founded in 1989 as a regional inter-government
forum engaged in supporting European integration and sustainable development by
means of cooperation among member states and the EU, international and regional
organizations, as well as other public or private institutions and NGOs. The
main topic on Monday’s agenda is ensuring security, supporting the economy and
boosting progress. Italy on January 1, 2019 will take over the rotating
presidency. Attending the summit will be the president of the European Bank of
Reconstruction and Development and European Commissioner for Enlargement,
Johannes Hahn. On Tuesday, a business forum on the role of innovation in
competitiveness will be hosted by Croatia’s Chamber of Commerce on the
sidelines of the summit.

BUSH – US Stock
Markets on Monday will observe a moment of silence in homage to the former US
President George H.W. Bush, who passed away on Friday aged 94. Stock markets
will be closed on Wednesday, declared a day of national mourning in the US.
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message of condolences to his
counterpart, Donald Trump. Iohannis said President Bush was a great leader and
statesman, whose political legacy holds tremendous importance for Eastern
Europe. Due to his efforts, Romania and other states from the former Soviet
bloc found their liberty and started the path towards European and
Euro-Atlantic integration. It was also Bush, Iohannis argues, who laid the
foundations of what was to become the Strategic Partnership between the United
States and Romania.

PENSION
LAW
– The new pension law could be passed in Parliament by the end of the year,
Labor Minister Marius Budai has announced. The Senate has already voted the
document and submitted it to the Chamber of Deputies for approval. Under the
new law, the pension point will be increased in stages until 2021. The minimum
period of contribution stays at 15 years, while MA and doctoral studies are now
removed from the standard period of contribution. At the same time, the periods
of early retirement were reduced from six years to 12 months for extraordinary
circumstances and from 2 years to 1 year for special circumstances. Women who’ve
completed their minimum period of contribution and given birth to three children
benefit from a six-year reduction of their early retirement age. The Government
assures there will be no drop in pensions.

PROTESTS – French
President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called an emergency meeting with the Prime
Minister and the Defense Minister after Paris saw violent clashes between the
riot police and protesters for the 3rd weekend in a row as part of
rallies caused by increased fuel prices. 75,000 people protested on Saturday in
Paris, with clashes reported in other cities as well. The violent protests
turned to street violence in Pairs, after the peaceful protest was taken over
by groups of hooligans looting stores and setting cars and private lofts on
fire. Emmanuel Macron promised the guilty would be identified and brought to
court. Over 100 people were injured and the police detained some 300 people.
The protest surfaced after the Government in early October announced they would
levy an environment tax on fuel starting next year. Protesters also expressed
disgruntlement with the low purchase power and the increasing number of taxes.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national
football team will find out, on Sunday, its opponents in the preliminaries of
the EURO 2020, after the draw hosted by Dublin, one of the 12 hosts of the
continental competition, among which Bucharest as well. Romania’s National
Arena stadium will host 4 matches in 2020: 3 matches of Group C on June 14, 18
and 22, and a match in the eighth finals on June 29. The 55 teams to
participate in the draw for the preliminaries will be divided into 10 groups, 5
groups of 5 teams each, and 5 groups of 6 teams. Qualifying to the EURO 2020
will be the teams ranking 1st and 2nd in each group. The
matches in the preliminary round will take place from March through November
2019.

HANDBALL – The Romanian
women’s handball team on Saturday grabbed its first win at the European
Championship in France, defeating the Czech Republic 31-28 in Group D. In the
other group fixture, Germany surprisingly defeated Norway 33-32. Romania will
next play Germany on Monday. The first three teams will advance to the main
group phase. This is the 13th time Romania takes part in the
European Championships. In 2015 our team ranked 5, while its best performance
was in 2010 when they scooped bronze.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)

2 December 2018
The Gaudeamus International Book Fair

Romanian Centennial was the central theme of the 25th
edition of the Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair, hosted between
November 14th and 18th by the Romexpo Exhibition Centre
in Bucharest. Around 600 volumes and some 50 events-book launches and
presentations, debates, film screenings, public lectures-marked the Great Union
Centennial and the end of World War I, as well as 90 years since the first
broadcast aired by Radio Romania.

This year, the Fair brought together over 300 participants:
established Romanian publishing institutions, education institutions, book and
periodical distributors, producers of educational games, professional
associations and NGOs working in the field of culture and education. Our guests
today, Bogdan Alexandru Stanescu, head of the Biblioteca Polirom world
literature collection, Andreea Rasuceanu, the initiator and coordinator of the
Contemporary Romanian Writers series of the Humanitas publishing house, and
Eli Banica, the initiator and head of the n’autor collection launched by
Nemira Publishers, spoke about the highlights of this year’s edition.

George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant was one of the most eagerly
awaited releases in Biblioteca Polirom collection. Bogdan Alexandru Stanescu
told us more about this volume and about other novelties in the collection:

The book brings together essays on the years spent by George
Orwell as a member of the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, in 1922-1927, and on
his self-imposed poverty period. These essays are, perhaps to a higher extent
than his diary, in a position to shed light on the portrait of this British
writer. Another new title in Biblioteca Polirom is Philip Roth’s Why Write?
brilliantly translated by Radu Pavel Gheo. It is a non-fiction book, comprising
interviews, essays, confessions, the last book that Roth lived to see
published, by the prestigious Library of America. It also includes
autobiographical pieces published by Roth between 1960 and 2014. Also in this
year’s edition of Gaudeamus we launched A Lifetime in Letters. Correspondence
I (1879-1890) by A. P. Chekhov. It is an edition translated and edited by
Sorina Balanescu, and this first volume of Chekhov’s epistolary autobiography
comprises letters sent by the author between 1879 and 1890. It was originally
designed as a 3-volume edition, but details change from one month to the next,
so a fourth volume is not out of the question.

Last year, Humanitas Publishers launched a new collection, entitled
Contemporary Romanian Writers. Andreea Rasuceanu, the coordinator of the
collection, believes that contemporary Romanian literature is very diverse, and
this diversity must be properly showcased. She also gave us details about new
titles launched in this collection at the Gaudeamus fair:

Humanitas Publishers opened the series of new releases with
3 new books. The first is Radu Vancu’s Transparency, an erudite, semi-fantasy
novel, reminding of Mircea Cartarescu’s style, and which incorporates a
wonderful love story. The plot is set in a mythical version of Sibiu, rewriting
its map and including it in a list of fictionalised cities. Another book that
we launched at Gaudeamus is Iulian Popa’s debut work, Guadalajara, a short
story volume. The author has a fresh voice, one that convinced me as soon as I
read some of his stories. They have a sense of quaintness, of melancholy,
whether they talk about a couple’s crisis, about the loneliness and confusion
of old age, or about the lack of communication in today’s world. It is a prose
in which I believe, and I hope it will be successful. And not least, we have a
collective volume, an anthology called 16 prose writers of today, which
includes works by some of the most important contemporary Romanian prose
writers.

Another collection focusing on Romanian literature is n’autor, launched
by Nemira this year. A collection that describes the world we live in, the
reality of our days and of the past, snapshots of Romanian society and of the
world, the constantly changing mankind. Eli Badica:

The latest volume, which we launched at the Gaudeamus Fair,
is a novel entitled The night between the worlds, by Irina Georgescu Groza.
Irina made her debut with a volume of short stories brought out by Casa de
Pariuri Literare 2 years ago, and now she is back with this splendid novel,
whose protagonist is a very special little girl living in the communist era. As
regards how we promote and receive literature, what I can say is that foreign
literature still benefits from much stronger promotion than Romanian
literature. But all the responses we have received so far since the launch of
this collection, n’autor, help me remain an optimist. During our promotion
tours we talked to bookshop owners, who know better than anyone what sells and
what doesn’t, and they are optimistic as well. They told me that the recent
releases in this collection, namely A horse in a sea of swans by Raluca Nagy
and Stories from a garage by Goran Mrakic, were very well received by
readers. They were books that people are buying and talk about, from readers to
bloggers and journalists. This makes me believe in the Romanian public and I
think it is a good time for the Romanian market, in the sense that Romanian authors
are increasingly visible and readers are beginning to realise that many of the
Romanian writers are just as good as foreign ones.

24 November 2018
The Gaudeamus International Book Fair

Romanian Centennial was the central theme of the 25th
edition of the Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair, hosted between
November 14th and 18th by the Romexpo Exhibition Centre
in Bucharest. Around 600 volumes and some 50 events-book launches and
presentations, debates, film screenings, public lectures-marked the Great Union
Centennial and the end of World War I, as well as 90 years since the first
broadcast aired by Radio Romania.

This year, the Fair brought together over 300 participants:
established Romanian publishing institutions, education institutions, book and
periodical distributors, producers of educational games, professional
associations and NGOs working in the field of culture and education. Our guests
today, Bogdan Alexandru Stanescu, head of the Biblioteca Polirom world
literature collection, Andreea Rasuceanu, the initiator and coordinator of the
Contemporary Romanian Writers series of the Humanitas publishing house, and
Eli Banica, the initiator and head of the n’autor collection launched by
Nemira Publishers, spoke about the highlights of this year’s edition.

George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant was one of the most eagerly
awaited releases in Biblioteca Polirom collection. Bogdan Alexandru Stanescu
told us more about this volume and about other novelties in the collection:

The book brings together essays on the years spent by George
Orwell as a member of the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, in 1922-1927, and on
his self-imposed poverty period. These essays are, perhaps to a higher extent
than his diary, in a position to shed light on the portrait of this British
writer. Another new title in Biblioteca Polirom is Philip Roth’s Why Write?
brilliantly translated by Radu Pavel Gheo. It is a non-fiction book, comprising
interviews, essays, confessions, the last book that Roth lived to see
published, by the prestigious Library of America. It also includes
autobiographical pieces published by Roth between 1960 and 2014. Also in this
year’s edition of Gaudeamus we launched A Lifetime in Letters. Correspondence
I (1879-1890) by A. P. Chekhov. It is an edition translated and edited by
Sorina Balanescu, and this first volume of Chekhov’s epistolary autobiography
comprises letters sent by the author between 1879 and 1890. It was originally
designed as a 3-volume edition, but details change from one month to the next,
so a fourth volume is not out of the question.

Last year, Humanitas Publishers launched a new collection, entitled
Contemporary Romanian Writers. Andreea Rasuceanu, the coordinator of the
collection, believes that contemporary Romanian literature is very diverse, and
this diversity must be properly showcased. She also gave us details about new
titles launched in this collection at the Gaudeamus fair:

Humanitas Publishers opened the series of new releases with
3 new books. The first is Radu Vancu’s Transparency, an erudite, semi-fantasy
novel, reminding of Mircea Cartarescu’s style, and which incorporates a
wonderful love story. The plot is set in a mythical version of Sibiu, rewriting
its map and including it in a list of fictionalised cities. Another book that
we launched at Gaudeamus is Iulian Popa’s debut work, Guadalajara, a short
story volume. The author has a fresh voice, one that convinced me as soon as I
read some of his stories. They have a sense of quaintness, of melancholy,
whether they talk about a couple’s crisis, about the loneliness and confusion
of old age, or about the lack of communication in today’s world. It is a prose
in which I believe, and I hope it will be successful. And not least, we have a
collective volume, an anthology called 16 prose writers of today, which
includes works by some of the most important contemporary Romanian prose
writers.

Another collection focusing on Romanian literature is n’autor, launched
by Nemira this year. A collection that describes the world we live in, the
reality of our days and of the past, snapshots of Romanian society and of the
world, the constantly changing mankind. Eli Badica:

The latest volume, which we launched at the Gaudeamus Fair,
is a novel entitled The night between the worlds, by Irina Georgescu Groza.
Irina made her debut with a volume of short stories brought out by Casa de
Pariuri Literare 2 years ago, and now she is back with this splendid novel,
whose protagonist is a very special little girl living in the communist era. As
regards how we promote and receive literature, what I can say is that foreign
literature still benefits from much stronger promotion than Romanian
literature. But all the responses we have received so far since the launch of
this collection, n’autor, help me remain an optimist. During our promotion
tours we talked to bookshop owners, who know better than anyone what sells and
what doesn’t, and they are optimistic as well. They told me that the recent
releases in this collection, namely A horse in a sea of swans by Raluca Nagy
and Stories from a garage by Goran Mrakic, were very well received by
readers. They were books that people are buying and talk about, from readers to
bloggers and journalists. This makes me believe in the Romanian public and I
think it is a good time for the Romanian market, in the sense that Romanian authors
are increasingly visible and readers are beginning to realise that many of the
Romanian writers are just as good as foreign ones.

24 November 2018
November 18, 2018 UPDATE

VISIT – The President of the European Court of Auditors, Klaus-Heiner Lehne is paying a visit to Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday, in the run-up to Romanias taking over the rotating presidency of the EU Council, on January 1st, 2019. Klaus – Heiner Lehne will meet with Romanias president Klaus Iohannis, Prime-Minister Viorica Dancila, the Speakers of the two parliament chambers, the 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 Romanias 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.

ECONOMY – Several statistical data concerning the development of Romanian economy in the first 9 months of the year have been published in the past week. Figures show that the economy slightly accelerated its growth, reaching 4.2%, according to preliminary estimates of the National Institute of Statistics. The positive trend was reported in manufacturing, trade and services. The construction field registered a 2% drop as compared to the similar period last year. In another move, the Romanian Central Bank has announced that, in the first 9 months of the year, the current account of the balance of payments registered a deficit 1.8 billion Euro bigger than the one registered in 2017, due to the increase in imports. Fitch rating agency, however, has maintained Romanias rating to a level recommended for investment, with stable prospects for the future.

INVESTIGATION – The Romanian Directorate for Investigating Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) is investigating into the circumstances in which a painting signed by Picasso, worth some 800,000 Euro, was found in Tulcea county, in south-eastern Romania. The painting has been seized by the Romanian authorities and will be analyzed by experts. It might be one of the seven paintings stolen in 2012 from a Dutch museum. According to a DIICOT communiqué, on Saturday, two Dutch people came to the Dutch Embassy in Bucharest with a painting they said they had found buried, following instructions put down in an anonymous letter. We recall that six Romanian citizens got final sentences for stealing in 2012 from a museum in Rotterdam seven paintings, signed among others by Picasso, Matisse and Monet.

GAUDEAMUS – Humanitas, Polirom and Nemira publishers, the AGERPRES news agency and translator Vali Florescu were among the winners of the prizes awarded at the 25th Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organised in Bucharest by Radio Romania. Also, Litera publishing house got the award for the most wanted book at the fair: “Six Stories with Devils” by Igor Bergler. The media awards went to the publication Dilema Veche, ProTV station and Mediafax online news agency. Vali Florescu got the Antoaneta Ralian prize for translation, for “Women with Men” by Richard Ford. The excellence award went to Prut, Stiinta, Arc and Cartier publishing houses in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova, and Scoala Ardeleana and Casa Cartii de Stiinta publishers in Cluj, central Romania, for their admirable national editorial activity, this year when Romania celebrates 100 years since the Great Union.

RADIRO – The 4th International Festival of Radio Orchestras – RadiRo-, organized by Radio Romania, is underway in Bucharest. This year, the festival celebrates Radio Romanias 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.

CELEBRATION – 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 that 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 of Romanians in Hungary to the Great Union. 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 theyve made to preserve Romanian cultural values.

CONSECRATION – The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomeu, 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, Bartholomeu will attend on November 25th the consecration of the newly-built Peoples Salvation Cathedral. Bartholomew has been to Romania ten times, last time in 2010.

PROTEST – Hundreds of thousands of people have staged protests across France on Sunday, against rising fuel taxes. Protesters called for the resignation of president Macron, whom they accuse of the drop in the purchasing power. Mobilized through social media, protesters wore yellow vests and set up roadblocks around villages, towns and cities. Dozens of people were wounded in clashes with the police, and one protester died after a driver surrounded by demonstrators panicked and accelerated. More than 100 people were detained.

FOOTBAL – On Saturday night, in Ploiesti, in the south, Romanias national football team defeated the Lithuanian squad 3-nil, in a match part of the Nations Leagues 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.

18 November 2018
September 30, 2018

INDONESIA – The provisional death toll of the earthquake and ensuing tsunami which rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday stands at over 830 dead, the National Disaster Management Agency has today announced. Many people are caught in the rubble, after several buildings collapsed following Fridays earthquake which measured 7.5 degrees and caused tsunami waves of up to 6m in height. Rescue teams in the town of Palu, on the western coast of Sulawesi, are making huge efforts to take people out from under the rubble. Most victims have been identified in Palu. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has sent messages of condolence to the victims families. The ministry expresses compassion and solidarity with the Indonesian people and authorities and expresses deep regret over the high number of victims, as well as for the high volume of material damage caused by that natural disaster, the Romanian Foreign Ministry writes in a communiqué.

SOVEREIGN FUND – The Romanian Finance Ministry has launched a public debate on the setting up of the Sovereign Development and Investment Fund. The document establishes the legal form, the registered capital, the strategy and management of this fund which, in the governments opinion, is needed to mobilise the available financial resources and channel them towards profitable projects. According to the relevant ministry, this Sovereign Fund is also aimed at developing and financing profitable and sustainable investment projects, from own funds and from attracted funds. The fund will include 33 state owned companies and the registered capital will stand at some 2 billion Euros.

GUAM – The former Soviet states which are making up the GUAM group, namely Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova, will join efforts and will better coordinate their positions to defend their territorial integrity, representatives of the GUAM member states have announced in Chisinau, during a session of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly. The delegates have also criticised Russias involvement in fuelling territorial conflicts in the region. GUAM was set up in 2006, with the declared aim of developing cooperation between the member states, by boosting stability and common security in the European space. The Republic of Moldova, a country with a predominantly Romanian speaking population, is currently holding the presidency of this organisation.

TRANSPORTS – Road passenger traffic in Romania increased by some 14% in the first half of the year, as against the similar period of 2017, and air traffic by 7.5%, data released by the National Statistics Institute show. The n umber of passengers who travelled by plane in the first six months of the year stood at some 10 million, 86.6% of whom were registered on international flights. In exchange, railway passenger traffic decreased by 2.7% in terms of the number of passengers. A 23.4% drop was also reported on Romanias internal waterways. No passenger sea traffic was reported in the aforementioned time span.

TENNIS– Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no.1 WTA, exits the Beijing tennis tournament in the first round, with back pain. She abandoned the match she played against Ons Jabeur, no.113 WTA, after the Tunisian player won the first set 6-1. Another Romanian, Sorana Cirstea no.57 WTA, is facing Dutch Kiki Bertens no.11 WTA, whom she has defeated in all matches they have played so far. Although she was defeated by Slovenian Polona Hercog, Cîrstea made it to the main tables, after Australian Ashleigh Barty withdrew from the competition, after Fridays defeat. In the doubles, Romanian women players Mihaela Buzărnescu and Monica Niculescu have qualified for the second round, after defeating the pair Hao-Ching Chan (Taiwan)/Zhaoxuan Yang (China). Buzărnescu and Niculescu will face in the eighth finals the pair made up of Abigail Spears (the US)/Alicja Rosolska (Poland).

WORLD RECORD – Thousands of people-4807- particularly pupils and high-school students from all across Romania on Saturday set a new world record in the central Romanian town of Alba Iulia, by creating the largest human image of a country. Inside the map, they highlighted the number 100, by wearing white cloaks, as a way to celebrate 100 years since the setting up of the Romanian national unitary state. The old record belonged to Myanmar, where 3,466 people gathered in February 2018 to recreate the map of their country.

30 September 2018
About Culture in the year marking the Great Union Centennial

Many events are being organised across the country and abroad but it is also a moment to bring to the forefront problems the cultural sector in Romania is faced with. The guest of Radio Romania, Alin Ciupală, a professor at Bucharest University, has explained why a National Culture Day is needed:

Alin Ciupala: “We need a day to remember about our national culture, to remember that we are Romanians, but I believe that what we do for Romanian culture nowadays is far more important than the moment proper. Either we’ve realised it or not, either we’ve had a contribution or not, we have reached a new stage in our history, a post-national stage, so to say, due to Romania’s EU integration. This doesn’t mean however that we could or should forget who we are. To use a consecrated phrase, the European Union doesn’t want us to be citizens of nowhere. It wants us to be there as Romanians, but it depends on us to what extent we manage to realize that we are Romanians and not only Europeans. To what extent can we do something concretely to preserve this national identity, in the context in which we are living in a global world, at a time when there is free circulation, values and not only foodstuffs from all over the world are now reaching Romania. And I believe that first of all it is a problem of ours”.

The Romanian culture is a very, very delicate system. It is a system which manages to adapt itself, in spite of more or less inspired public cultural policies, says professor Ciupală, because Romanian culture is incredibly valuable, very important, it is also present abroad, and this has nothing to do with the cultural policies pursued in Romania. It is an authentic Romanian culture, which is not subsidized by the Government, no matter who is in power.

“I have not seen one single party that could come up and say — Wait a minute, culture is a pivotal element of the national identity. What are we to do with it? We need to have our own policy with respect to our own culture. We need to have a country project so to say. Romanian culture is entirely the Romanians’ responsibility, it is the responsibility of those who rule this country, it is the responsibility of politicians, first and foremost. But, unfortunately they ignore it.”

In turn, academician Eugen Simion has stated that politicians should get involved in order to preserve national identity.

National cultural identity is not to be marginalized, once Romania continues its European journey, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has stated in his address on National Culture Day. In his message, Iohannis has also cautioned against a worrying situation. Speaking about that, here is President Iohannis himself.

Klaus Iohannis: “One third of Romanians does not even read a book a year. Our country is deprived of cinema halls while the Romanian language is the orderly victim of the public discourse. At the Centennial anniversary, Romania will also have to set the task of a great union around its own culture. The great cultural bilateral projects that are to mark the years 2018 and 2019, as well as the European Union’s presidency, are good opportunities for us to embark upon such a journey. It is not an easy task, but the implementation of such projects may prove Romania’s capacity to bring added value to the European project, through its own culture.”

The Romanian Academy has celebrated the National Culture Day through a symposium themed “Celebration Time for Romanian Culture — the Centennial of the Great Union”, while the representations of the Romanian Cultural Institute abroad have scheduled a great number of cultural manifestations, such as poetry recitals, concerts, exhibitions, stage performances, literary events, film screenings and conferences.

Events these days target the National Culture Days, also marking the debut of an ample series projects highlighting the Centennial of the great Union. We recall that the Great Union is the historical process through which in 1918, all provinces inhabited by Romanians got united, within the borders of a single national state, Romania.

The Great Union’s preceding stages were the 1859 Union of Wallachia and Moldavia, as well as the gaining of independence in the wake of the 1877-1878 Independence War. All these accomplishments were possible against the backdrop of the Romanians’ 19th century revival. The union of Bessarabia, Bukovina and eventually, the union of Transylvania with the Romanian Kingdom, the so-called Old Kingdom, lead to the formation of Greater Romania. A united Romania was its people’s main reason to fight for the Entente in World War One.

19 January 2018