Radio România Internațional

Tag: January 15

  • National Culture Day 2025

    National Culture Day 2025

    Since 2011, Romania has celebrated, every year, the National Culture Day, which marks the date of birth of the national poet Mihai Eminescu. This day is dedicated to Romanian culture, art and academic effort, emphasizing the role of Mihai Eminescu in shaping the national cultural identity, through his contributions in literature, journalism, philosophy and theater. This year marks 175 years since the birth of the one who is considered the greatest Romanian poet. The National Culture Day was initiated by the former president of the Romanian Academy, Eugen Simion, and enacted by the Romanian Parliament in 2010.

     

    Adrian Cioroianu, director of the National Library of Romania, believes that this day should be celebrated every day of the year, not just on January 15. “In my opinion, it is a very good idea to establish a National Culture Day, given that culture remains, I think, the main piece of identity in any society, including the Romanian society”, Adrian Cioroianu pointed out. He added that the simple establishment of a National Culture Day keeps the cultural leaders alert and manifestations take place all over the country, many of them quite successful and which, in a way, could turn into an example of good practices.

     

    Now in its 15th edition, the National Culture Day is celebrated in all communities inhabited by Romanians, inside or outside the country’s borders. In Bucharest and across the country, numerous events have been scheduled: conferences, debates, concerts and exhibitions, and entry to many museums is free. Among the events organized in Bucharest are book and photography launches, creative workshops, debates and performances. The “Carol I” Central University Library has scheduled an “Eminescu Evening” dedicated to the National Culture Day, the event featuring the soprano Arlinda Morava, the actor Claudiu Bleonţ and the pianist Adriana Alexandru.

     

    The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation also marks the National Culture Day. The stations Radio Romania Regional, Radio Romania Village Antenna (Antena Satelor), Radio Romania International, the Minorities Department and Radio Romania Radio 3Net have prepared special programs dedicated to this celebration and the main theme of this year: facilitating access to culture for the general public. In November 2024, the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training launched the “Cultural Consumption Barometer 2023. Consumption communities in the context of societal changes”. According to the research, the frequency of visiting the culturally relevant objectives increased rapidly. Thus, 67% of the respondents visited historical monuments and archaeological sites at least once a year in 2023, compared to 59% in 2022, and 45% visited a museum, exhibition or art gallery at least once a year in 2023, compared to 30% in 2022. (LS)

  • January 13, 2025

    January 13, 2025

    Election – The Romanian government will officially set the date of the presidential election this week, after the leaders of the governing coalition (PSD-PNL-UDMR) decided, on Wednesday, at the first meeting of 2025, that the presidential election should take place on May 4th and 18th. A large protest was organized on Sunday, in Bucharest, by the opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), where people requested the resumption of the second round of the presidential election and the resignation of President Klaus Iohannis. The leader of AUR, George Simion, announced that the protests would continue. The Constitutional Court canceled last year’s presidential election on the grounds that the entire electoral process was flawed.

     

    Culture Day – As every year on January 15, Romania will mark the National Culture Day on Wednesday. This is also celebrated in the Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, as well as in the diaspora, in the context of celebrating in 2025 175 years since the birth of Mihai Eminescu, considered the greatest Romanian poet. Cultural and educational institutions, NGOs and authorities have prepared events in different more or less conventional spaces to bring culture closer to the public. Among other things, on Tuesday evening, a National Culture Awards Gala will be organized in Botoşani (north-east), during which prizes will be awarded for excellence in culture, for the promotion of Eminescu’s work and of Romanian culture in general or for the development of Romanian literary studies internationally.

     

    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian obtained a difficult victory, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 against the Croatian Petra Martic, on Monday, in Melbourne, in the first round of the Australian Open tournament, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Also on Monday, in Melbourne, the Romanian Sorana Cîrstea was defeated by the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4. Svitolina has defeated Cîrstea in all four straight games so far. Anca Todoni, coming from the qualifications, also lost in the first round, on Sunday, against the Chinese Qinwen Zheng. Tuesday will see the match between the last Romanians from the main singles draw, Irina Begu and Gabriela Ruse, who will play against each other.

     

    Visa waiver – Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the United States, after March 31, through a simplified procedure, after the American authorities granted Romania the status of a country participating in the Visa Waiver Program. According to a press release from the Romanian embassy in Washington, Romanians will be able to go to the USA based on an electronic authorization called ESTA, this being applied to all trips for tourist or business purposes whose duration does not exceed 90 days. The authorization will be valid for two years, with unlimited entries or exits from the US. To participate in the Visa Waiver Program, a country must meet requirements related to counterterrorism, immigration enforcement, document security and border management. The requirements also include a visa refusal rate of less than 3%.

     

    Croatia – The acting president of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, won with a crushing score the decisive round of the presidential election on Sunday for a new 5-year mandate at the helm of the country. A socialist with populist views, Milanovici is credited with over 74% of the votes in front of his opponent supported by the conservative right-wing Government. Unlike the Executive, he criticized the military aid provided by the West to Kyiv, which made him be labelled as a pro-Russian, which destroys the country’s credibility within NATO and the European Union. The press agencies also note that the presidential election in Croatia took place in the context in which this country with less than 4 million inhabitants is facing the highest inflation rate in the Eurozone, endemic corruption and an acute lack of work force.

     

    Fires – A total of 24 people have died due to the California wildfires, according to an updated death toll. Residents evacuated because of the fires are flocking to checkpoints set up by law enforcement, hoping that they can recover belongings from their homes or simply to see if the houses still exist. Firefighters estimate that people will not be able to return home before Thursday, so they were promised that a system will be put into operation to check the condition of the homes online. Many areas look like after a bombardment, the international press reports and the power lines and gas pipelines still represent a major danger. (LS)

  • January 15, 2024 UPDATE

    January 15, 2024 UPDATE

    Protests — Romania’s PM Marcel Ciolacu asked the heads of the ministries in direct dialogue these days with transporters and farmers to speed up the drafting of laws that would solve the problems reported by the protesters. At Mondays meeting, the ministers presented the timetable for the approval of the respective draft laws, so that the first decisions with agreed measures in support of farmers and transporters should be adopted at the following government meetings. The Financial Supervisory Authority has announced that it is already working on a set of measures that will reduce Liability Car Insurance rates, especially for those who do not cause accidents. As far as the agricultural field is concerned, the Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, and the representatives of the agricultural associations agreed during Mondays negotiations to several requests from the farmers. Among them are the emergency granting of the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture – APIA payments, the compensation of losses suffered by Romanian farmers who were affected by imports from Ukraine and the updating of the value of state aid regarding the reimbursement of the excise duty on diesel fuel purchased and used in agriculture. Meanwhile, the protests of farmers and transporters continued, on Monday, on several roads in the country.



    Healthcare – The Romanian Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila, and the management of the National Health Insurance House called on family doctors on Monday to participate in good faith in the negotiations scheduled for Thursday in order to find solutions that should allow the proper financing of the field. Family doctors started protests and threatened to stop providing free consultations from February 1, after the National Health Insurance House published a project to reduce the value of the consultations point. This would mean, according to family doctors, the reduction of their income by 30% up to 50%. There are also protests at the public health departments. The employees are also demanding an increase in income, after their colleagues from the National Health Insurance House obtained increased salaries at the end of last year. Meanwhile, the Sanitas Federation continues to collect signatures to decide whether to launch an all out strike. Unionists say that the recent unlocking of vacancy-filling contests for doctors and nurses does not solve the problems in the system, because the salaries are not attractive and people will not participate in the contests.



    Environment – “The cooperation of all EU member states is necessary and I would like to assure you that we are open to dialogue and establishing, by consensus, the EUs position, both internally and internationally, from the point of view of environmental protection and climate change”. The declaration was made, on Monday, by the Romanian Environment Minister, Mircea Fechet, during the discussions held on the sidelines of the Informal Meeting of Environment Ministers in Brussels. According to him, Romania took all measures to maintain a vigorous population of large carnivores, including bears, and at the same time tried to obtain the support of the EU member states. Mircea Fechet participates, on Monday and Tuesday, in the Informal Meeting of Environment Ministers in Brussels. The event has several topics on the agenda such as adaptation and resilience, ambition and climate policy, a just transition and the circular economy.



    Culture Day – The Romanian Academy and the Science Academy of the Republic of Moldova had, on Monday morning, a joint festive session organized in a hybrid system on the occasion of the anniversary of the National Culture Day. From Chişinău, the president of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Ion Tighineanu, spoke about the importance of this holiday in promoting national identity, as well as about the numerous joint actions of the two academies. He said that the representatives of the Romanian ethnic space have every chance to impose themselves through culture and centuries-old traditions, by highlighting the truth about the common identity and history, by further cultivating the Romanian language, which the poet Mihai Eminescu said is “our master”. January 15, which marks the National Culture Day, is also the date of birth of the great poet of Romanians, Mihai Eminescu, and this year we mark 174 years since his birth. The celebration is marked by a series of exhibitions, theater performances, guided tours or concerts, both in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, as well as abroad, where there are important communities of Romanians.



    Statistics – Although they are not among the Europeans with the highest incomes, Romanians are on the second place in the European Union in terms of the degree of satisfaction with their life, shows the conclusion of the latest Eurostat report. Statistics are influenced by age, family or financial situation, diversity of lived experiences, priorities or various individual values. According to the European barometer, the average level of satisfaction at the community level is 7.1 points. Austrians are the most satisfied EU citizens, with 7.9 points, followed by Romanians, Finns and Poles, all with an index of 7.7 points. At the opposite pole are the Bulgarians, with 5.6 points. (LS)

  • National Culture Day

    National Culture Day

    Romania’s National Culture Day was celebrated for the first time on January 15th, 2011. Since then, the birthday of poet Mihai Eminescu – January 15, 1850 – has also been the day when culture as a whole is celebrated in this country.

    Academician Eugen Simion was among those who, 13 years ago, supported the setting up of this day. He spoke on Radio Romania about the role of culture in the contemporary world:

    Let’s remember culture, let’s talk about the shortcomings of the Romanian culture, especially the written culture, the printed culture. It’s no secret that books are hard to sell today. A strange phenomenon is happening everywhere: television, the internet, all these forms of higher technology have confiscated literature and writing. To my dismay, the Romanian Culture Day is not only the day of literature or the arts, it is also the day of science. Science is part of culture, science today is perhaps the spearhead, the vanguard of culture all over the world. The scientist is the forma mentis of our time.

    The world-renowned panpipe player Gheorghe Zamfir and the State Theatre in Constanta were among those that the president of the country, Klaus Iohannis, decorated during a special ceremony devoted to this day. It was an opportunity for the head of state to stress the importance of culture in Romania’s history:

    On the National Culture Day, we recognize the role of the Romanian cultural personalities in the modernization and democratization of Romania, in getting in line with the European values. The exemplary involvement of thinkers, artists, promoters and founders of cultural institutions in asserting the identity, statehood and national unity of Romania will remain inscribed in capital letters in the chronicles. This day of celebration is also an opportunity to express our society’s gratitude for the contribution of contemporary artists to enhancing our cultural heritage.

    Messages of congratulations on National Culture Day have been conveyed by politicians, religious denominations, trade unions or ordinary people. The string of events dedicated to this day includes a special session in the Hall of the Romanian Academy, concerts, recitals, exhibitions, open doors to museums.

    Radio Romania too has prepared a special weekend to mark this day. All stations of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation have scheduled special shows. Also, Radio Romania has invited private radio stations to join this awareness-raising process on the importance and value of the national cultural heritage, by broadcasting two songs from the Golden Tape Library of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, as a symbolic gesture, a gesture of unity, celebration and reflection. (MI)

  • National Culture Day

    National Culture Day

    Romania’s National Culture Day was celebrated for the first time on January 15th, 2011. Since then, the birthday of poet Mihai Eminescu – January 15, 1850 – has also been the day when culture as a whole is celebrated in this country.

    Academician Eugen Simion was among those who, 13 years ago, supported the setting up of this day. He spoke on Radio Romania about the role of culture in the contemporary world:

    Let’s remember culture, let’s talk about the shortcomings of the Romanian culture, especially the written culture, the printed culture. It’s no secret that books are hard to sell today. A strange phenomenon is happening everywhere: television, the internet, all these forms of higher technology have confiscated literature and writing. To my dismay, the Romanian Culture Day is not only the day of literature or the arts, it is also the day of science. Science is part of culture, science today is perhaps the spearhead, the vanguard of culture all over the world. The scientist is the forma mentis of our time.

    The world-renowned panpipe player Gheorghe Zamfir and the State Theatre in Constanta were among those that the president of the country, Klaus Iohannis, decorated during a special ceremony devoted to this day. It was an opportunity for the head of state to stress the importance of culture in Romania’s history:

    On the National Culture Day, we recognize the role of the Romanian cultural personalities in the modernization and democratization of Romania, in getting in line with the European values. The exemplary involvement of thinkers, artists, promoters and founders of cultural institutions in asserting the identity, statehood and national unity of Romania will remain inscribed in capital letters in the chronicles. This day of celebration is also an opportunity to express our society’s gratitude for the contribution of contemporary artists to enhancing our cultural heritage.

    Messages of congratulations on National Culture Day have been conveyed by politicians, religious denominations, trade unions or ordinary people. The string of events dedicated to this day includes a special session in the Hall of the Romanian Academy, concerts, recitals, exhibitions, open doors to museums.

    Radio Romania too has prepared a special weekend to mark this day. All stations of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation have scheduled special shows. Also, Radio Romania has invited private radio stations to join this awareness-raising process on the importance and value of the national cultural heritage, by broadcasting two songs from the Golden Tape Library of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, as a symbolic gesture, a gesture of unity, celebration and reflection. (MI)

  • January 7, 2019 UPDATE

    January 7, 2019 UPDATE

    Council of the EU – Romania’s vision as president of the Council of the EU is that of a Europe of cohesion, this being one of Romania’s top priorities during its 6-month mandate, said the Minister Delegate for European Affairs, George Ciamba on Monday. According to him another key objective is to negotiate the future financial framework for the period 2021-2027. He reminded the 4 pillars of Romania’s presidency of the Council of the EU: a Europe of convergence, a Europe of safety, Europe as a regional actor and a Europe of common values.



    Appointments — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Monday signed the decrees for appointing the incumbent finance minister Eugen Teodorovici as interim deputy prime minister and minister for regional development and public administration and the incumbent minister for European funds, Rovana Plumb, as interim transport minister. The PM Viorica Dancila made the proposals forwarded to the president to ensure the continuity of the activity of the two ministries, shows a government communiqué. The government officials said they were still expecting the president’s motivation for having rejected the previous proposals for the transport and development ministries. On Friday president Iohannis had announced he would reject the proposals made for the respective ministries namely Lia Olguta Vasilescu and Mihai Draghici and that he would motivate his decision this very week. On Thursday Klaus Iohannis signed the decrees ascertaining the vacancies of the two ministerial positions.



    Council of Magistracy — On Monday the Prosecutors’ Section of the Superior Council of Magistracy acknowledged the withdrawal of Anca Jurma’s agreement with being delegated to the position of interim chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate- DNA. The justice minister, Tudorel Toader, explained that Anca Jurma no longer wanted to occupy that position, her decision being a strictly personal matter. Her decision was conveyed to the Prosecutors’ Section, whose agenda for Monday’s meeting also included extending Anca Jurma’s mandate at the helm of the DNA for another 6 months. Anca Jurma was appointed for this position by the general prosecutor Augustin Lazar in July 2018 after the dismissal of the chief prosecutor of the DNA, Laura Codruta Kovesi. Previously Anca Jurma had held two mandates as chief of the international cooperation service. Her withdrawal takes place in the context in which the justice minister forwarded again to president Iohannis the proposals for the appointment of 5 prosecutors as chiefs of the prosecutors’ offices. President Iohannis pointed out that the proposals were being analyzed by the line department within the Presidential Administration.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu (67 WTA) on Monday qualified to the eighth finals of the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia after defeating Heather Watson (44 WTA) of Great Britain 2-0. Also on Monday, in the same competition, another Romanian Ana Bogdan (76 WTA) was eliminated in the first round by Tunisian Ons Jabeur (60 WTA). The world’s no. 1 player Simona Halep is participating in the WTA tournament in Sydney that started on Monday. A Premier category competition the Sydney tournament has total prizes worth 823,000 dollars. Simona Halep will play directly in the second round against the winner of the match pitting Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (22 WTA) against Australian Ashleigh Barty (15 WTA). (translated by L. Simion)

  • Mihai Eminescu

    Mihai Eminescu

    Mihai Eminescu, Gheorghe and Raluca Eminovici’s seventh
    of eleven children, was born in Botosani on January 15, 1850. He started school
    in 1858 in Cernauti, in the Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Bukovina. Even though he
    was an outstanding student, in 1863 he dropped out, and joined the Fanny
    Tardini-Vladicescu theater troupe, which he developed a fascination for. He
    worked for a while as a clerk in Botosani, at the court and city hall.


    Eminescu made his debut in 1866. He was in Bukovina, as
    a tenant of his teacher Aron Pumnul, when the latter passed away. In memory of
    their teacher of Romanian, a few students put out a brochure where we can find
    a poem entitled At Aron Pumnul’s Tomb, signed M. Eminovici. One month
    later, the magazine Family in Budapest, published his poem Were I to Have.
    Iosif Vulcan, the magazine director, changed his name from Eminovici to
    Eminescu, a name he kept for the rest of his life. This was only the beginning
    of his collaboration with the magazine, which published five more of his poems
    that year.


    In 1867 he joined Iorgu Caragiale’s theater troupe as a
    prompter and copyist. That year the magazine Family published his poem What
    I Wish for You, Sweet Romania’.


    He moved as a prompter and copyist in Mihai Pascaly’s
    troupe. Pascaly was one of the most important promoters of theater in Romania,
    as director of the National Theater in Bucharest. During his time with the
    troupe, Eminescu met I.L. Caragiale, who had not yet had his debut as a
    playwright. Between 1869 and 1872, upon advice from his father, he studied law
    and philosophy in Vienna. He was active in student organizations, made friends
    with novelist Ioan Slavici, and debuted as a columnist at the Albina (The
    Bee) newspaper in Budapest.

    He started contributing to the Convorbiri
    Literare magazine, the publication of the Junimea Literary Society of Iasi.
    In his study on the so-called New Direction, critic Titu Maiorescu praised
    Eminescu’s qualities as a poet, saying he was second only to Vasile Alecsandri.
    In 1872 he met poetess Veronica Micle, who would inspire him to write most of
    his romantic poetry. That same year Convorbiri Literare published one of his
    most important pieces of fiction, Poor Dionis, and started writing his major
    poems Calin and The Morning Star.


    He returned to his country, living in Iasi between 1874
    and 1877, working as a director of the Central Library, a substitute teacher,
    school inspector for Iasi and Vaslui, as well as editor of the Iasi Courier
    newspaper. He continued publishing in Convorbiri Literare. He made good
    friends with writer Ion Creanga, whom he brought into Junimea. In 1877 he
    moved to Bucharest, where he worked for the Timpul newspaper, first as an
    editor, then as an editor-in-chief. He was exceptionally active as a
    journalist, and continued to work on some of his most important poems that
    highlight his mature stage as a writer, such as his Epistles and The Morning
    Star.


    However, due to health reasons, his literary activity
    went into decline. In June 1883, the poet fell gravely ill, was admitted into
    Sutu hospital, then into an institute near Vienna. His volume Poems was
    published in December, with a foreword by Titu Maiorescu, who had made the
    selection. It was, in fact, the only volume of poetry he published during his
    lifetime. He passed away on June 15, 1889, in the Sutu sanatorium, and was
    buried in Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest. His pall bearers were four students from
    the Teaching College. (Translated by Calin Cotoiu)

  • January 15, 2018 UPDATE

    January 15, 2018 UPDATE

    UPDATE (22:00)-Romanian PM Mihai Tudose has stepped down.

    Social Democratic Party – The executive committee of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the main party of the left-of-centre ruling coalition, on Monday convened in emergency meeting at the initiative of its leader, Liviu Dragnea, after some members asked for the party to no longer support the Social Democrat Prime Minister Mihai Tudose. Tension increased in the party last week, when PM Tudose asked Interior Minister Carmen Dan to resign, against the backdrop of a pedophilia scandal within the Police. Carmen Dan, seen as one of Liviu Dragneas protégées, refused to resign. Also on Monday the National Liberal Party (PNL), the most important party in opposition, presented a report on the Governments activity, dubbed “The Black Book of the PSD Governing. The Liberals claim the new crisis proves the Social Democrats incapacity to rule, and have asked for early elections. This is the second cabinet made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, after the one installed in January 2017 and dismissed after six months following a no-confidence vote initiated by the same leftist majority.



    National Culture Day – Romania marked the National Culture Day on January 15, on the same day with the celebration of 168 years since the birth of Romanias national poet Mihai Eminescu. A number of events took place in Romania and abroad to evoke the great personality of poet Mihai Eminescu and to celebrate the National Culture Day.



    NATO – A delegation of the General Staff of the Romanian Armed Forces headed by general Nicolae Ciucă will participate, Tuesday and Wednesday, in Brussels, in the NATO Military Committee conference, which will gather the defense ministers of NATO countries. The conference will tackle topical military issues such as the security challenges on NATOs eastern flank and NATOs contribution to stabilizing the security climate, the ways to follow in relation to the mission Resolute Support from Afghanistan, NATOs role in granting assistance for the reform of the security domain in Iraq and in training the Iraqi security forces in 2018. Other issues to be debated are the proposals regarding the adaptation of NATOs command structure, the drafting of military recommendations and their harmonization with the political recommendations of the North Atlantic Council.



    Statistics – 51% of the Europeans aged between 16 and 74 used Internet banking in 2017, according to the Eurostat. Bulgaria and Romania rank last in the EU in this respect, as only 5% and 7% respectively of their population used Internet banking services last year. Denmark ranks first in Europe, with 90% of its adult population having used Internet services in 2017, followed by the Netherlands with 89%, Finland, with 87% and Sweden with 86%. In the past decade, the number of people using Internet banking has doubled within the EU, rising from 25% to 51%, while the number of Internet banking users in Romania tripled, from 2% in 2007 to 7% in 2017.



    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player, Irina Begu, ranked 40 in the WTA classification qualified to the 2nd round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, after she defeated on Monday the Russian Ekaterina Makarova (33 WTA) and 31st seed, 3-6, 6-4, 8-6. Also on Monday Monica Niculescu (85 WTA) was defeated by the German Mona Barthel (52 WTA) 6-4, 7-5, in the first round. Also in the first round, Mihaela Buzărnescu (44 WTA) lost 6-2, 6-3 to Danish Caroline Wozniacki, worlds no. 2 player. Another three Romanian players are participating in the Australian Open. Simona Halep, worlds no. 1 and main favorite in the competition, will be up against Australian Destanee Aiava, Sorana Cîrstea will take on Zarina Dias of Kazakhstan and Ana Bogdan will play against Kristina Mladenovic from France. The only player in the mens singles, Marius Copil, was eliminated in the first round by French Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-4, 6-3. (Translated by Lacramioara Simion, updated by Diana Vijeu)