Tag: monarchy

  • 10 May in Romanian history

    10 May in Romanian history


    10th
    of May has a threefold significance in the history of Romania,
    marking three important moments: the country’s independence from
    the Ottoman Empire, the arrival of Carol of Hohenzollern
    Sigmaringen in Bucharest and his enthronement.





    10th
    May is National Independence Day. The Russian-Turkish war that broke
    out in April 1877 was an ideal opportunity for Romania to shake off
    its official status as a vassal state to the Ottoman Empire. Although
    the country’s independence was proclaimed in Parliament, it also
    needed to be won on the battlefield. The Romanian troops under the
    command of Carol I had a decisive contribution to the Russian-Turkish
    war, and the proclamation of Romania’s independence was one of the
    most important moments in this king’s reign. The Congress of Berlin
    of 1878 confirmed Romania’s absolute independence from the Ottoman
    Empire.





    In
    a statement issued on 10th
    May, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said the sacrifices of our
    forerunners were the foundation of European Romania: It is now our
    duty to support and defend the values and principles we share with
    our
    Euro-Atlantic partners, said
    Iohannis. He added that the development of Romania’s culture,
    industry, transport and infrastructure, as well as international
    relations were the immediate and direct gain of the independence. He
    said that event is all the more important today as we are witnessing
    a rebirth of the imperialist mentality on behalf of which a state is
    subjected to barbarian aggression. President Iohannis emphasised that
    freedom, every nation’s right to choose and forge its own destiny
    and the protection of life and dignity are fundamental elements of
    the democratic community we are part of. Prime minister Nicolae Ciucă
    also issued a statement on 10th
    of May, saying that during these complicated times, membership of
    NATO and the European Union puts Romania under full protection of its
    irreversible pro-European choice, as consolidated by the
    trans-Atlantic partnership.





    10th
    of May was also Romanian Monarchy Day. From 1866 until 1947, when the
    communists came to power, 10th
    of May was Romania’s national day, marking the start of the
    48-year-long reign of Carol I, the first of Romania’s four kings.
    With the approval of the French emperor Napoleon III and Prussian
    king William I, prince Carol set off to Romania, arriving in
    Bucharest on 10th
    May 1866. On 10th
    May 1881, Parliament voted that the country become a kingdom, with
    Carol becoming Romania’s first king. The celebration of 10th
    of May was first banned in 1917 by the occupying German
    administration, and later by the communists after the forced
    abdication of King Michael in 1947. (CM)

  • Queen Marie’s Jewels

    Queen Marie’s Jewels

    Queen Marie reigned
    as King Ferdinand’s wife between 1914-1927. She was born in 1875 and was one of
    the grand-daughters of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Her father, duke Alfred
    of Edinburgh, was the British sovereign’s second son. She was also a first
    cousin of the last tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, through her mother, the Grand Duchess
    Maria Alexandrovna.




    Queen Marie, highly
    appreciated for the big diplomatic efforts she made to support the Great Union
    of 1918, was a fascinating, strong personality, a fierce supporter of arts and traditional
    culture. Just like with other monarchs, her public duties and personal life
    intertwined, and an apparently intimate story, such as that of her personal jewellery,
    was very much influenced by the historical events that Romania went through in
    the 20th century. They say her collection included no less than 400
    items, pieces of jewellery and precious stones. Unfortunately, most of them
    have gone lost, and they are now impossible to recover. Their unofficial
    inventory has been recently made in the book Queen Marie’s Jewels, written by
    Diana Mandache and published by the Corint publishing house. The urge to write
    such a book came when the author discovered in the archives of the National
    Council for the Study of the Securitate (political police) Archives, drawings
    and watercolours illustrating an important part of the Queen’s jewels. These images,
    alongside period photos and portraits, were the starting point for Diana
    Mandache, who embarked on a journey to recreate the history of Queen’s jewels,
    starting from those inherited from her famous grandmother, Queen Victoria. Diana
    Mandache:




    From the Victorian
    age, two interesting bracelets have made it through several changes in
    political regimes and legislations. One of them had belonged to Queen Victoria.
    It has hearts and turquoises with hair strands of her first four children
    embedded in them. The other one is a golden bracelet, adorned with painted
    miniatures, portraits of the children of the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Marie’s
    father, including that of princess Marie of Edinburgh, the future Queen Marie
    of Romania. Although these jewels belonged to private collections, they were
    seized by the communist regime. It was a Bolshevik habit, adopted by the
    communists in Romania after 1948. Moreover, some jewels were not registered,
    but they were dismantled, because they were made of parts that could be turned
    into smaller pieces.




    In addition to the
    jewellery inherited from her grandmother, queen Marie received several pieces
    as part of her dowry, when she married King Ferdinand. All of them, however,
    would later be taken to Russia, along with the Romanian treasure, when the
    country entered WWI in 1916. Only part of the treasure has been recovered and
    the Queen’s jewels are unfortunately lost for good. Here is Diana Mandache
    again:




    The first train
    carrying part of the Romanian Treasure left for Moscow on December 14, 1916,
    together with the two iron boxes with Queen Marie’s jewellery. The two boxes
    were sent to Moscow without any prior inventory, and that is evidence of the
    haste in which everything was done. A piece of news broke in 1920, via a
    diplomatic channel, about the Bolshevik Lev Kamenev selling part of Queen
    Marie’s diamonds in London, not through auction houses, but through private
    collectors. Similar information emerged in 1921, namely that some of Queen
    Marie’s jewels were sold to private collectors in the Scandinavian countries.
    After the war, at the peace conference in Paris, when she carried ad-hoc
    diplomatic negotiations, defending Romania’s interests, she wore no jewellery
    at all. She actually wrote about that in her journals and letters. Secondly,
    she wanted to highlight the matter before the Reparation Committee at the Paris
    Conference, which discussed the return of the Romanian treasure.




    After the great Union
    of 1918 and the coronation of 1922, Queen Marie’s jewellery collection started
    to be restored through acquisitions, made primarily by the king. Here is Diana
    Mandache once again:




    He purchased for
    Queen Marie a sapphire and diamond tiara, from her sister Victoria Melita.
    Then, Ferdinand bought the famous Cartier necklace, with a huge, quite unique
    sapphire. Of course, through the Romanian Parliament, the crown was ordered
    from the Falize jewellery house. The crown was an exceptional item, with a very
    special design, famous for the combination of gems and the Transylvanian gold
    it was made of. Most of the items that
    have remained in Romania, the most precious of them, were distributed, after
    1948, to the Finance Ministry and the National Bank, or the State Bank, as it
    was known in communism. After that, they were also distributed to some museums.
    In her will, Queen Marie left all her jewellery to her family. Obviously, given
    the exile, selling some of the items was a necessity. For instance, her
    daughter Ileana, an archduchess of Austria, was forced to sell the sapphire
    tiara, in order to provide for her children and put food on their table. The
    same did her other daughter, Mignon, former queen of Yugoslavia, who, in 1960,
    sold her diamond encrusted tiara.




    Currently, Romania’s National History Museum is exhibiting
    some of the queen’s jewels, left in the country after the Communists took power
    in 1948. Besides several broaches and bracelets, the collection also includes an
    amethyst encrusted Maltese cross and a silver, opal and amethyst belt.

  • December 30, 2018 UPDATE

    December 30, 2018 UPDATE

    EU Romania takes over the rotating presidency of the EU Council on January 1, for the first time since its accession in 2007. The priorities of the Romanian presidency focus on 4 areas: Europe of convergence, A Safer Europe, Europe, a stronger global actor, and Europe of common values. During its term, Romania will have to manage several complex issues like Brexit, the 2021-2027 budget, a coherent strategy on migration and increasing the Unions global role. The official web page of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council has been launched. The page, available at românia2019.eu, in Romanian, English and French, provides useful information for journalists, the general public and European affairs experts. The calendar of the Romanian presidency will be posted on this website after January 15th.




    POLICE Over 25,000 Interior Ministry personnel are on duty during the New Years holiday. Some 9,000 police with more than 3,000 vehicles are in charge of preventing and handling events that might jeopardise public safety and security. A helicopter of the Aviation Inspectorate General, with a policeman also on board, will monitor the most crowded areas. Special attention will be paid to the protection of the participants in the 125 large-scale public events expected to bring together a total of 300,000 people. The largest shows will be organised in Bucharest, Brasov, Sibiu and Cluj Napoca. Meanwhile, the Police continue searches for the Brasov robbery perpetrators, who on Friday night blew up an ATM containing over 30,000 euros. The door and front window of the respective bank unit were shattered and pieces were scattered on the sidewalk and in the street.




    MONARCHY Romania Sunday commemorated 71 years since monarchy was abolished and the country was declared a “peoples republic. On December 30th, 1947, with the country under Soviet military occupation and headed by a communist puppet government, King Mihai I was forced to relinquish power and to leave the country. Previously, on August 23rd, 1944, during WW2, the King had ordered the arrest of the countrys de facto leader, Marshall Ion Antonescu, Romanias withdrawal from its alliance with Hitlers Germany and joining its traditional allies, the USA and Britain. Historians say this decision shortened the war by at least 6 months and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. King Mihai I was only allowed to return to Romania after the 1989 Revolution, when he regained his Romanian citizenship and some of his properties. The King lobbied for Romanias accession to NATO in 2004 and EU in 2007. He passed away on December 5th, 2017, at 96 years of age. His first born, Princess Margareta, is custodian of the Crown and the Kings successor as head of the Royal House of Romania.




    TOURISM Over 2 million foreigners checked in during the first 9 months of this year in Romanian hotels and boarding houses. According to the National Statistics Institute, they spent more than 1 billion euros. Foreign tourists came to Romania for business, congresses, conferences, courses, trade fairs and exhibitions. Close to half of them used travel agencies to arrange their trips to Romania, and most of them travelled by plane.




    MEDAL A Romanian woman born in Timişoara (west) and currently the owner of a bar in Rome was decorated by the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, for her courage of informing against 2 members of a mafia family. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Italy, Roxana Roman, 34, was granted the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, for her contribution to upholding the law. Roxana Roman owns a bar in Romanina neighbourhood in Rome, where on Easter day 2 members of the Casamonica mafia family attacked her husband, Marian Roman, and a client with disabilities. Although the mobsters ravaged the bar and warned them not to report the matter to the police, the Romanians were not intimidated and informed against them. It was the natural thing to do, said Roxana Roman. “The neighbourhood has been living in fear for a long time. There are lots of people willing to change things, but we need a new attitude, and this begins with ourselves, she told Italian mass media.




    MIGRANTS Romanian border police in Nadlac (west) found 41 foreigners attempting to cross the Hungarian border on foot, illegally. The Border Police Inspectorate announced on Sunday that during an operation to combat illegal migration they arrested 22 people who were trying to cross illegally into Hungary. They notified the Hungarian authorities, who searched the area and found another 19 illegal migrants. Of the individuals found on the Romanian side of the border, 21 are Iraqis and 1 Afghan, 15 adults of 19 to 40 years of age and 7 children, most of them seeking asylum in Romania. They said they were trying to get into Western European countries to find jobs.




    TENNIS The Romanian player Sorana Cîrstea (84 WTA) Sunday qualified into the eighth-finals of the WTA tournament in Shenzhen (China), after beating Magda Linette of Poland, cu 6-3, 6-3. Cîrstea is to play next against Pauline Parmentier (France). Also on Sunday the Romanian Irina Maria Bara and the Georgian Oksana Kalashinkova moved up into the quarter-finals of the Shenzhen doubles.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • December 30, 2018

    December 30, 2018

    EU The official web page of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council has been launched. Romania is to take over the helm of the Council on January 1, 2019, for 6 months. The page, available at românia2019.eu, in Romanian, English and French, provides useful information for journalists, the general public and European affairs experts. The calendar of the Romanian presidency will be posted on this website after January 15th.




    MONARCHY Romania today commemorates 71 years since monarchy was abolished and the country was declared a “peoples republic. On December 30th, 1947, with the country under Soviet military occupation and headed by a communist puppet government, King Mihai I was forced to relinquish power and to leave the country. Previously, on August 23rd, 1944, during WW2, the King had ordered the arrest of the countrys de facto leader, Marshall Ion Antonescu, Romanias withdrawal from its alliance with Hitlers Germany and joining its traditional allies, the USA and Britain. Historians say this decision shortened the war by at least 6 months and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. King Mihai I was only allowed to return to Romania after the 1989 Revolution, when he regained his Romanian citizenship and some of his properties. The King lobbied for Romanias accession to NATO in 2004 and EU in 2007. He passed away on December 5th, 2017, at 96 years of age. His first born, Princess Margareta, is custodian of the Crown and the Kings successor as head of the Royal House of Romania.




    MEDAL A Romanian woman born in Timişoara (west) and currently the owner of a bar in Rome was decorated by the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, for her courage of informing against 2 members of a mafia family. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Italy, Roxana Roman, 34, was granted the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, for her contribution to upholding the law. Roxana Roman owns a bar in Romanina neighbourhood in Rome, where on Easter day 2 members of the Casamonica mafia family attacked her husband, Marian Roman, and a client with disabilities. Although the mobsters ravaged the bar and warned them not to report the matter to the police, the Romanians were not intimidated and informed against them. It was the natural thing to do, says Roxana Roman. “The neighbourhood has been living in fear for a long time. There are lots of people willing to change things, but we need a new attitude, and this begins with ourselves, she told Italian mass media.




    POLICE Over 25,000 Interior Ministry personnel are on duty during the New Years holiday. Some 9,000 police with more than 3,000 vehicles are in charge of preventing and handling events that might jeopardise public safety and security. A helicopter of the Aviation Inspectorate General, with a policeman also on board, will monitor the most crowded areas. Special attention will be paid to the protection of the participants in the 125 large-scale public events expected to bring together a total of 300,000 people. The largest shows will be organised in Bucharest, Brasov, Sibiu and Cluj Napoca. Meanwhile, the Police continue searches for the Brasov robbery perpetrators, who on Friday night blew up an ATM containing over 30,000 euros. The door and front window of the respective bank unit were shattered and pieces were scattered on the sidewalk and in the street.




    TOURISM Over 2 million foreigners checked in during the first 9 months of this year in Romanian hotels and boarding houses. According to the National Statistics Institute, they spent more than 1 billion euros. Foreign tourists came to Romania for business, congresses, conferences, courses, trade fairs and exhibitions. Close to half of them used travel agencies to arrange their trips to Romania, and most of them travelled by plane.




    HANDBALL Romanias mens handball team Saturday night lost the final of the “4 Nations Cup, held in the Polish city of Opole, against the host country Poland. The score was 6-5 after penalty shootouts. In the semis Romania beat the Czech Republic 27-26. The national team, coached by Spains Manuel Montoya and the Romanian Eliodor Voica, is next to have a training session in Slovakia, followed by a tournament in which the host country and Netherlands are also taking part. The mens handball team failed to qualify into the World Championship due next month in Germany and Denmark. On the other hand, Romanias womens handball team has already booked its ticket to next years World Championship in Japan, after finishing 4th in the European Championship in France this month.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)