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Romania’s wine story

The itineraries and the tours taken around Romania’s wine cellars are focused on one single eventual aim: getting acquainted with the regions dedicated to the production of wine and to wine tasting. Tourists can take part in wine-tasting sessions, can make guided tours in wine cellars and vineyards. Not the least, they can make the most of of their extraordinary culinary experiences. Any time of the year has its charm yet the most sought-after timeframe is between May and October, when the temperature outside allows tourists to enjoy having experiences other than the wine-related ones.

Alexandra Gălbează is the founder of Romania’s Enotourism Association. There has been a growing trend in recent years as regards this form of tourism. Moreover, the offer has become more diversified. Or at least that’s what Alexandra Galbeaza told us.

“Of course that, strictly speaking, enotourism means visiting a wine cellar, yet in recent years, especially after the pandemic, the vine growing tourism also has other connotations. It does not only mean visiting a wine cellar but also the opportunity to enjoy a different experience, apart from the wine-tasting proper. We’re speaking about staging musical live concerts in a vineyard, picnics, also in the vineyard, musical evenings, plays, concerts, theme parties with camp fires that carry on late into the night, especially if we speak about the wine cellars that also have accommodation capacity. So tourists can stay the night at the wine cellar, having visited it. “

Accompanied by the founder of Romania’s Enotouriosm Association, Alexandra Gălbează, we start our journey from the Dealu Mare vineyard, which lies very close to Bucharest.

“We began with this region become it is very close to Bucharest where we have very many people. Those who want to escape the capital city have the opportunity to go, at a stone’ s throw away, to a place where they can enjoy a enotourism experience. It also is, arguably, the region with the greatest number of wine cellars. It is a dense area, with the wine cellars lying quite close to one another. So the enotourism activities can also be diverse and many. It is also at this point that we can speak about the recently-built wine cellars, but also about wine cellars with a rich history. We’re speaking about the wine cellar known for the production of the sparkling wine but also for being the purveyor of the Royal house. Also, here we have accommodation facilities. We can start off with a tour of the cellar, with a wine-tasting session and it is also in this region that we can speak about another wine cellar as well, whose history is also rich, which used to be a royal property and which is now owned by Prince Nicolae of Romania and his wife. This wine cellar has developed very many enotourism packages. We have accommodation, theme parties with wine and food pairing can be staged, there also is the personalized partying that can offer a personalized experience. These are initiatives the wine cellars took the liberty to have, yet there are also initiatives that started from the region’s wine cellars uniting their forces. “

We continue our journey and we’re heading to eastern Romania, in Moldavia, and here our stopover is the Vrancea region. Here we can find a wine cellar with a long-standing tradition in wine production, whose premises have nonetheless been modernized in recent years, and which are placed in a dreamlike landscape. This wine cellar offers accommodation as well, while those who wish to spend more time here can benefit from multiple experiences.

” Apart from the fact that they can enjoy the tasting and the local wines, they can stay there for a couple of days, they can cycle all the way to the vineyard, sports aficionados can even stay over night for a game of tennis, if the weather is friendly, we also have a swimming pool. Then travelling further to Moldavia, in the Iasi region we can find a wine cellar with a rich history. It is the cellar where wines are made of indigenous sorts alone: Frâncușă, Grasă de Cotnari. So enotourism cannot be limited to the wine-tasting proper. I am not the only one to say it, also saying it are the European initiatives starting the Wine Road, Iter Vitis, the cultural road of the wine. That means we blend the wine into the cultural story of the place. In Moldavia, we speak about the local wines, however, the Cucuteni civilization can be found close by. Tourists can visit, can find out the story of the place, of the Cucuteni civilization, which is known to be Europe’s oldest civilization. “

The schedule of a visit to the wine cellars needs to be made well in advance. It is a kind of tourism that can be made all year round. For instance, if we want to enjoy the landscape, the vineyard, the best period would be autumn or spring, where we can enjoy the scent, the fragrance, the green landscape. Also, we can go there in the cold season, yet the tour of the wine cellar will be limited to the interior experience. With more on that, here is the founder of Romania’s Enotourism Association, Alexandra Galbeaza.

“Those who want to go the wine cellar and enjoy the experience need to make a call and schedule a visit in advance so they can make sure that at the wine cellar, there is someone who can welcome them. Also, having reached the wine cellar, the story begins with the tour of the cellar, with the story of the place. Specific info is being offered on how the wines were obtained, on the way the wine is produced, starting from the vineyard and all the way to the end product. A point the visit also covers is the bottling area so that visitors can see how wine is bottled, and, not the least, there also is the eagerly-awaited visit to the barrels area, while the tasting oftentimes also takes place in the barrels area or the hall especially dedicated to tasting. That depends on each wine cellar yet it also very much depends on the experience the tourist wants to have “.

The founder of Romania’s Enotourism Association, Alexandra Gălbează, has organized the Enotourism Forum. Here she is once again, this time breaking the news about other interesting projects.

“The next event, it will be in the spring of 2025, most likely. It is an event exclusively dedicated to this particular sort of tourism where we seek to invite representatives of the wine cellars tourism agencies, but also tourist guides, in a bid to think together of what actually happens and what it is required so that this segment can develop in Romania. Also, we intend o create a wine route at national level, accessible, of course, according to the country’s major regions, so that in the future we can integrate this route into the European cultural route. “

A great many tourists are in pursuit of authenticity, of the peaceful life and are happy to discover that, in Romania, there are still traditions and local cuisine. They are delighted with the Romanian wines, especially with the indigenous sorts, all that and the high-standard accommodation offer turn the visit to the wine cellars into an unforgettable experience.

19 September 2024
December 2, 2022 UPDATE

VISIT The president of Romania Klaus
Iohannis had a meeting in Athens on Friday with his Greek counterpart, Katerina
Sakellaropoulou, who reiterated Greece’s full support for Romania’s Schengen
accession. The two officials praised the very good relations between the two
countries, strengthened by cultural affinities and by a long common history,
and emphasized the close cooperation at EU, regional and international level. Given
the current security situation generated by Russia’s illegal military
aggression against Ukraine, they emphasized the importance of maintaining
trans-Atlantic unity and solidarity and reiterated the support that their
respective countries will continue to give to Ukraine and to Ukrainian refugees,
as well as to the R. of Moldova. The Romanian president is in Greece for a
2-day official visit.

COMPANIES The number of new
companies running on foreign capital set up in Romania in the first 10 months
of the year is 30.7% higher than in the corresponding period of 2021, according
to the National Trade Registry Office. The 6,175 new companies have a combined
share capital of over USD 35 million. At the end of October 2022, 243,022
companies in Romania had foreign share capital. The largest number of companies
had Italian investors, but the highest capital value was reported for Dutch
companies. In related news, Romania’s software industry is growing steadily,
with the combined turnover in the sector expected to reach a record-high EUR 11
billion this year. According to a survey, the upward trend has been steady for
the past 10 years, and the growth rate almost tripled during this period. In
2021 there were over 30,000 software firms in Romania.

GAUDEAMUS The 29th edition of the
Gaudeamus Book Fair hosted by Radio Romania kicks off next week.
200 publishers will be exhibiting their latest and current releases in various
formats, addressing all age brackets and fields of interests, music as well as
educational games. 600 events have been announced in addition to various
related projects. Pavilions are also available online on gaudeamus.ro. The
Gaudeamus Book Fair is financed by the Ministry of Culture.

POLITICS The National Congress of the Alliance for the Unity of
Romanians (AUR), a nationalist party in opposition in Romania, Friday endorsed
its political promotion strategy for 2023. It includes building a mobile
hospital and organising medical caravans which would also present the party’s
views on the main areas of interest. The party president, George Simion, added
that some of the subsidies received by the party will be used for purchasing
school buses. The head of the party’s National Council, Claudiu Târziu, said
national reunification is AUR’s country project and requested the governments
of Romania and of the R. of Moldova to initiate immediate consultations in this
respect.

SCHENGEN The Dutch government Friday decided to agree with Romania’s
and Croatia’s Schengen accession, but will oppose the accession of Bulgaria, on
grounds that the country does not meet the required conditions. The Swedish
parliament’s committee for European affairs also voted in favour of Romania’s
accession. The Romanian PM Nicolae Ciucă and the foreign minister Bogdan
Aurescu hailed the decisions concerning Romania. A possible enlargement of the Schengen
area is one of the topics on the agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs Council
meeting due on December 8. (AMP)

2 December 2022
July 2, 2022

Weather — The plain areas of western, southern and eastern Romania will see another scorching day today. In these regions, a yellow code alert for heat and high thermal discomfort is in place, the maximum temperatures ranging from 33 and 36 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was 32 degrees C. Meteorologists also issued a code orange alert for unstable weather, with heavy storms and heavy rains being expected in the mountainous areas, in the north, center, south and locally east of Romania, valid until this evening. While the authorities in the counties most affected by the heat have set up tents, doctors point out that the elderly, those with various health conditions and children are the most exposed to fainting and sunstroke. In the fields of constructions and agriculture, which involves long-term activities in the scorching sun, people have a hard time coping with hot temperatures.

July 4 – The United States remains Romanias closest military ally, just as NATO remains the main guarantor of peace and security for all its members, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said on Friday evening. Attending the Party organized by the US Embassy in Bucharest on the occasion of the Independence Day, the Romanian PM welcomed the decision made by President Joe Biden to boost the presence of American troops in Romania. On the other hand, PM Ciucă said that the Romanian Government would continue to work with officials in Washington so that Romanias accession to the Visa Waiver program becomes possible as soon as possible. In his turn, the charge daffaires of the US Embassy in Bucharest, David Muniz, said that Romania leaves a positive mark on the world, recalling, among other things, the readiness of ordinary Romanians and of the authorities to provide humanitarian aid to neighboring Ukraine. David Muniz added that Romania was one of the strongest partners of the United States.

Theater — Six personalities from the performing arts world receive, this evening, a star on the Star Alley – Aleea Celebrităţilor, as part of the International Theater Festival in Sibiu (center). The merit of two Romanians will be recognized: namely Ion Caramitru, one of the most important and appreciated theater and film actors in Romania, who passed away in September last year, and the cellist Götz Teutsch. Sasha Waltz, Claus Peymann, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt and Krzysztof Warlikowski will also receive a star on the Star Alley. Sasha Waltz is one of the most respected choreographers of the moment, a dancer and director, a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts. The German Claus Peymann has directed numerous shows based on plays from the classical and contemporary repertoire, and Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt is a French-Belgian playwright, prose writer, novelist, screenwriter and director. His books are translated into 48 languages, and his plays are staged in over 50 countries. The Polish Krzysztof Warlikowski is the artistic director of the Nowy Theater in Warsaw. In 2021, he received the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Biennale.

Tennis — Romania has only one representative left in the third round of the Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon: Simona Halep (30 WTA), who meets, today, the Polish Magdalena Frech (92 WTA). In the doubles, the Romanian-Ukrainian pair Raluca Olaru / Nadia Kicenok qualified, on Friday, to the eighth finals, after defeating 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 the pair made up of the British Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls.

Via Transilvanica – The section of the Via Transilvanica road located in Hunedoara county, in the center of Romania, is open, today, to the public. A project initiated in 2018 by the Tășuleasa Social Association, Via Transilvanica is a tourist and pilgrimage route of over 1,000 kilometers that starts from Putna, in the northeast of the country, crosses Transylvania and ends up in Drobeta-Turnu Severin, in the southwest. Nature and sports enthusiasts can walk it partially or completely, with their backpacks on, or they can go by bike or on horseback, on country paths and roads. Via Transilvanica crosses 10 counties, highlighting the cultural, ethnic, historical and natural riches of Romania. (LS)

2 July 2022
A new crisis in the Liberal Party

An extraordinary
congress of the National Liberal Party, a member of the ruling coalition in
Romania, will be held on April 10 in order to elect a new party president, the
Liberals’ National Council decided this Sunday. As many as 1,300 delegates will
take part. Until then, the head of the Suceava County Council Gheorghe Flutur will
act as interim president.

On Saturday, the Senate Speaker Florin Cîţu
announced his resignation as head of the Liberal Party. Many Liberals had
demanded that he stepped down, over claims that he caused tensions with the
Social Democrats within the ruling coalition, that he failed to communicate to
party members and that he has a poor public image that affects the party’s
scores in voting intention polls.

Cîţu’s opponents would like the party
presidency to be taken over by PM Nicolae Ciucă, who, mass media argue, has a
much better public image and a coherent dialogue with the ruling partners. A respected military professional, Ciucă is
however involved in a plagiarism scandal concerning his Ph.D. thesis.

The former PM Cîţu was elected party president
only half a year ago, in late September 2021. Openly supported by the head of
state Klaus Iohannis at that point, he won a tight election against another
former prime minister, Ludovic Orban, who had been running the party since
2017. Orban claimed that congress saw the most serious
violations of democratic rules ever committed in a political party in the last 31
years. He also announced then that he renounced his partnership with Iohannis,
to whom he had seemed quite loyal up to that point, and in December he quit the
party altogether, and jointly with other former Liberals he set up a new right-of-centre
party.

Founded in 1875, the National Liberal Party has always taken
pride in leading Romania in its most propitious moments: the proclamation of
its independence in 1877, when the country got
rid of centuries-long Ottoman rule, and the Great Union of 1918, when after WWI
all the territories inhabited mostly by Romanians and previously under Russian
and Austrian-Hungarian domination joined the Kingdom of Romania. Outlawed by
the post-war communist dictatorship brought in by Soviet troops, the National
Liberal Party re-emerged in the Romanian political arena shortly after the
anti-communist revolution of 1989, and takes pride in being in power in 2007, when
Romania was accepted in the EU.

But countless in-house scandals in recent years
have overshadowed the public’s confidence in the Liberal Party. In the latest
voting intentions poll, the Liberals stand at 16%, only 1% above the
nationalist AUR party in opposition and 20% below their current ruling
partners, the Social Democrats. (A.M.P.)

4 April 2022
Ion Mihalache

Teacher Ion Mihalache, a major Romanian politician before 1945, represented the peasant middle class. He was a man of integrity, defender of conservative Romanian peasant values, but was also a militant for modernization and prosperity for all, especially the most disadvantaged.

Ion Mihalache was born on March 3, 1882, in Topoloveni, a village 90 km northwest of Bucharest. He came from a peasant family, and loved education, so he became a teacher at19 years of age, in 1901. When Romania joined the war, in 1916, he volunteered as an officer commanding a company on the front lines. He took part in the military campaigns in 1916-1917, and was decorated with the Michael the Brave order for his abilities as a commander.

In the tumultuous years after the war, he took part in organizing the referendum by which the Romanian population of Bessarabia voted to unite with Romania in 1918. After the war, he went into politics and was a founder of the National Peasant Party, to defend the interests of the peasantry, the largest social class at that time. The emergence of such a party was also justified by the fact that King Ferdinand I had promised an ample agrarian reform in a famous speech from 1917.

In 1919, in the first elections in Greater Romania, the Peasant Party formed a coalition with the the Romanian National Party of Transylvania, and formed a government led by Alexandru Vaida-Voevod. Mihalache was appointed minister of agriculture and land management. In 1920, the so-called Mihalache Law was passed, granting agriculture schools 100 ha of land each, and horticultural schools 25 ha to help with education.

In 1926, these two agrarian parties joined, and the National Peasant Party was born, the most important opposition party facing off against the National Liberal Party. Mihalache became party deputy chairman, and Iuliu Maniu, the head of the former Transylvanian party, became chairman.

The great electoral success of the new party came that same year, when the National Peasant Party won in a landslide, forming the government. They bring with them a policy of encouraging agriculture, in line with Mihalache’s political thinking. He went on to hold the position of agriculture minister until 1930, becoming then minister of the interior, a post he held until 1933.In 1941, when Romania joined WWII, Mihalache, then 59 years of age, was mobilized to the front line. However, he was recalled back home upon order from General Ion Antonescu.

Our guest today is General Constantin Durican, aide de camp for General Ioanitiu, head of the General Staff of the Romanian army. In 1996, in an interview with Radio Romania’s Center for Oral History, he recalled the episode in which Mihalache was supposed to be convinced that it was in Romania’s best interest to fight on Germany’s side:

Constantin Durican: Mihalache had the Michael the Brave order decoration from the war of 1916-1918. And because he was against Marshal Antonescu and on Maniu’s side, Antonescu order he be mobilized. He gave him a car, to show him why Romania was with the Germans, why we were fighting, and what we were getting ourselves into. Of course, the choice in that situation was pretty difficult, it was very hard to judge the leaders irrespective of their choice.

After the war, he started the most difficult period of his life, which sorely tested his character. In the 1946 elections, in a climate of extreme tensions caused by the communists, Mihalache held a memorable election speech. Former political detainee Ioan Georgescu, spoke in 2000about that speech, which he attended:

Ioan Georgescu: I recall there was a joint meeting of the Peasant Party and the Liberals, led by Dinu Bratianu and Ion Mihalache. They came here, to Campulung, and spoke to a large audience. I was present there. I remember a beautiful comparison he made then. He said: ‘So far we have stood on our right leg (he was talking about Antonescu) and now some are coming to tell us to stand on our left leg. And I say, and I think I’m saying it right, we have to stand on both legs.

Another former political detainee, Cicerone Ionitoiu, talked in 2001 about how he visited Mihalache in 1946, detained by the communist government:

Cicerone Ionitoiu: When we went to him, he was being prosecuted under false chargers, to prevent him from running for office in Muscel. We went there, we were about 12 people, from Bucharest, to support him on the day of the trial. He arrived at night, he received us, it was late, about 11 o’clock at night. He said: ‘Hey, boys, you need your sleep’. We told him that we want to talk to him, that he shouldn’t worry about us. Then a teacher arrived, Bratulescu, who took us in. And Mihalache saw us out of Campulung, and told us ‘Well, you visited me, what would it be like if I didn’t honor you by seeing you out of town?’ That’s the kind of man he was.

In 1947, Mihalache, along with the entire leadership of the National Peasant Party, was sentenced to prison. On February 5, 1963, he passed away in the Ramnicu Sarat prison, just one year before the general amnesty of 1964. (C.C.)

14 February 2022
Ion Mihalache

Teacher Ion Mihalache, a major Romanian politician before 1945, represented the peasant middle class. He was a man of integrity, defender of conservative Romanian peasant values, but was also a militant for modernization and prosperity for all, especially the most disadvantaged.

Ion Mihalache was born on March 3, 1882, in Topoloveni, a village 90 km northwest of Bucharest. He came from a peasant family, and loved education, so he became a teacher at19 years of age, in 1901. When Romania joined the war, in 1916, he volunteered as an officer commanding a company on the front lines. He took part in the military campaigns in 1916-1917, and was decorated with the Michael the Brave order for his abilities as a commander.

In the tumultuous years after the war, he took part in organizing the referendum by which the Romanian population of Bessarabia voted to unite with Romania in 1918. After the war, he went into politics and was a founder of the National Peasant Party, to defend the interests of the peasantry, the largest social class at that time. The emergence of such a party was also justified by the fact that King Ferdinand I had promised an ample agrarian reform in a famous speech from 1917.

In 1919, in the first elections in Greater Romania, the Peasant Party formed a coalition with the the Romanian National Party of Transylvania, and formed a government led by Alexandru Vaida-Voevod. Mihalache was appointed minister of agriculture and land management. In 1920, the so-called Mihalache Law was passed, granting agriculture schools 100 ha of land each, and horticultural schools 25 ha to help with education.

In 1926, these two agrarian parties joined, and the National Peasant Party was born, the most important opposition party facing off against the National Liberal Party. Mihalache became party deputy chairman, and Iuliu Maniu, the head of the former Transylvanian party, became chairman.

The great electoral success of the new party came that same year, when the National Peasant Party won in a landslide, forming the government. They bring with them a policy of encouraging agriculture, in line with Mihalache’s political thinking. He went on to hold the position of agriculture minister until 1930, becoming then minister of the interior, a post he held until 1933.In 1941, when Romania joined WWII, Mihalache, then 59 years of age, was mobilized to the front line. However, he was recalled back home upon order from General Ion Antonescu.

Our guest today is General Constantin Durican, aide de camp for General Ioanitiu, head of the General Staff of the Romanian army. In 1996, in an interview with Radio Romania’s Center for Oral History, he recalled the episode in which Mihalache was supposed to be convinced that it was in Romania’s best interest to fight on Germany’s side:

Constantin Durican: Mihalache had the Michael the Brave order decoration from the war of 1916-1918. And because he was against Marshal Antonescu and on Maniu’s side, Antonescu order he be mobilized. He gave him a car, to show him why Romania was with the Germans, why we were fighting, and what we were getting ourselves into. Of course, the choice in that situation was pretty difficult, it was very hard to judge the leaders irrespective of their choice.

After the war, he started the most difficult period of his life, which sorely tested his character. In the 1946 elections, in a climate of extreme tensions caused by the communists, Mihalache held a memorable election speech. Former political detainee Ioan Georgescu, spoke in 2000about that speech, which he attended:

Ioan Georgescu: I recall there was a joint meeting of the Peasant Party and the Liberals, led by Dinu Bratianu and Ion Mihalache. They came here, to Campulung, and spoke to a large audience. I was present there. I remember a beautiful comparison he made then. He said: ‘So far we have stood on our right leg (he was talking about Antonescu) and now some are coming to tell us to stand on our left leg. And I say, and I think I’m saying it right, we have to stand on both legs.

Another former political detainee, Cicerone Ionitoiu, talked in 2001 about how he visited Mihalache in 1946, detained by the communist government:

Cicerone Ionitoiu: When we went to him, he was being prosecuted under false chargers, to prevent him from running for office in Muscel. We went there, we were about 12 people, from Bucharest, to support him on the day of the trial. He arrived at night, he received us, it was late, about 11 o’clock at night. He said: ‘Hey, boys, you need your sleep’. We told him that we want to talk to him, that he shouldn’t worry about us. Then a teacher arrived, Bratulescu, who took us in. And Mihalache saw us out of Campulung, and told us ‘Well, you visited me, what would it be like if I didn’t honor you by seeing you out of town?’ That’s the kind of man he was.

In 1947, Mihalache, along with the entire leadership of the National Peasant Party, was sentenced to prison. On February 5, 1963, he passed away in the Ramnicu Sarat prison, just one year before the general amnesty of 1964. (C.C.)

14 February 2022
February 7, 2022 UPDATE

COVID-19
Bucharest extended the COVID-19 related state of alert in the country for
another 30 days, beginning on Monday, February 7. Face covering remains compulsory
both indoors and outdoors. In places with infection rates below 3 per
thousand, cinema and theatre
halls as well as restaurants may operate at 50% of their capacity, with the
ceiling going down to 30% in places with infection rates above this level. An
emergency order also extends the deadline for filling in the digital forms for
entering the country, from 24 to 72 hours. Nearly 17,000 new
Covid cases were reported in Romania on Monday, along with 81 related
fatalities. In the capital Bucharest the incidence rate continues to rise,
reaching 32.75 per thousand on Monday. The vaccination rate is close to 42% in
urban communities and around 30% in the countryside. Only 8 million adults are
fully vaccinated so far.

RESIGNATION The president of USR party in opposition, Dacian Cioloş, Monday
announced his resignation. The decision came after the party’s National Bureau
convened on Monday rejected Cioloş’s plans to change the structure and
operation of the party, with 14 votes against and 11 in favour. Dacian Cioloş, who
had been elected to office in October, when the right-of-centre USR and PLUS
parties had merged, warned his colleagues that he would step down unless his
restructuring plan was implemented. USR vice-president Cătălin Drulă will take
over as interim party president.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said there was no danger of
Romania being drawn into a military conflict with the Russian Federation.
Romanian citizens need not worry that we will be dragged into a war close to
our country, he said in an interview on a private television channel. There
is at the moment a very powerful security umbrella, which provides all possible
guarantees for the security and stability of Romania and its citizens, and this
umbrella is the NATO membership, adding to which is the very strong strategic
partnership with the US, minister Aurescu mentioned. If Russia attacks
Ukraine, he added, responses will come both from NATO, which will consolidate
its eastern flank, and from the EU, which will introduce a substantial set of
economic and individual sanctions targeting the political decision-makers in
Russia. In turn, the head of the Information and Public Relations Directorate
with the Defence Ministry, brigadier general Constantin Spînu, said that the crisis in Ukraine is not a security
situation that directly concerns Romania or any other NATO member state. Romanians and all other nations in the Euro-Atlantic
space should not feel directly threatened, gen. Spînu said.

AGRICULTURE Romania’s agriculture minister Adrian Chesnoiu rules out a
possible food crisis in Romania and a food rationing scenario. He says the
authorities are looking for solutions to support both citizens and farmers.
Chesnoiu also says that authorities are considering the options of introducing
ceilings on food prices or of stabilising and balancing prices.

WASTE
The number of border checkpoints where waste can be brought to Romania for
recycling will be reduced to 15, and all shipments will have to be entered in
an electronic register as soon as possible, the environment minister Tánczos
Barna announced on Monday. The authorities want to make sure that waste is not
misplaced or discarded in unauthorised places. Last year alone, more than 500
offences related to waste imports were identified, and over 15,000 tonnes of
mixed waste were prevented from entering the country, the interior minister Lucian
Bode said in his turn.

OLYMPICS Natalia Ushkina, Romania’s representative in
the biathlon contest has ended the competition on the 57th place in the
individual 15 km race at the winter Olympics in Beijing. In
the giant slalom event, Maria Ioana Constantin also from Romania, has come out
45th, while another Romanian, Raluca
Strămăturaru, is ranking 30th after the first 2 legs of the luge event. At the current
edition of the winter Olympic Games, Romania is being represented by 21
athletes. (A.M.P., D.B.)

7 February 2022
New leaders for USR party

The
merger between Save Romania Union and Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS)
concluded with the congress held this weekend. The third-largest party in
Parliament will be known from now on, more simply, as USR.

Dacian
Cioloş, former EU commissioner for agriculture and Romania’s PM after the 2015 Colectiv
tragedy, will be the party’s president until 2023, when the current leading
team is to be assessed and the strategy for the 2024 legislative and
presidential elections put together.

High-profile
politicians are also among the party’s new vice-presidents: former leader Dan
Barna, who lost the election for party president by a small margin, Vlad
Voiculescu, Cătălin Drulă and Claudiu Năsui, all of them members of the
coalition government until the recent clash with Florin Cîţu’s Liberals.

Dacian
Cioloş has the ambitious goal of making USR Romania’s top right-of-centre party:

Dacian Cioloş: Our
goal is to be prepared in 2024 to become the country’s leading right-wing party.
This means we have to grow as a party, to strengthen our public voice and to
increase our membership.

The
former party leader Dan Barna lost to Cioloş, but his team is the one that has
a majority in the party’s National Bureau. He insisted on the need for unity:

Dan Barna: We
are a team that will move on together and will make USR Plus a strong party, a
party that will matter in any kind of negotiations in the coming months and
years.

A party
created on the foundations of an NGO joined by civil activists, young employees
in multinational corporations and businesspeople, USR has aimed from the very
beginning to be different from traditional parties like the Social Democrats
and the Liberals. However, ideological affinities with the Liberal Party gave
rise to the coalition formed shortly after last year’s parliamentary election,
a coalition also joined by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

After
the justice minister Stelian Ion, a USR member, was dismissed, his party colleagues
left the cabinet and tabled a no-confidence motion to dismiss PM Cîţu, blamed
for causing the coalition to break up.

USR
say they will return to the government provided that the Liberals appoint
another prime minister. But the negotiations between the two parties depend
entirely on whether Florin Cîţu’s minority government survives the
no-confidence motion, due for vote on Tuesday.

According
to commentators, USR would benefit from staying in opposition until the
elections of 2024. But since the former NGO has already had a taste of power
and some experience in governing, the Liberals may find it easier to convince
them to return as partners in a ruling coalition. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

4 October 2021
Romania’s Liberals have new leaders

As
of Saturday, PM Florin Cîţu is the president of the National Liberal Party, the
leader of the ruling coalition in Bucharest, after defeating his former party chief
Ludovic Orban. The two spared no efforts during the battle for supremacy, and
commentators agree that the competition degenerated, severely damaging the
party image and, more importantly, virtually obstructing the work of the
government.

This
comes at a time when Romania is faced with yet another shortage of intensive
care beds for severe COVID cases, and with a dramatic increase in energy prices. The
Liberals’ new president, Florin Cîţu, sees his election as the starting point
of a trend that will change the country.

Florin
Cîţu: I promise to be the president of all
Liberals, regardless of your vote. We are a united party and will use all our
resources against our political opponent, the Social Democratic Party. You should
know that this was not just a campaign, it was a movement, started within the
National Liberal Party, a movement that will change Romania for the better.

While
for 60% of the participants in the Liberals’ congress Florin Cîţu is the
solution, for their former partners in the ruling coalition, USR PLUS, he is
the problem. USR PLUS left the right-of-centre coalition after the justice
minister Stelian Ion was dismissed out of the blue, and said they would not
return in the government unless Florin Cîţu gives up the PM post.

Without
USR PLUS, Cîţu’s Cabinet has no parliamentary majority to back it, and risks
being dismissed if the no-confidence motion tabled by USR PLUS and the
nationalist party AUR is validated by the Constitutional Court and passed in
Parliament. This
is precisely why the new Liberal leader announced negotiations with all
political parties, to put together a parliamentary majority to support his
cabinet.

The
Social Democrats in opposition seem to want Cîţu dismissed as well. They say
the days of the current government are numbered and that, in case the USR PLUS
– AUR motion fails, they have drafted their own no-confidence motion. The
Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu had this to say:

Marcel
Ciolacu: Definitely, as soon as the Constitutional Court greenlights the
motion, the Social Democratic Party will vote in its favour. If the Court
dismisses the motion, we will immediately table our own motion against the
government and will invite the other parties to back it.

A
minority government is not a novelty in Romania. A government made up of the
Liberals and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, unofficially
backed by the Social Democrats, and headed by Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, was in
power between 2007 and the elections of 2008. The price was high, however: the
government had to give up all major reform projects and to adopt populist
measures, lacking financial support.

The
same threatens to be the case at present as well, although Florin Cîţu promised
adamantly to put an end to irresponsible public spending and to streamline public
administration. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

27 September 2021
September 25, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The number of COVID
cases continues to rise in Romania, with more than 7,000 daily new cases
reported for several days in a row. Nearly 10,000 SARS-CoV-2 patients are in
hospitals, 264 of them children, while 1,195 patients are in intensive care. Nationwide,
hundreds towns and villages are on the red list of places with infection rates
of over 3 per thousand. The capital Bucharest is also on the list, and as of
today additional restrictions are in place in the city. The digital COVID
certificate is required for participation in certain events, and even so indoor
weddings and similar events are to be attended by 200 people at most, while
restaurants, performance halls, pools and the like operate at half their
capacity and only accept COVID certificate holders. As the number of infections
grows, Romanians get more open to immunisation, with over 14,000 people having
received a shot in the last 24 hours.

LIBERALS
The Liberals’s president for the next 4 years is PM Florin Cîţu, who won the
race against the former party chief Ludovic Orban. The winner got some 60% of
the votes of the around 5,000 delegates
from all party branches in the country attending the Congress held Saturday in
Bucharest. The National Liberal Party is a united party as of today, Florin
Cîţu said after the results were made official. I promise I will be the
president of all Liberals, regardless of your vote today, he added. Ludovic
Orban congratulated Florin Cîţu for his victory, and said on Monday he would
step down as speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. President Klaus Iohannis was also present at the
congress. The two ran harsh campaigns, with unprecedented
attacks against each other. At stake is more than the party presidency, and Saturday’s
battle will also decide the governing formula and the parliamentary majority.

FRIGATE The Romanian frigate
Queen Marie has concluded its participation in the NATO Operation Sea
Guardian, in the Mediterranean. During the 3 weeks of commanding the NATO
vessel unit, Queen Marie inspected over 800 ships in the
Mediterranean. The IAR Puma Naval helicopter on board of the frigate
contributed to the early identification of suspicious vessels. Also taking part
in Operation Sea Guardian were vessels, aircraft and submarines from
Romania, Croatia, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain and Germany, and the missions contributed
to strengthening security in Europe’s southern flank.

SALARY Romanians last year
earned gross salaries of roughly 1,030 euros, the National Statistics Institute
announced, up 7.4% since the previous year. Net salaries, averaging at 650
euros per month, also increased by 7.7%. The best paying sectors are IT&C, finances
and insurance, public administration and the energy sector. At the opposite
pole are the hospitality industry, agriculture, forestry and fishery, and the
real estate market.

AIRCRAFT The Canadian military aircraft sent to Romania in
early September have carried out their first intercept in an air policing mission,
NATO announced. The pilots of the 188 Hornets, jointly with Romanian Air Forces
units, intercepted on September 23 two Russian Sukhoi 24 Fencers over the Black
Sea near Romanian air space. The Russian aircraft were monitored by the Allied
pilots once the visual identification was confirmed, the Allied Air Command
also announced.

DIASPORA A Romanian Foreign
Ministry official discussed with members of the Romanian community in Italy
about improving consular services, as many diaspora members are unhappy with
the difficult and often unfriendly procedures required by the Romanian
authorities. The head of the ministry’s Consular Department Valentin Muntean
presented the reforms planned by the authorities, in a hybrid meeting attended
by all the general consuls in Italy and around 40 representatives of Romanian
associations in that country. The participants tackled means to modernise and
broaden the consular network, to simplify procedures, to upgrade and optimise
the digital platforms and systems used by the Romanian authorities, and to
reduce red-tape. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

25 September 2021
The finance minister, dismissed

Alexandru Nazare was dismissed as head of the finance ministry on Thursday, at the request of his fellow Liberal, the PM Florin Cîţu.

This is the second member sacked from the coalition government comprising the National Liberal Party, USR-PLUS, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, after the former health minister Vlad Voiculescu in mid-April. Voiculescus dismissal was requested by many at the time, and came in the wake of serious incidents that affected Romanian hospitals and of communication flaws, which outweighed his good intentions.

But now, Nazares rather surprising sacking fuels speculations that it has to do with the race for the presidency of the Liberal party, in which PM Cîţu runs against the incumbent speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Ludovic Orban.

PM Florin Cîţu explains, however, that the decision was prompted by an analysis of the finance ministrys activity. The review apparently revealed delays in major projects related to the spending of EU funds and to fighting tax evasion.

Florin Cîţu: “Minister Nazare was given the chance to resign, but he chose to be dismissed. All the coalition leaders were informed as early as on Tuesday afternoon.

Alexandru Nazare tells a different story. In a post on a social network, the former minister said he was sacked for failing to join the team supporting PM Florin Cîţu in the race for party president. The decision is not based on objective reasons, Ludovic Orban said in Nazares defence, and warned that the appointment of a new finance minister should be decided in the Liberal Partys decision-making bodies and by the ruling coalition.

Ludovic Orban: “There are no serious reasons behind this removal. Normally, any such discussion should have first taken place within the National Liberal Party and within the ruling coalition.

The Social Democrats, in opposition, seized this opportunity to once again criticise the government. They believe government replacements are made only in order to soothe the egos of the politicians in power. The Social Democrats spokesman, Radu Oprea, argued,

Radu Oprea: “Unfortunately, the incumbent PM sets the country on fire, prices are going up, our people are getting poorer. Instead of doing his job in the government, he is only busy with his party campaign.

The dispute in the Liberal Party only proves the governments sheer disregard for the citizens problems, the Social Democrats claim. Ironically, only 4 years ago, the Social Democratic Party generated a political crisis when it dismissed its own government through a no-confidence motion. The reason was the then prime ministers alarming insubordination to the partys authoritarian leader, Liviu Dragnea, currently serving a corruption sentence.

In constitutional terms, it is within the prime ministers powers to request the dismissal of a cabinet member. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

9 July 2021
December 31, 2019

MESSAGE “2019 brought the victory of democracy and civil participation, when we proved that we are a nation that stands by shared values and ideals, the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, says in his New Years message. The head of state voices confidence that in 2020 Romanians will stay motivated by their dream of a better country. He called for the building of a normal Romania, a country that is truly the home of Romanians, wherever they may be. “We are entering a new year and a new decade, which I would also like to be the beginning of a period of normality and true democracy for Romania, PM Ludovic Orban said in his own New Years message. He urges Romanians to view what they have left behind as a lesson about what needs to be done in order to make true the dream of freedom, democracy and prosperity that mobilised people 30 years ago to fight against totalitarianism.

INVESTIGATION Romanian authorities carry on inquiries and checks regarding the incident at the Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest, the largest emergency unit in the country. The National Healthcare Quality Management Authority Monday suspended the accreditation of the hospital, which failed to report within 24 hours an incident in which a 66-year old patient was burnt on the operating room table. The woman died, and the Bucharest Police is currently investigating suspicions of manslaughter. The Board of Physicians and the Healthcare Ministry are running separate investigations, with the conclusions due to be presented early next week. Meanwhile, the hospital has to address the deficiencies that have led to the unfortunate event. Although the accreditation has been suspended, Floreasca Emergency Hospital in Bucharest operates as usual.

NEW YEARS EVE In Romania, New Year traditions are still preserved in many regions. Children go carolling in the first part of the day, with songs and dances that usually describe the successive stages of farm work. The custom also includes folk performances by groups of youth or adults, where each member has a part, a role and various stage props. On the other hand, the hits of the 1980s and 1990s will be played live at the biggest outdoor New Years party in Bucharest, ‘Disco Night. This years concert has been inspired by the energy and exuberance of the disco movement. During the 6-hour party, songs that have defined entire generations will be played by international and Romanian musicians, including O-Zone, Haddaway, and the American rapper Turbo B., and Milli Vanilli Experience. The night will end with a spectacular fireworks show.

SAFETY Over 21,000 Interior Ministry employees are on duty every day in Romania to ensure citizen safety during the winter holidays. Special attention is paid to preventing serious accidents and to streamlining road traffic to the most popular tourist resorts. Up to 1,400 road police are on duty on the most circulated thoroughfares, with around 300 radar speed guns, to safeguard the lives of drivers, passengers and pedestrians. Nearly 9,600 police and gendarmes are also patrolling the busiest areas, especially fairs and shopping centres, and the sites of large outdoor public events.

TOURISM Over 1.7 million tourist arrivals were reported in Bucharest in the first 10 months of the year, according to the National Statistics Institute. The largest number, 196,410, was reported in September. Most tourists (94.7% of the total, accounting for 1.63 million people), checked in in hotels. The number of overnight stays in Bucharest was 2.99 million, with the biggest number reported for October. According to the National Statistics Institute, arrivals in accommodation facilities at national level totalled 11.531 million in the first 10 months of this year, up 4.1% compared to the corresponding period of last year.

AVALANCHE A record 200 mountain accidents have been reported over the past 10 days in Romania, with avalanche risks still high in many parts of the country, particularly in the southern massifs of Făgăraş and Bucegi. Last month 2 people were caught under an avalanche in Făgăraş. Mountain rescue teams urge tourists not to attempt routes that have been closed for safety, and to be very careful in planning their hikes so as to be indoors by nightfall.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

31 December 2019
Political parties prepare for European Parliament election

Ranking third in
line to win the European Parliament ballot of May 26th, after the
Social-Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, and commonly perceived
as a pro-European alternative to the aforementioned parties, the 2020 Alliance
was very close to being left out of the election race after the Central
Election Office rejected the underlying protocol of the alliance signed by its
two parties, the Save Romania Union and PLUS, for technical reasons.

On Friday,
however, the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest decided the 2020
Alliance can submit its candidates in the May 26th election. The
Central Election Office also rejected the claim of another alliance to enroll
in the ballot, this time made up of the Great Romania Party and the United
Romania Party.

The reason is
that the late Corneliu Vadim Tudor still appears as president of the Great
Romania Party in the Party Register. Since his death in 2015, the party didn’t
change the party leader’s name in the register. The United Romania Party will
submit its separate candidates, the most spectacular of whom is by far the
former MP Sebastian Ghita, who sought refuge in neighboring Serbia fleeing
prosecution in Romania.

The party
describes Ghita as the Romanian who dealt a heavy blow to the new Securitate
police, who exposed the system and the ‘elite’ Anticorruption Directorate, a
man who militated for a country of the people and who became a target,
harangued for having the courage to tell the truth.

We recall Ghita
voiced strong criticism against Laura Codruta Kovesi and the National
Anticorruption Directorate, which he accused of allegedly abusing her office
when investigating politicians for acts of corruption. Ghita’s election
campaign is based on a nationalist anti-migration and Christian discourse, very
similar to that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. I don’t want to see
Romania become the duchy of the Luxembourgish running Brussels! So I shout with
all my might: Long live Great, United and Sovereign Romania!, Sebastian
Ghita’s message to the Romanians reads.

His campaign
will most likely be marked by nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric. In turn,
Social-Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea this weekend declared himself a
pro-European, underlining however that Romania wanted to join the EU for a
better life, not to return to a life in fear and terror. We wanted to join
the European Union for access to development. We demand the same respect we’re
offering. I can’t accept the fact that everything we say, everything we do
should be criticized, attacked and blocked, while other people’s lies should be
taken at face value, without proper verification, Dragnea said.

This is a clear
hint at the constant criticism voiced by Romania’s European partners regarding
the repeated legislative modifications the ruling coalition in Romania has made
in the field of the judiciary. On the other hand, the leader of the Democratic
Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, Kelemen Hunor, says the European Union
is Europe’s the only viable solution to measure up to global powers and only
political alternative for Romanians and Hungarians in Romania.

11 March 2019
December 31, 2018

EU COUNCIL Romania takes over on January 1st, for the first time since its accession in 2007, the rotating presidency of the EU Council. The priorities of the Romanian presidency fall into 4 categories: 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 romania2019.eu, in Romanian, English and French, provides useful information for journalists, the general public and European affairs experts.

NEW YEARS MESSAGE The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, Monday released a New Years address, in which he urges Romanians to capitalise on the presidency of the EU Council in order to prove that “Romania is fully committed to consolidating the European project. PM Viorica Dancila also said today in her New Years address that Romania is prepared for the presidency of the EU Council, which it takes over on January 1. She emphasised that this is a national project that must bring together public institutions, political actors and civil society. Viorica Dancila also said that in 2019 her Cabinet will continue to take “the right decisions for Romania, and added that the Government has a “clear role: sustainable economic growth and major investments able to ensure better living standards for as many citizens as possible.

POLICE In Romania, over 25,000 Interior Ministry personnel are on duty during the New Years holiday. 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. Emergency intervention and prevention missions will be conducted these days by over 4,900 fire-fighters. On New Years night, fire-fighting and paramedic teams are deployed in the areas where public events are held. Around 300 emergency medical units are on standby. The largest shows will be organised in Bucharest, Brasov, Sibiu and Cluj Napoca. In Bucharest, the City Hall organises an over 6-hour long outdoor party that also celebrates the 100 years since the Romanian nation state was formed. Romanian artists will be joined by the international DJ Andre Tanneberger, known under the stage name ATB, who will mix live. Impressive fireworks shows are scheduled for midnight.

RUSSIA The Romanian Foreign Ministry requested the Russian Embassy in Bucharest to update the historical information it uses, and stressed that past bilateral relations must not allow for speculations and unfounded opinions. The message follows a Russian Embassy Facebook post deploring the fact that Romanian and western media regularly publish articles that slander the Red Army troops who freed Central and Eastern Europe from fascism. “Anti-Soviet and anti-Russian critics insist on telling people that the Red Army was a gang of ruthless thieves and rapists, says the Embassy in the post that, the Romanian Foreign Ministry argues, lacks the accuracy required for an academic debate. Bucharest also mentions that a commission of Romanian-Russian historians has been set up, and is best suited to analyse the history of bilateral relations. The Soviet troops that marched into Romania at the end of World War 2 only left this country in 1958, and the communist dictatorship they ushered in lasted until 1989.

JOURNALISTS The number of journalists and mass media workers killed on the job this year went up to 94, as compared to 82 in 2017, the International Federation of Journalists announced. The victims include 84 journalists, cameramen and technicians, as well as 10 media staff such as drivers and protection officers. They died in targeted killings, bomb attacks and cross fire incidents. The most dangerous place for journalists this year was Afghanistan.

UKRAINE The presidential election campaign in Ukraine started on Monday and will last until March 31st. candidates have until February 3rd to enrol and until February 8th to register their candidacy with the Central Electoral Commission. According to the latest polls, the former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko, is the frontrunner 16-18% of the vote intentions. The incumbent president, Petro Poroşenko, is gaining ground and ranks second in current polls with 14%, followed by the actor and comedian Vladimir Zelenskiy, with 8-12%.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

31 December 2018
Block Party à Bucarest

Livres proposés à la lecture, disposés dans la rue sur une installation innovante, lecture de poésie contemporaine et tours guidés du quartier, délices culinaires préparés par Chef Liviu Lambrino et étalés dans la cour sur une table pour 30 personnes. Au milieu de la rue : Paul Dunca, acteur, performeur et chorégraphe, la musique de Jim Felix et des projections de films en plein air – voilà quelques-unes des attractions du premier week-end du mois d’octobre organisé dans la rue, au centre de Bucarest. Edmund Niculuşcă, président de l’Association roumaine pour la culture, l’éducation et la normalité ARCEN, initiateur du projet Block Party, explique : « Nous métamorphosons la rue, nous y créons plusieurs espaces. Pendant toute une journée, il se passe bien des choses rue I.L. Caragiale : nous y amènerons une partie de l’exposition « Mnemonix », qui a représenté la Roumanie à la Biennale d’architecture de Venise. Y sera également présent le projet « Devant le bâtiment de logements », qui rassemble tous les jeux de l’enfance dans un seul livre. Block Party est une fête du jeu, de la danse, du dialogue. »

Assis sur des chaises ou des chaises longues et enveloppés dans des couvertures, dans la rue couverte de tapis, les visiteurs ont bénéficié d’une salle de séjour agrandie, meublée d’étagères pleines de livres. Une installation innovante incitait les personnes présentes à choisir parmi une vingtaine de titres : à l’extrémité d’une tige métallique fixée dans une brique se trouvait une plaque sur laquelle reposait un livre. En enlevant le livre, le lecteur trouvait sur la plaque, résumée en cinq lignes, la raison pour laquelle on recommandait la lecture de ce livre. Quelle est l’idée du projet ? Edmund Niculuşcă: « Bucarest avait besoin d’un centre à la fois historique et culturel, et la zone Icoanei peut être un tel centre : c’est une zone historique, elle est située au centre-ville et elle a ce potentiel culturel qui peut créer une vie différente à l’intérieur de la ville. C’est un centre historique d’une autre facture. »

L’histoire y a une valeur culturelle et elle souhaite se faire connaître. Edmund Niculuşcă: « La rue Caragiale deviendra partenaire du projet District 40. L’Institut français, l’Ecole Centrale, Le Hotspot culturel Scena 9, la librairie Cărtureşti et le Centre international de recherches dans le domaine de l’éducation CINETic sont déjà partenaires du projet District 40 et si, lors de la Nuit des Musées, toutes ces institutions ont organisé des projets dans leurs propres espaces culturels, à présent ces espaces culturels se donnent rendez-vous dans une seule rue, prouvant que la collaboration est possible et rendant l’impossible possible à réaliser. »

La poétesse Nora Iuga a rejoint les Bucarestois, rue Caragiale, pour une lecture de ses poèmes. Y ont également été présents Romeo Cuc, commissaire du projet MNEMONICS, l’architecte Şerban Sturdza et le fondateur des librairies Cărtureşti, Şerban Radu. En débat, dans la rue, entre autres, un des projets qui a joui d’un grand succès et qui visait à familiariser le public avec les zones protégées de la capitale. Alberto Groşescu, vice-président de l’Association roumaine pour la culture, l’éducation et la normalité, explique: « Parmi tous les projets que notre association a menés jusqu’ici, celui-ci semble être le plus dynamique, il s’est développé le plus. Initialement, en 2015, nous avions recensé deux zones habitées protégées. Depuis, je me suis rendu compte que le paysage urbain changeait vite et que les zones protégées étaient peu connues des Bucarestois, ce qui m’a donné l’idée de sauver tout ce que l’on pouvait au niveau de l’image. En 2016, nous nous sommes proposé de dresser un inventaire de 98 zones habitées protégées et nous avons recensé environ 14.500 immeubles. L’élaboration de la méthodologie a duré 8 mois et nous avons bénéficié du concours de plusieurs professeurs de l’Université d’architecture « Ion Mincu », de spécialistes de l’Institut du Patrimoine et de l’Ordre des Architectes de Roumanie. »

Nous nous sommes glissés, nous aussi, parmi les visiteurs, pour connaître leurs impressions sur Block Party. Dana, 43 ans, y est venue avec son fils : «Nous avons lu la nouvelle sur Internet et nous sommes venus voir ce qui s’y passait. Et nous avons découvert des gens qui nous ressemblaient, des livres et un endroit calme, comme il n’y en a pas beaucoup à Bucarest. Les gens qui nous ressemblent sont des gens qui aiment le calme, les livres et la ville de Bucarest telle qu’elle est ici et non pas le Bucarest chaotique. » Radu, le fils de Dana, a 13 ans. Pourquoi est-il venu à la Block Party ? « J’étais curieux de voir ce qui s’y passait. C’est agréable de se détendre ainsi, un jour de dimanche, assis sur une chaise longue, d’échapper au stress, de lire. Peu de mes collègues viendraient à de tels événements. »

Les deux soirées se sont achevées dans la bonne humeur, avec quelques dizaines de personnes dansant dans la rue, après une mise en forme avec Paul Dunca. Parmi les questions existentielles lancées sur la musique, il y a eu une qui a retenu notre attention : « Combien d’années vous êtes-vous proposé de vivre ? Votre réponse a changé, n’est-ce pas, avec le temps ? » Or, le temps passé à Block Party semble avoir justement suspendu le temps. (Trad. : Dominique)

23 October 2018