Radio România Internațional

Tag: principalities

January 24, 2024

CELEBRATION Military and religious ceremonies, performances and exhibitions took place on Friday in all the major cities in Romania, marking the Union of the Principalities. In Orthodox churches, special services were performed and bells were rung for a minute. 166 years ago, on January 24, 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia, after having been elected ruler of Moldavia on January 5. The political decision by the principalities to unite was the first stage in the creation of the modern Romanian state. Leading politicians sent messages on the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. “January 24 is a moment of assessment and reflection on the legacy of our ancestors and on the responsibility we have to preserve and promote it,” president Klaus Iohannis emphasised. PM Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that the Union is an example of how an important political project undertaken in accordance with the will of the people can become reality. Romanians enjoy an extended weekend on this occasion, as Union Day has been declared a public holiday. Many have chosen to spend it in mountain resorts.

PROTEST Railway workers, reserve officers, police staff, miners, foresters, steelworkers, Bucharest Metro employees and pensioners Friday took part in a protest rally in front of the Government headquarters. People are unhappy with the government order that froze salary increases for many public sector personnel at the beginning of this year, and because public pensions are no longer adjusted to the inflation rate. According to Radio Romania, a trade union delegation had talks with government officials, but without results. A reorganisation of central public institutions and state-owned companies was also announced these days. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, restructuring the public sector is a priority for the current governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu will have a meeting with NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, January 28, reads a statement from the North Atlantic Alliance. On January 14, Emil Hurezeanu received the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O’Brien. According to a foreign ministry news release, on that occasion the Romanian official appreciated the US contribution to the security and defense of NATO’s Eastern Flank, as well as to the development of the strategic approach to the Black Sea region. The two officials also appreciated the bilateral relationship, highlighting ‘significant’ achievements such as Romania’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver program, the development of economic and energy sector cooperation, and coordinated Romania – US – EU action.

ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania in the presidential elections in May. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.

CORRUPTION The mayor of the popular Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia, the Liberal Vlad Oprea, was placed under court supervision on Thursday, with bail set at over EUR 100,000, as part of a corruption-related investigation. Charges of abuse of office also entailed a ban on him holding the mayor position. According to prosecutors with the National Anticorruption Directorate, among other things, Vlad Oprea allegedly demanded and received almost EUR 240,000 in bribe from a businessman, in exchange for expediting the paperwork for the building of a hotel in the resort.

EXPULSION The Romanian Embassy in Belgrade has asked for clarifications from the Serbian authorities as to why a Romanian national was expelled from the country. Other EU and third country citizens taking part in an NGO training workshop were also involved in the incident. The Romanian, a member of an organisation involved in social projects, was taken to a police station in Belgrade, along with other participants in the workshop. Without explanation, but citing national security reasons, they were ordered to leave Serbia within 24 hours, and banned from entering this country for one year. The Romanian national left the country safely. The expulsion of EU citizens from Serbia is unprecedented. (AMP)

24 January 2025
January 24, 2025 UPDATE 2

CELEBRATION Military and religious ceremonies, performances and exhibitions took place on Friday in all the major cities in Romania, marking the Union of the Principalities. In Orthodox churches, special services were performed and bells were rung for a minute. 166 years ago, on January 24, 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia, after having been elected ruler of Moldavia on January 5. The political decision of the principalities to unite was the first stage in the creation of the modern Romanian state. Leading politicians sent messages on the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. “January 24 is a moment of assessment and reflection on the legacy of our ancestors and on the responsibility we have to preserve and promote it,” president Klaus Iohannis emphasised. PM Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that the Union is an example of how an important political project undertaken in accordance with the will of the people can become reality. Romanians enjoy an extended weekend on this occasion, as Union Day has been declared a public holiday. Many have chosen to spend it in mountain resorts.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu will have a meeting with NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, January 28, reads a statement from the North Atlantic Alliance. On January 14, Emil Hurezeanu received the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O’Brien. According to a foreign ministry news release, on that occasion the Romanian official appreciated the US contribution to the security and defense of NATO’s Eastern Flank, as well as to the development of the strategic approach to the Black Sea region. The two officials also appreciated the bilateral relationship, highlighting ‘significant’ achievements such as Romania’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver program, the development of economic and energy sector cooperation, and coordinated Romania – US – EU action.

24 January 2025
January 24, 2025

CELEBRATION Military and religious ceremonies, performances and exhibitions are taking place today in all the major cities in Romania, marking the Union of the Principalities. In Orthodox churches, special services were performed and bells were rung for a minute. 166 years ago, on January 24, 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia, after having been elected ruler of Moldavia on January 5. The political decision of the principalities to unite was the first stage in the creation of the modern Romanian state. Leading politicians sent messages on the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. “January 24 is a moment of assessment and reflection on the legacy of our ancestors and on the responsibility we have to preserve and promote it,” president Klaus Iohannis emphasised. PM Marcel Ciolacu pointed out that the Union is an example of how an important political project undertaken in accordance with the will of the people can become reality. Romanians enjoy an extended weekend on this occasion, as Union Day has been declared a public holiday. Many have chosen to spend it in mountain resorts. However, as protests are announced in addition to many events planned throughout the country, over 22,000 interior ministry employees are mobilised to ensure public order and peace.

PROTEST Railway workers, reserve officers, police staff, miners, foresters, steelworkers, Bucharest Metro employees and pensioners announced their participation today in a protest rally in front of the Government headquarters. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend. People are unhappy with the government order that froze salary increases at the beginning of this year, and because public pensions are no longer adjusted to the inflation rate. A reorganisation of central public institutions and state-owned companies was also announced these days. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, restructuring the public sector is a priority for the current governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania in the presidential elections in May. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.

CORRUPTION The mayor of the popular Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia, the Liberal Vlad Oprea, was placed under court supervision on Thursday, with bail set at over EUR 100,000, as part of a corruption-related investigation. Charges of abuse of office also entailed a ban on him holding the mayor position. According to prosecutors with the National Anticorruption Directorate, among other things, Vlad Oprea allegedly demanded and received almost EUR 240,000 in bribe from a businessman, in exchange for expediting the paperwork for the building of a hotel in the resort.

EXPULSION The Romanian Embassy in Belgrade has asked for clarifications from the Serbian authorities as to why a Romanian national was expelled from the country. Other EU and third country citizens taking part in an NGO training workshop were also involved in the incident. The Romanian, a member of an organisation involved in social projects, was taken to a police station in Belgrade, along with other participants in the workshop. Without explanation, but citing national security reasons, they were ordered to leave Serbia within 24 hours, and banned from entering this country for one year. The Romanian national left the country safely. The expulsion of EU citizens from Serbia is unprecedented.

FOOTBALL Romanian football champions FCSB defeated the Azerbaijani side Qarabag FK, 3-2 on Thursday evening in Baku, in the 7^th round of the Europa League. With this important win, FCSB not only secured its ticket for the next stage of the competition, but also has a good chance of qualifying straight for the round of 16. On January 30, the Romanians will play in Bucharest against the English team Manchester United. (AMP)

24 January 2025
January 21, 2023

ASYLUM Romania’s immigration department registered 40 asylum requests on
Friday. Most of these, 24, were filed by citizens from Bangladesh. The General
Inspectorate for Immigration has also issued 394 permits for the beneficiaries
of temporary protection, out of which 388 for the Ukrainian nationals. Last year
4398 Ukrainian citizens applied for asylum in Romania and they benefit from all
the rights stipulated in the national legislation. The total number of
Ukrainians who entered Romania since the beginning of the invasion is around
3.5 million. Almost 29% of the accommodation facilities for these refugees have
been occupied.

DAY
The Day celebrating the Union of the Romanian Principalities will be marked by
the representations of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau, Rome,
Warsaw, Venice, Istanbul and Vienna. The Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau
stages a scientific event devoted to 164 years since the Union of the Romanian
Principalities – Moldova and Wallachia. The Romanian Institute of Culture and
Humanistic Research in Venice is staging a conference meant to emphasize the
cordial Romanian-Italian relations in the period of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866)
and the symmetric destiny of the two peoples in the process of completing their
national unity. The Academia di Romania in Rome is also celebrating the Union
day with a film screening on the portrait of Romanian ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza
made by photographer Carol Popp of Szathmari. The Romanian Cultural Institute
in Warsaw will be screening on the Youtube platform a film with Polish
subtitles entitled ‘The 1859 Union of the Romanian Principalities’ directed by
Radu Gaina. The Romanian Cultural institutes in Istanbul and Vienna are also
screening films about the aforementioned union and the personality of ruler
Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

FAIR Romania has a national stand at the
International travel Fair taking place in Madrid until Sunday. The stand has
been developed by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism jointly with
several field associations and is promoting cultural trips, rural tourism and
city-break packages. Among other things, the Romanian programme also includes
meetings with relevant players from the public and private tourist sector with
the view to introducing Romania’s touristic potential to Spain. At the same
time, the fair is a good opportunity of promoting the city of Timisoara as
European Capital of Culture in 2023.

TENNIS Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse and her Ukrainian partner
Marta Kostyuk have qualified for the round of 16 of the women’s doubles in
Australian Open after their 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 win against Nicole Martinez of the
USA and Ellen Perez of Australia in Melbourne on Saturday. Ruse and Kostyuk
will be next taking on the winners of the game pitching the Czechs Miriam
Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova to Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and Shuai
Zhang of China. Also in the round of 16, the
Romanian-Swiss pair made up of Monica Niculescu and Viktorija Golubic
will be taking either on the fourth-seeded pair made up of Storm Hunter of Australia
and Elise Mertens of Belgium or Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic
of France.

(bill)

21 January 2023
Franz Liszt Touring the Romanian Principalities

In 1846, pianist and composer Franz Liszt, already a world celebrity at that point, started his last grand European tour in the southeast of the continent. He held recitals in many cities, among them Vienna, Sibiu, Bucharest, Iasi, Cernauti, Istanbul, and finally Odessa, wrapping up his tour in Czarist Russia.

In December 1846, he landed in Bucharest, the capital of Wallachia, where he was hosted by the grand boyar Mihai Ghica. In January 1847 he held a recital in the palace of Prince Gheorghe Bibescu. In Bucharest, the cosmopolitan musician found a special kind of society, hospitable and curious, which was still navigating the dividing line between the Orient that had been the basis of local culture, and the West, whose ways the local elites were starting to adopt.

The elites, meaning the old nobility and the nascent bourgeoisie, had started to modernize, and their children were already Western educated, and were starting to be seen as individuals, not simply miniature inheritors of their parents’ traditions.

Nicoleta Roman, a historian specializing in the 19th century, spoke to us about the ways in which artistic tastes and education of children in the Romanian Principalities in the early 19th century:

Nicoleta Roman: In the 18th century we see these kids in votive paintings wearing pretty much the same clothing as their parents, just at a smaller scale. Which is why votive paintings are a great source for studying the appearance of elite children. Then there is the way in which they were educated, mostly at home. In late 18th century, these were mostly of Greek extraction, due to the presence of the Phanariote rule, but, as we transition into the 19th century, the teachers are mostly French, and some were German, even English. These teachers bring in Western culture to Eastern Europe and the Romanian Principalities, and the parents seek to strike a balance between these influences. Then there is the bourgeoisie taking shape at the time, mainly traders, who are striving to imitate what they see in noble families. Which means they invest in their children, in their education, or veneer of education. This is what differentiates the offspring of noble and bourgeois families from peasant children.

The change of the education paradigm also reflects in artistic tastes. Which is why such and excellent representative of Western music as Franz Liszt enjoyed such huge success in Bucharest and in Iasi, the capital of Moldavia. He went there in January 1847, staying in the home of treasury keeper Alecu Bals. There he held a recital, and for that he was brought from Paris an Erard piano. This type of professional instruments were not available in the Principalities at the time. Publications of the time, with articles written by young intellectuals that were about to take part in the 1848 revolution, fighting for the modernization of the country, featured many enthusiastic articles about Liszt.

At the same time, the great artist took full advantage of his tour, learning about Romanian folk music and meeting local composers, such as the one who wrote the anthem for the union of the Principalities in 1859.

Nicoleta Roman:

I loved Liszt because he went all over Southeast Europe, and had the resilience to get through a very busy concert schedule. This was admirable for that time, because he was almost 40 years old. This series of concerts in Southeast Europe was the last of his grand tours, and I see him as the artist who best embodies this meeting between West and East. He was a true product of Western culture, but his origins helped understand Southeast Europe. He did not exclude the local element in his concerts, and we see him collaborating with composer Alexandru Flecthenmacher, and other personalities over here.

As a great collector of Southeast European folklore, which he used in his compositions, Franz Liszt had the opportunity to listen to famous traditional composers and interpreters, such as Barbu Lautaru, whose last name is actually a nickname, meaning ‘traditional urban player’. In fact, Liszt, as he was unconcerned with making money, knew how to draw in both rich and poor audiences.

Nicoleta Roman:

We could say he had stage star behavior. He knew who he was, and what he needed to be successful. His style and his way of playing could pull at the heartstrings of every nobleman, and even the Sultan, because he also played in Constantinople. He could also touch the hearts of less wealthy people. That is the reason he was in such high demand, because by the time he came here, in 1846-1847, he knew how to put on a great show. He had resounding fame everywhere, and he could fill any room. He played for the elites, but he also held free concerts, for the less wealthy.

When he left Iasi, he made a short stopover in the Danube port of Galati, then went on to go to Istanbul, ending the tour in Odessa.

9 July 2022
January 24, 2022 UPDATE

CELEBRATION Romania celebrated on Monday 163
years since the Union of the Romanian Principalities, the first major step in
the formation of the Romanian nation state, paving the way for the Great Union
of 1918. On January 24, 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of
Wallachia, after on January 5 he had become sovereign of Moldavia. His rule
laid the foundations for modern Romania. Monday was a banking holiday in
Romania. While many people chose to spend the holiday in mountain resorts, the
ones who stayed at home had the option of attending military and religious
ceremonies and celebratory concerts organised around the country under COVID-19
restrictions. Bucharest’s Patriarchal Cathedral hosted a service devoted to all
those who contributed to the 1859 Union. Politicians posted messages on this
occasion. President Klaus Iohannis said the Union on January 24, 1859 proves
the importance of a project able to bring together the energy of the Romanian
nation, and urged people to work persistently to consolidate the country’s
current European and democratic path. The Liberal PM Nicolae Ciucă pointed out
that the Union was the result of the untiring efforts of the politicians of the
time, driven by the nation’s dream of unity and of administrative, economic and
social progress. In turn, the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and president
of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu said that, 163 years since the
Union of the Romanian Principalities, what Romanians need more than ever is
unity and stability, if they are to handle current economic, healthcare and
security challenges.

COVID-19 Romanian
authorities announced on Monday 12,082 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections in 24
hours and 41 related deaths. The incidence rate in the capital Bucharest is on
the rise, reaching 10.23 cases per thousand people. The city has been in the
red tier since January 12, when the incidence rate went over 3 per thousand.
The COVID-19 testing capacity is set to increase this week to 150,000 tests per
day, as over 3,800 family physicians have signed contracts with public health
insurance agencies in this respect. In Bucharest and the nearby county of
Ilfov, where the largest number of cases is reported, testing centres have
already been opened in 20 hospitals. On Wednesday at the latest COVID-19
testing will also be resumed in schools, after more than 10 million test kits
were received by school inspectorates. A batch of 114,000 doses of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 are set to reach the country on
Tuesday. The health minister Alexandru Rafila expects the current (5th)
wave of the pandemic to reach its peak in Romania in about 3 weeks’ time.

UKRAINE NATO countries are
placing forces on
standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to NATO deployments in
eastern Europe, as Russiacontinues its military build-up
around Ukraine, the Alliance announced on Monday. Denmark is sending a frigate
to the Baltic Sea and is set to deploy four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania,
Spain is sending ships to join NATO naval forces and is considering sending
fighter jets to Bulgaria. France has expressed its readiness to send troops to
Romania under NATO command. The Netherlands is sending two F-35 fighter
aircraft to Bulgaria in April to support NATO’s air-policing activities in the
region, and is putting a ship and land-based units on standby for NATO’s
Response Force. The US also announced it is considering increasing its military
presence in the eastern part of the Alliance. The
president of Ukraine Volodymyr
Zelensky Monday thanked the EU for the 1.2 billion euros in macro-financial aid
provided in order to support Kyev in a prospective conflict with Russia. Strong
Ukraine is the key for European security, he said in a Twitter post. Russia
has deployed around 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, fuelling concerns
about a prospective attack on that country.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis
player Simona Halep lost to Alizé Cornet of France, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the round
of 16 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday. For Halep (15 WTA), this
was the first defeat after a string of 8 consecutive wins.Also on Monday, Sorana Cîrstea of Romania lost to seed
no. 7 Iga Swiatek of Poland, in the same competition round, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

DOCUMENTARY The French public TV channel France 3 broadcasts
for the first time a documentary on Marie of Romania, the amazing queen
of the Carpathians, as part of its highly popular history series
Secrets of history. The production of the documentary took one year
and a half. Archive photos and footage have been collected, along with
testimonies by historians and members of the Royal House of Romania. Scenes
have been shot at the Peleş and Bran castles in the southern Carpathians, at
the Cotroceni National Museum in Bucharest and at the Curtea de Argeş Monastery
where Royal House members have been buried. Queen Marie, the wife of King
Ferdinand I, was acknowledged in Europe as an ambassador of the Romanian nation
and a supporter of the Romanian nation state. (A.M.P.)

24 January 2022
January 24, 2022

CELEBRATION
Today Romania celebrates 163 years since the Union of the Romanian
Principalities, the first major step in the formation of the Romanian nation
state, paving the way for the Great Union of 1918. On January 24, 1859,
Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia, after on January 5 he had
become sovereign of Moldavia. His rule laid the foundations for modern Romania.
January 24 is a banking holiday in Romania. While many people chose to spend
the holiday in mountain resorts, the ones who stayed at home had the option of
attending military and religious ceremonies and celebratory concerts organised
around the country under COVID-19 restrictions. Bucharest’s Patriarchal
Cathedral hosted a service devoted to all those who contributed to the 1859 Union.
Politicians posted messages on this occasion. President Klaus Iohannis said the
Union on January 24, 1859 proves the importance of a project able to bring
together the energy of the Romanian nation, and urged people to work
persistently to consolidate the country’s current European and democratic path.
The Liberal PM Nicolae Ciucă pointed out that the Union was the result of the
untiring efforts of the politicians of the time, driven by the nation’s dream
of unity and of administrative, economic and social progress. This desire
endured with all the following generations, triggering major changes in the
Romanian society, Nicolae Ciucă added. In turn, the speaker of the Chamber of
Deputies and president of the Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu said that,
163 years since the Union of the Romanian Principalities, what Romanians need
more than ever is unity and stability, if they are to handle current economic,
healthcare and security challenges.

COVID-19 Romanian authorities announced today 12,082 new cases of SARS-CoV-2
infections in 24 hours and 41 related deaths. The incidence rate in the capital
Bucharest is on the rise, reaching 10.23 cases per thousand people. The city
has been in the red tier since January 12, when the incidence rate went over 3
per thousand. The COVID-19 testing capacity is set to increase this week to
150,000 tests per day, as over 3,800 family physicians have signed contracts
with public health insurance agencies in this respect. In Bucharest and the
nearby county of Ilfov, where the largest number of cases is reported, testing
centres have already been opened in 20 hospitals. On Wednesday at the latest
COVID-19 testing will also be resumed in schools, after more than 10 million
test kits were received by school inspectorates. The health minister Alexandru
Rafila expects the current (5th) wave of the pandemic to reach its
peak in Romania in about 3 weeks’ time.

UKRAINE The European Union does not intend for the time being to follow in
the footsteps of the US and order the families of its diplomats to leave
Ukraine, the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said today, according to
France Presse and Reuters. On Sunday night a senior US official justified the
decision saying that a Russian invasion may take place at any time. The US
secretary of state Antony Blinken is to address a meeting of the EU foreign
ministers in Brussels today, via video link, to update them on his recent talks
with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Attending
the meeting in Brussels is the Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu. Russia has deployed around 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border,
which the West reads as a preparation for an attack designed to prevent Ukraine
from joining NATO.

DOCUMENTARY The French public TV channel France 3 tonight airs for the first
time a documentary on Marie of Romania, the amazing queen of the
Carpathians, as part of its highly popular history series Secrets
of history. The production of the documentary took one year and a half.
Archive photos and footage have been collected, along with testimonies by
historians and members of the Royal House of Romania. Scenes have been shot at
the Peleş and Bran castles in the southern Carpathians, at the Cotroceni
National Museum in Bucharest and at the Curtea de Argeş Monastery where Royal
House members have been buried. Queen Marie, the wife of King Ferdinand I, was
acknowledged in Europe as an ambassador of the Romanian nation and a supporter
of the Romanian nation state.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep lost to Alizé Cornet
of France, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the round of 16 of the Australian Open in
Melbourne today. For Halep (15 WTA) this was the first defeat after a string of
8 consecutive wins. Also today, Sorana Cîrstea of Romania takes on seed no. 7 Iga
Swiatek of Poland, in the same competition round. (A.M.P.)

24 January 2022
January 22, 2022 UPDATE

COVID-19 19,371 new Covid cases and 48 related deaths were reported in Romania on Saturday. The number of fatalities is over 10 times smaller than at the peak of the previous wave of the pandemic, but the infection rate continues to grow, reaching 8.77 per thousand in Bucharest. The highest SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in the capital city (16.54 per thousand) was reached on 22nd October last year. The worst-case scenario considered by the authorities predicts up to 70,000 new cases per day in the first half of February. The health minister Alexandru Rafila says that 173 outpatient Covid-19 evaluation centres are already operational across the country, out of a planned 230.

CELEBRATION The government of Romania celebrated on Saturday 160 years since the first government of Romania was formed, after the union of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia was officially recognised. On this occasion, on the walls of Victoria Palace in the capital city Bucharest, which hosts the head offices of the government of Romania, images were projected during the evening, which are relevant for this milestone in Romanian history, such as the Romanian flag, the date when the first government of Romania was formed, namely 22nd of January, 1862 and the name of the countrys first prime minister, Barbu Catargiu. On Monday, which is a national holiday in Romania, 163 years since the union of the Romanian Principalities will be marked. On 24th January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, elected ruler of Moldavia the previous week, was unanimously elected sovereign of Wallachia as well, and proclaimed ruler of the United Principalities. During his rule, the institutional foundations were laid for modern Romania.

STRIKE Romanias capital city Bucharest found itself without above-ground public transportation means on Saturday as well. It was 3rd consecutive day of strike for the Bucharest Transport Corporation, although a court ruled the protest illegal. Unions stand by their demands, which include pay raises and the resignation of the corporations CEO. The drivers who refuse to work risk having their employment contracts terminated, said the Bucharest mayor general Nicusor Dan. He also said the City Hall made available a toll-free number for drivers to report whether they are prevented by their colleagues from going to work, and added that a criminal case has been opened in this respect. Meanwhile, the government is facing demands from trade unions in public education and healthcare as well.

NATO On Friday NATO rejected Russias request for the pull-out of the Alliances troops in Bulgaria and Romania, and denounced the concept of spheres of influence, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said. Russia requested guarantees from the US and NATO that the Alliance would not enlarge further eastwards, and demanded the withdrawal of the troops and equipment deployed to the countries that have joined the organisation since 1997. Also on Friday, the Pentagon announced a large-scale NATO naval exercise in the Mediterranean, amid tensions with Russia, which also announced major naval manoeuvres, AFP reports. Polands PM Mateusz Morawiecki called on European leaders to take a firm and united stand against Russia, in the context of fears that Moscow might plan an invasion of Ukraine. NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will provide Ukraine with US-made anti-armour and anti-aircraft missiles, the defence ministers of the 3 countries announced in a joint statement. In Romania, president Klaus Iohannis has called a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on Wednesday. The meeting will focus on the security situation at the Black Sea and on NATOs eastern flank, and measures to develop resilience and response capabilities related to the new security challenges.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep qualified in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, after defeating Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, 6-2, 6-1, in the 3rd round of the tournament in Melbourne on Saturday. Halep (15 WTA and 14th seed), won the match in 64 minutes. It was the 8th consecutive win for the Romanian player this season. In the next round Simona Halep takes on Alizé Cornet of France (61 WTA). Also on Saturday, another Romanian, Sorana Cîrstea, won in the 3rd round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, seed no 10. In the next round, Sorana Cîrstea will take on Iga Swiatek of Poland (9 WTA). (tr. A.M. Popescu)

22 January 2022
Generational differences and modernisation in the 19th Century

The concept of modernisation emerged in a rather vague form in the Romanian society after the 1770s, in requests addressed by the local nobility to Russia and Austria, followed by a first implementation in 1822. That year, in the wake of the revolution led by Tudor Vladimirescu, the Ottoman Empire replaced the Greek rulers of the Romanian provinces with leaders from among the locals. It was a first victory, and others were soon to follow.

In the first half of the 19th Century, up until 1859 when Moldavia and Wallachia united to form Romania, two generations of Romanians strived to modernise the country. It was the 1820s generation, which opened the door to reforms, and the 1840 generation, which initiated the 1848 Revolution.

The 1820 generation was one formed in the spirit of Oriental culture, with Ottoman culture as the prevailing model. They learned of the reforming ideas circulating in the West via various travellers. The 1840s generation was made up of the children of local nobility, who studied in France, Germany and Italy and had direct, unmediated contact with Western modernity. Once back home, these young men designed a radical transformation programme for the Romanian Principalities.

Experts in the Romanian 19th Century have read the profound changes occurring in that period as a reflection of the differences between the two generations. They went even further to notice rifts between the young and the elderly. Historian Alin Ciupală with the Bucharest University is one of the experts who embrace this viewpoint. Ciupală believes that after Tudor Vladimirescus 1821 riots and the removal of the Greek rulers of the Romanian Principalities, we can speak about the dawn of a political class in the Romanian territories.

Alin Ciupală: “After reverting to local rulers in 1822, the greater Romanian nobility is actually divided into several factions. We have a group of boyars loyal to Russia and its policy in the Romanian principalities and the Balkan region. Then we have a group loyal to the Ottoman Empire and its interests in the same region. And, particularly after 1840, a new generation emerged, made up of higher or lower-rank noblemen, generally young people having studied in the West, who came up with a new idea, a new political project tied to the 1848 Revolution, to the union of the principalities, to the modernisation of the Romanian society.

The emergence of the Romanian political class was the outcome of the fight of both generations for freedom of expression and the abolition of censorship. But it also came with a separation among those who were engaged in politics, and more often than not this differentiation was operated along the lines of membership to a particular generation. Equally important, there was a delineation by sex, with women being a lot more open to change than men.

Alin Ciupală: “During this mid-19th Century period we can basically talk about two divisions, two rifts. On the one hand, there is a division between spouses, at couple level, between men and women. Most of the times, men were still attached to an Eastern-style cultural model, whereas women were more courageous and they took the step towards modernity sooner and more resolutely. They leaned towards the Western cultural model. And a second rift, which is very clear with the emergence of the 1848 generation, is that between children and parents. The youth, the new generation, who went to university in France and Germany, came back home with new ideas, with the desire to change things.

An apparently minor element that played a great role in the separation between the values embraced by the youth and those fostered by the elderly, was fashion, something that many view as trivial. The clothing, footwear, jewels, adding to the taste in music, literature and socialising, have had an essential contribution to changing the Romanians mind-set. Visual sources clearly indicate this strong generational difference. The paintings dating back to that age that feature boyars and their wives depict almost opposite worlds. The husbands are dressed in Oriental outfits, in stark contrast with the wives, who are wearing clothes tailored in keeping with the latest trends in Paris. Alin Ciupală gave us the example of a public monument in Bucharest to substantiate this claim:

Alin Ciupală: “There is a very beautiful monument in Bucharest, unfortunately we no longer pay any attention to it: a statue group featuring the Golescu family, near the North Train Station. We have the father, Dinicu Golescu, wearing an Oriental outfit, the kind the Greek rulers introduced in the Principalities in the early 18th Century. Dinicu Golescu is accompanied by his 4 sons, future 1848 revolutionaries, all of them dressed in keeping with the Western fashion, the “German style as it was called at the time. This monument is an illustration of the division I was talking about, and ultimately of the transformation undergone by the Moldavian and Wallachian society in the first half of the 19th Century.

More than 160 years ago, modern Romania was being created. Toiling for this goal were two generations of Romanians, which, although very different in many respects, pursued the same goal: modernisation. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

8 February 2021
162 years since the Union of the Romanian Principalities

This Sunday Romanians celebrated 162 years since the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia came together into one state, completed later in 1918.

In Bucharest and elsewhere in the country, symbolic events were held, constrained by pandemic containment measures. Cultural institutions in the country organised theatre productions and concerts, most of them available online. Special religious services were held in all Orthodox churches, and the Defence Ministry organised military ceremonies at various monuments devoted to the Union of Principalities.

In Iaşi (north-east) and Bucharest, the capitals of the 2 provinces that in 1859 elected the same ruler, Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859 – 1866), several events took place. In a military ceremony in Bucharest, flowers were laid at the foot of the rulers statue.

In a message occasioned by the anniversary, president Klaus Iohannis said the heritage of those who fought for the Union to be accomplished in 1859 is the sound foundation on which Romanias modernisation process must continue, and that one of the key directions in this respect is strengthening the education sector in order for it to provide accessible and high-quality education.

The Union of Romanian Principalities under Alexandru Ioan Cuza reminds us that the power to meet our goals, as a nation, is rooted in our unity, PM Florin Cîţu said in his turn. It is united that we have achieved the guarantee of Romanias one and a half decade-long Euro-Atlantic integration process. It is united that we have proved that we can prevent severe sideslips and can rescue democracy when an oppressive power worked against the people. And it is also united that we will manage to safeguard our health and to help our economy recover after the pandemic, the PM said in a social media post.

162 years on, it is time the Union were completed by Moldavia having proper transport infrastructure, so that it may attract large-scale investments, the Chamber of Deputies Speaker Ludovic Orban said in his turn in a ceremony in Focşani (east).

In fact, in Iași (north-east), the traditional speeches and performances, including the Union Round Dance, were accompanied by a protest organised just before the planned ceremonies by an Association called Together for A8. The participants demanded the funding and completion of A8 Motorway connecting Targu Mures in central Romania to Iasi and further to Ungheni in the Republic of Moldova:

“We have chosen the Union Day because this motorway is dubbed the Union Motorway. Unfortunately, the latest messages are that this is impossible, that it is a difficult project, that we cannot be sure it will be completed by 2030. We want to see this motorway done during our lifetime. A8 Motorway is vital for Moldavia. It is the avenue to the development of the region and to Western European standards.

Similar Union Day celebrations were held abroad as well. Romanias Embassy to the Holy See and the Romanian Language Institute organised an online event entitled “The 1859 Union of Romanian Principalities, a tribute to Romanian culture. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

25 January 2021
Romanians celebrate the Union of the Principalities

Every year on the 24th of
January, Romanians celebrate the Union of the Romanian Principalities. This
year it’s 161 years since this event that paved the way for the creation of the
Romanian nation state. The anniversary is marked these days by a series of events.

The National History Museum, for
example, plays host to an exhibition entitled Small traces of big ambitions.
Symbols of the Union of the Principalities in stamps and coins. The exhibits include
a letter with a special United Principalities postmark from 1862, a stamp
showing the effigy of the ruler Alexander Ioan Cuza from 1865 and two small
coins from 1864 featuring the inscription the United Principalities. The
Cotroceni National Museum is also open on the 24th of January. The
tour takes visitors to the apartments occupied by the ruler, where they can see
some of the personal objects belonging to the Cuza family, as well as original
documents and a ceremonial sword gifted to Cuza by the Serbian prince Michael
Obrenovic.

On the 24th of January 1859,
Alexander Ioan Cuza, who, a week earlier, had been elected ruler of Moldavia,
was voted unanimously by the Electoral Assembly in Bucharest as the sovereign
Wallachia and thus proclaimed ruler of the United Principalities. This de facto
meant the union of the two principalities inhabited by Romanians. Three years
later, on the 24th of January 1864, with the decisive support of the
French emperor Napoleon III, the Union was also recognised internationally, and
the new state received the name Romania.

In his 7-year reign, Alexander Ioan
Cuza built the institutional foundations of modern Romania through a number of
radical reforms. The civil and criminal codes were adopted, both inspired by
the French model, a national army was created, primary education became
obligatory and the first universities were established: that in Iasi in 1860,
which is today named after Cuza, and that in Bucharest four years later. The
land reform saw half a million peasant families acquire land resulting from the
seizure of monastery property. Adored by peasants but disliked by the political
parties because of his authoritarian excesses, the ruler was forced to abdicate
and go into exile in 1866.

He was followed by the future King
Carol I from the German princely family of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Carol’s
long reign would see Romania obtain its state independence from the Ottoman
Empire and regain the south-eastern, Black Sea province of Dobrudja following
the Russo-Romanian-Turkish war of 1877. In 1918, under King Ferdinand, aka The
Unifier, the creation of the Romanian nation state became complete as
Transylvania, Banat, Crisana, Maramures, Bukovina and Bessarabia, historical
provinces with a majority ethnic Romanian population and which had until then
been under the occupation of the neighbouring multinational empires, became
united with Romania.

23 January 2020