Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanians

  • Romanians’ concerns

    Romanians’ concerns

    Romanians and Austrians are the most satisfied with their lives among the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe, but the former are significantly more worried about the increase in poverty, possible food or water crises for longer periods or the deepening of economic differences between people. This is one of the conclusions of the study on the quality of life in 2024 carried out by Kantar Romania. The study reveals how satisfied the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe are with their life in general and regarding different aspects: family, career, social life, income or political life. The research also addresses the current threats perceived by people, as well as the attitude towards the balance between professional and private life or towards a healthier lifestyle.

     

    With that in mind, most citizens in central and eastern Europe are satisfied with their lives, Romanians exceeding the average level of satisfaction in the region. However, although they are satisfied with the family’s financial situation, Romanians are equally dissatisfied with their professional and social life. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, the level of concern is even higher, and Ukraine is facing enormous existential uncertainty. Carmen Pătraşcu, general manager of Kantar Romania, stated that other research also show that Romanians are among the Europeans most satisfied with the life they have. ‘The high level of satisfaction with family life reported by Romanians also in our study may indicate the family as a compensating factor for their various concerns. The family offers strong emotional and social support, which can mitigate the negative effects of economic uncertainty, says Carmen Pătrașcu. She explained that these results can also be proof of realism or caution: Romanians can be satisfied with their current situation but fear the future due to insecurity and the perception of vulnerability in the face of economic changes, and many of them still remember quite well the economic and financial crisis of 2010.

     

    Regarding the satisfaction brought by family life, the Romanians are quite close to the level reported in Austria, but at a greater distance in terms of professional life, and especially in relation to their social life. ‘So, in the case of Romanians, we see a bigger gap compared to Austria, between satisfaction with family life and professional and social life. Except for Ukrainians, the Slovaks and Hungarians have the lowest level of satisfaction on all three dimensions’, say the authors of the study. According to the research, the whole region is disappointed with the political system. Only one person out of five in Central and Eastern Europe is satisfied with the direction in which democracy is heading in their country, with how it is governed and with the representatives on the political stage. In Romania, only 1 in 10 people are satisfied with how they are represented at the political level (president, government, parliament). (LS)

  • A RePatriot Summit in Bucharest

    A RePatriot Summit in Bucharest

    During a summit dedicated to the Diaspora in Bucharest on Thursday, the authorities’ representatives underlined the importance of the Romanians living abroad urging them to come back to Romania.

    “Romania’s development depends on investment and initiative and our country needs people with a Western attitude towards work”, the country’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, said during the RePatriot Summit.

    The head of the Romanian Executive said that over 3 million Romanians emigrated between 2008 and 2022 adding that last year was the first time when 190 thousand Romanians returned. The Romanian official also voiced his hope that many others would be returning this year.

    In his opinion, they have a big chance as Romania is presently one of the safest countries Europe. In this context, the Prime Minister also recalled the projects aimed at Romania’s multilateral development, such as those in its road infrastructure, healthcare and education as well as the fiscal reform. According to him, the time for implementing these investments is a short one of up to 2 years, as envisaged by the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience.

    Also attending the aforementioned summit, the Senate president, Nicolae Ciucă, expressed his wish that the Romanians presently living abroad would come back home, adding that the state’s involvement in easing their return ‘is absolutely necessary and important’

    The state – he said – must ensure credibility and guarantee predictability. Ciuca pointed out that the Romanians living outside Romania must choose whether they want to come back. During the aforementioned event in Bucharest over 100 Romanians presently living abroad were symbolically awarded prizes, for having compelled recognition in various fields of activity such as entrepreneurships, management, healthcare, art, science or sport.

    Among the award-winners, Alexandra Chiribeş, a professional in European law said that the Romanians living in Germany are starting to come back home.

    Alexandra Chiribeş: “At least from Germany, from Nord Rhein-Westfalen state, only I saw 464 files of the families who are coming back to Romania.”

    In turn, Ştefan Grigore de Fay, Romania’s honorary consul in Nice, shared his life-guiding principles.

    Ştefan Grigore de Fay: “I grew up with two slogans, ‘don’t forget your language and culture’ as you have a duty towards the country that gave them to you. That’s the first one I got from my parents, and the second was said by a great writer of the English-speaking world: ‘They didn’t know it was impossible so they did it’“

    Also worth mentioning in this context is that a draft law for the Romanians willing to return is currently being debated upon in the Bucharest Senate. Under it, the Romanians, who want to come back and contribute to the development of the business environment here, may benefit from state-funded facilities.

    (bill)

     

  • On Romanians, from a different perspective

    On Romanians, from a different perspective

     

    A book has been released recently, first in French and a few years later in Romanian as well, in which the French writer Christine Colonna-Cesari, who has been living in Romania for a while, guides readers towards in-depth knowledge of our country in “Ils sont fous ces roumains! L Eldorado Roumain!”.

     

    Romania has been known internationally as the country where many Europeans took shelter in the interwar period. Christine Colonna-Cesari, who came to Romania after she retired in 2018, told us more about the perception foreigners have of our country:

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “In 2018 I decided to leave France and retire in Romania, because it was a country and a culture that I had long known and appreciated. My plan was to carry on my work as a writer and book editor, I have several books selling in France. I had long intended to put together a nice album showcasing the beauty of Romania, which is still little known in France, where rather stupid stereotypes about this still exist. And I wrote this book in 2019, and then I managed to have it published in Romanian as well.”

     

    What does a foreigner find surprising when reaching Bucharest?

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “It is quite surprising, first of all, as I already mentioned, the signs are very different from the ones in France, so it’s quite easy to get lost. Street names and numbers are not easy to see, there are no big signs everywhere, but as far as I could see for Romanians this is not a problem. They are used to it. And there are also other surprising things, which make a big difference. One thing that may seem like a detail is the practice of giving people their change when shopping. When a retailer doesn’t have the right coins to give back to a buyer, they don’t see it as a big deal, and this is something you don’t see in France. For instance, if you want to buy something and you don’t have all the small change you need or the retailer doesn’t have it, it’s not a problem, everything is business as usual. You don’t see that in France, and the first time this happened to me here I asked the clerk for the change, and they were not happy. So it took some time for me to realise that this is part of the local customs. One other aspect is Romanians’ space-time management, which is completely different from the way the French do it. Here, people live more outside time, so their commitments related to appointments, dates, times get changed completely at the last minute. And for the French visitors who are not used to this, it is rather disturbing and annoying. But we get used to it and eventually come to understand that this is how things are done here. So these are the first shocks, mainly.”

     

    In spite of this, once the initial shock wears off, Christine Colonna-Cesari says the country is charming:

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “After that, adjustment is quite easy. I speak English, and most Romanians are very good English speakers, so this helped me a lot. Secondly, the people are very nice and welcoming. You don’t see here the social violence that we have in France so I had no problems adjusting. I would like people to remember what I tried to express in this book. The depths of Romanians’ souls, the depths of their sensibility and creativity. To my mind, Romanians are more drawn to the spiritual than the French are. Romanians are a very artistically inclined nation. You can see more colours here than in France. People have a relationship with nature, with flowers, for instance, they have a fantastic relationship with flowers. I’m always surprised to meet men in the street with huge flower bouquets, you don’t see that in France. Romanians are also a very polite nation, there are small details that may seem insignificant but when you come from France you notice that people don’t push you at the underground or in the street, as they do in France. Public areas are clean, which is not the case in Paris, in particular. It’s like going back in time, in the ‘60s in France, a long-gone gentleness and a certain quality of life, the respect and civilisation that we lost in France and that I’ve come to find here.”

     

    We also asked Christine Colonna-Cesari about the French-speaking readers’ response to her book:

     

    Christine Colonna-Cesari: “The book was met with surprise and enthusiasm. Everybody says, I had never imagined this is what Romania is like, thank you for showing us Romania from this perspective. Overall, the response is a mix of enthusiasm, congratulations and amazement. People open their hearts and they want to come share these experience, and many of them actually do that. I have French friends who told me, ‘what you describe here is 1960s France, the same respect and gentle way of living.’ But my book is a lot more than that. I am a very observant person, and I tend to think about what happened in the past and make connections with history. Western Europeans rarely understand what Eastern Europe is about, what its values are. They don’t realise this, so they make judgements based on their own criteria, and I would like these values to go beyond borders, to help them understand the foundations of human culture in the past few centuries.”

     

    Apart from the writer’s experiences in Romania, the book also comprises a second part, made up of reports with 220 lovely photos documenting encounters with exceptional people doing exceptional things. (AMP)

  • Ottomans and Romanians

    Ottomans and Romanians

    One of the most important actors that influenced the history of Romanians in the extra-Carpathian space was the Ottoman Empire. It is considered one of the great empires in history and for more than half a millennium it dominated the world on three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa. Ottomans and Romanians met, clashed and coexisted closely from the second half of the 15th century to the last quarter of the 19th century. In their history in the proximity of the Ottoman world, the Romanian Principalities enjoyed autonomy compared to other Balkan states that were conquered and turned into pashaliks.

     

    The British historian Marc David Baer, ​​author of a bestseller on the history of the Ottoman Empire, noted that status: “The interesting thing about these three provinces of the Ottomans, Transylvania and Wallachia and Moldova, which today form Romania, is that they were conquered at different times, they were treated in different ways, and more importantly, they were treated very differently than other core provinces of the Ottoman Empire. So, if we compare what is today Romania with Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, it’s very, very different because Romania, I don’t know, maybe the resistance was too strong, I don’t know. The Ottomans did not completely subject this region, what is today Romania, instead allowing it a great amount of autonomy, which is similar in some ways to the way the Ottomans treated Kurdistan in the southeast, allowing the Kurds a great measure of autonomy so long as they gave the right amount of troops and defended the empire against the external enemies.”

     

    Being a part of the Ottoman world, Romanians had both gains and losses, historian Marc David Baer believes: “What are the benefits of the Ottoman Empire? When Mehmet II conquered Wallachia in, I think, the 1460s, he connected this part of the world to world commerce, to a world flow of ideas, the Ottoman Empire would become one of the greatest, strongest, wealthiest empires in the world at the time, and being part of that gave a lot of benefits to the subjects. Now, of course, from the point of view of people in this region, there were a lot of negatives. For example, the Ottomans had a tax, a levy on boys, so one out of every 40 Christian boys in an Ottoman province or newly conquered territory would be brought back to the capital, would be circumcised, converted, and trained to be either in the leading military corps, the Janissaries, or become ministers of government.”

     

    The historians of the Ottoman Empire have often written about the tolerance the Ottomans had for the diversity they ruled on. Marc David Baer believes that these statements need to be explained: “We have to, first of all, define what we mean by tolerance and toleration. So, in European history, we talk about tolerance beginning at the… the end of the 30 years war in 1648. But if we think about tolerance just being something that’s brought to Europe by whoever rules it, then we can go back all the way to the eighth century and talk about the Arabs who entered Spain. And in Muslim Spain, you had religious tolerance. You had Christians, Jews, and Muslims living in Muslim kingdoms. The Ottomans introduced religious tolerance to Eastern Europe when they move into Europe in the 14th century. Now, tolerance is not the same as coexistence. It’s not the same as saying, your religion is equal to mine. We’re the same. Let’s respect each other. Tolerance in pre-modern times was about hierarchies. There was a group in the Ottoman case, Muslim and men, and also free people, had more rights than Christians, Jews, women, and slaves.”

     

    In the 19th century, the Balkan nations removed the Ottoman model, gained independence, and adopted the European model of modern state and society. Mark David Baer is back at the microphone: “The Ottoman Empire was this empire that lasted 600 years. And the Ottomans themselves were a new class made up of these converted Christian men and women. And they were the minority in their own empire, on purpose. And they created this Ottoman language which was only understandable for this Ottoman elite, not for everybody. The majority of Ottoman subjects for the first four centuries were Christian in the empire. But as we move into the 19th century, we have a different empire, we have a different world. When the Russians begin to defeat the Ottomans again and again, and when the Ottomans begin to lose territory from the 17th century through the 19th century, then intellectuals and statesmen and sultans begin to ask, how can we save the empire? What can we do? Now we’re being defeated militarily, what is it that we need to do? And what they don’t turn to is nationalism, which is the idea that this land is for one people only. But for the Ottomans, there wasn’t that aim until very, very late. The aim was always to save the empire, territorially, and to find a way, which ultimately failed, to gain the loyalty of all their subjects.”

     

    The Ottoman Empire formally disappeared in 1918, more than a century ago. Traces of what it meant remained mostly in written documents and less as defining features today. (LS)

  • Air bridge for the Romanians in Israel

    Shortly
    after the attack by the Hamas terrorist group on Israel, the Romanian
    authorities stepped in to assist the Romanian nationals in that country who
    were seeking repatriation. As many as 900 Romanian citizens had been
    repatriated by Monday night from Israel, on flights operated by the national
    airline TAROM and by another, private company.


    The
    foreign ministry announced that a consular team from the Romanian Embassy in Tel
    Aviv and the Romanian representative office in Ramallah (West Bank), as well as
    a team from the ministry’s emergency response unit, are still at the Ben Gurion
    Airport to provide assistance to the Romanians there.


    In
    an interview to Radio Romania, the foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu said
    further flights were scheduled to bring back the other Romanian nationals in Israel.
    The number was put at 800, but figures may change as a growing number of
    Romanians announced their presence in the conflict area and requested the
    foreign ministry’s help, either via the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv or the
    Consulate General in Haifa.


    Here
    is the foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu with details about the region and
    Romania’s position:


    Luminiţa
    Odobescu: The situation in Israel at the moment is rather serious. As you have
    seen, on October 7 Israel declared war. The Romanian authorities have firmly
    condemned the attacks on the State of Israel, including civilians, including
    hostages. The images are heart-breaking. Romania voiced its solidarity with Israel.
    We have reiterated our support for Israel’s sovereign right to self-defence. We
    would like to take this opportunity as well to send our condolences to the
    families of the victims and quick recovery wishes to the wounded. Romania has
    called for all hostages to be freed as soon as possible and has condemned
    terrorism in all its forms. In fact, the entire international community has
    responded quickly and there have been countless messages of solidarity with Israel.


    Luminiţa
    Odobescu also said the National Association of Travel Agencies and the Romanian
    Patriarchate have been contacted in order to help identify the Romanian
    nationals who were in Israel as tourists or pilgrims.


    As
    for those who are still in Israel or in the region, Luminiţa Odobescu urged
    them on the one hand to contact the foreign ministry, if they haven’t done this
    yet, and on the other hand to observe the instructions of local authorities, because
    the security situation is very serious, and when necessary to leave that
    country. Not least, the ministry urges those who have trips planned to Israel
    to reschedule their travels. (AMP)

  • Today’s Romanian state and the Romanians living abroad

    Today’s Romanian state and the Romanians living abroad

    The
    word diaspora is a compound made of two Grek words, dia, about, across and spora,
    dispersion. Diaspora has become a portmanteau word for all the communities who
    ended up living outside the borders of their countries of origin. As for the
    Romanians, 2021 saw a record high in terms of population exodus figure for the
    last 30 years. On paper, living outside the country are roughly 5.8 million
    Romanians. However, a different line of research points to 9 million. The number
    of Romanians leaving abroad cannot be clearly accounted for, because most of
    them do not have legal documents or do not declare their residence. Italy is
    the top country among Romanians’ residence options. Spain and Germany follow
    suit, in descending order. Many other Romanians live in the United States,
    Great Britain, Portugal, France, The Netherlands, Canada, Australia and New
    Zealand. According to their age brackets,
    most of them are 25 to 45 years old.


    But why this exodus? What becomes of those who leave?
    What are the implications of their leaving, for Romania? We sat down and spoke
    about the Romanian diaspora with Claudiu Tarziu. A former journalist, Claudiu
    Tarziu is, at the moment, a senator for the Alliance for the Union of
    Romanians, an opposition party. Mr Tarziu is the president of the Commission on Romanians Around the World.

    Claudiu Tarziu:

    Obviously, all those who leave
    Romania to work abroad do that for a better pay and for better living conditions.
    The Romanians are not happy with what they are being offered, career-wise and in
    terms of personal and family development opportunities. It is absolutely clear
    Romania is unable for offer jobs for which the pay range lives up to the level
    of specialization they might need, and is also unable to offer jobs for the
    unskilled people. There are a couple of areas where things have been sorted out
    a little bit, and I’m speaking about constructions and farming, but even these
    sectors have seen a setback as of late. In agriculture there still are big
    problems because we’re dependent on the weather outside, on severe weather
    changes, on what God gets round to giving us and we do not have irrigation systems,
    we do not have the ability to till the land at the highest professional standards,
    there are many other reasons for that. Also, the construction sector is ailing because
    construction materials have seen price hikes (also because of the war in Ukraine,
    but not only because of that) prices increased because of the liberalization in
    energy prices and that is how we have seen a setback in those areas where things
    kind of got sorted out and where profit could still be obtained, so better
    salaries could be offered. That is why Romanians leave, mainly because the pay
    range fails to meet their expectations, which are legitimate, I daresay, but
    not only because of that, but also because of the living standards in Romania,
    in their broader acceptation. I’m speaking about personal safety in the street,
    the red tape, the education and the healthcare system.


    What do the Romanians living abroad lack and what does
    the Romanian state do to bring them back?

    Senator Claudiu Tarziu:


    What do Romanians living abroad miss?
    What do they most miss? First of all, they miss the families of those who left
    the country, secondly, they miss a protection offered by the Romanian state, a
    protection they are entitled to, as bearers of Romanian citizenship. The Romanian
    state does not have, unfortunately, a strategy for the Romanians living outside
    the country’s borders, temporarily or permanently, neither does it have a
    strategy to help the Romanians living in the historical communities or the Romanians
    in the economic exile ( the so-called diaspora), or the Romanians from abroad
    who want to return to Romania, to do that, nor do they have a strategy for
    those who want to remain abroad and preserve their national identity and
    protect their rights and freedoms there where they live. The Romanian state
    seems to have abandoned those Romanians, all of them, roughly 6 million Romanians
    are officially registered as having left Romania and having their domicile or
    residence abroad, specifically, one million Romanians with their domicile
    abroad and more than 5 million Romanians with a foreign residence, but they may
    not have official registration, there is more of them with no legal documents,
    just as the State Secretary with the Department for the Relation with the Romanians
    Abroad, there are 8 million of them. In earnest, the Romanian state does not seem
    to be interested in those Romanians living outside its borders, it offers them
    only palliatives. A couple of cultural programmes, here and there, of very little value,
    several official visits of high-ranking dignitaries every now and then, but
    apart from that, absolutely nothing. Those Romanians are contacted only during
    election campaigns, when the parties are in need of their electoral support. It
    is something inconceivable and it must change, as fast as possible.


    The
    Romanians’ exodus also means, by default, the exodus of highly-skilled professional
    categories we are now forced to import from other states.

    Senator Claudiu
    Tarziu:


    In order to help the Romanians
    who want to return to the country, not only a couple of measures need to be
    taken, but whole packages of measures. A true national strategy is needed to
    that effect, since it will have to target all aspects of the social life, not a
    mere one or two of them. We cannot bring back our brothers living outside our
    country’s borders (if they want to do that) unless we, in Romania, provide a
    climate which is fit for a dignified life. A climate which is appropriate for everyone’s
    personal development, so they can have a new family, so the newborns and the
    infants can have access to the best educational standards. So there’s a lot for
    us to change in Romania Romana and we also need to develop certain programs dedicated
    to Romanians outside the borders, whom we also need. It is not only them who need
    us, if they want to return to Romania, but it is also us who need them. (EN)




  • Romanians in the latest Eurobarometer

    Romanians in the latest Eurobarometer

    Pessimism, skepticism or at least caution
    is presently characterizing the state of mind of many people nowadays not only
    in Romania but also around Europe at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic seems to
    have diminished.




    More than three quarters of Romanians, 76%
    to be precise, believe the pandemic has already had or is going to have an
    impact on their financial situation, whereas the average EU figures stay at
    57%, data released by the latest Eurobarometer shows. As part of the survey
    released on Thursday, roughly 27 thousand people have been interviewed in 27
    member countries.




    According to pundits, the survey conducted in March
    and April shows the increasingly strong impact the pandemic has had upon the
    personal lives and financial situation of the European citizens.




    The survey reveals though that 58% of the EU
    respondents and 45% of the Romanians believe that in spite of the pandemic’s
    impact, the health benefits are higher than the negative economic effects.




    This belief is dominant in most of the countries and
    it points to a shift in the public opinion as compared to the second half of
    2020 when most of the citizens attached more importance to the economic
    effects.


    Almost half of the citizens (48% in the EU and 41% in
    Romania) are knowledgeable of the measures adopted by Brussels to fight the
    pandemic but only 48% of the Europeans, and 52% of the Romanians say they are
    happy with these measures.




    The majority of the respondents also
    believe it is better for global challenges, such as the pandemic, to be approached
    jointly at EU level.




    Another survey conducted last month shows
    that the EU inspires more trust to citizens than their local governments.
    Conducted by Eurofound,
    an EU agency with a social mission, the survey shows that with the notable
    exception of Denmark, in 26 out of the 27 countries surveyed, the people’s
    trust in their governments has diminished since the quarantine measures were
    imposed.




    The trust has been visibly
    eroded in countries like Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece,
    and Poland.




    Respondents in
    countries like France, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Spain say they
    trust more the European Union now than at the moment when the pandemic kicked
    off, 14 months ago. The situation is different in Germany though.




    Initiators of the aforementioned
    survey have cautioned against the economic and social imbalances, which tend to
    create political frustration and have called for additional assistance measures
    for the EU citizens.


    (bill)

  • February 24, 2019 UPDATE

    February 24, 2019 UPDATE

    SUMMIT – Cooperation between the EU and the League of Arab States is vital in the fight against terrorism, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, said at the first EU-The League of Arab States Summit, underway in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Iohannis underlined that Romania is firmly opposed to all forms of terrorism and violent extremism. The Romanian president also said the evolutions in the region over the past few years included a series of crises which continue to impact everyones security, in spite of the efforts that are being made by local actors and by the international community. Klaus Iohannis said that economy is the engine to positive transformation and he added that trade exchanges and investments contribute to sustainable development, containing poverty and creating new jobs. The President of Romania has also reiterated that migration continues to be a major challenge. “We should approach the root causes of this scourge and closely cooperate with the origin and transit countries, Klaus Iohannis has also said.



    MAGISTRATES– The Romanian PM Viorica Dancila has invited representatives of the magistrates associations and of the Superior Council of Magistracy to talks on Monday, on the recent changes to the justice laws. In a communiqué, the prime minister has expressed her cabinets availability to support all judicial institutions to perform a correct act of justice, towards ensuring full respect for the citizens rights. The announcement is made shortly after Fridays protests by the magistrates across the country, against the provisions of an emergency decree issued on Tuesday by the government. According to prosecutors and judges the new changes may lead to an institutional deadlock and impact the independence of the judiciary. We recall that several prosecutors offices in Bucharest and several other cities have decided to suspend their activity, for a week, as from Monday, in token of protest against the new changes to the justice laws



    VENEZUELA – The EU on Sunday condemned the acts of violence by troops loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro which blocked convoys of humanitarian aid from crossing into Venezuela. Violence broke out on Saturday when four trucks attempted to cross the border from Columbia into Venezuela, backed by the crowd which demanded free access for the humanitarian convoy sent mainly by the US. According to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, the main causes of the current crisis are political and institutional, and consequently the solution could only be political. She called for restoring democracy to Venezuela by holding free, transparent and credible presidential elections. Several European states have recently announced they recognize the opposition leader in Venezuela, Juan Guaido, as interim president. In exchange, China and Russia recognize Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate president of the country.



    DIASPORA – Experts on Diaspora-related problems from 9 countries, including Greece, Italy, France and the UK, attended a debate in Craiova, southern Romania, between February 22 and 24. The event was organised by the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad, now that Romania is holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The participants presented examples of reinsertion and reintegration of citizens, after their return to their countries of origin, as well as awareness raising campaigns on human trafficking.



    FLU – The National Public Health Institute on Sunday announced a new death caused by the flu virus, thus taking to 149 the total number of people who succumbed to the flu in Romania since the start of the season. The last person to die of flu is a man, 39, without pre-existing conditions, who hasnt gotten a flu shot. The latest data released by the National Public Health Institute show over 1.3 million people have been vaccinated against the flu so far.



    TRAVEL – The Tourism Fair which started in Bucharest on Thursday came to a close on Sunday. Over 330 companies from 15 countries have presented their travel offers to visitors. A Romanian-Moldovan joint project titled “The Route of Ruler Stephen the Great, was also launched during the fair, in an effort to boost cooperation between the two countries and to contribute to developing the areas along this route, in terms of tourism. The new project is destined for Moldovan and Romanian citizens, as well as for foreigners who want to embark on an interesting cultural and historical itinerary. The route includes 24 historical and cultural attractions on Romanias territory and 10 others located in the Republic of Moldova. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • Romanians’ opinions on their allies

    Romanians’ opinions on their allies

    Whereas at domestic level Romanians’ political preferences vary, sometimes quite dramatically from one election cycle to another, their foreign policy options are much more stable. Thus Romanians remain strictly attached to the country’s alliances and partnerships with the main champions of democratic values in Europe and the world.



    Three quarters of Romanians say the United States should remain the country’s top strategic partner, according to the findings of a recent survey conducted this month by the Avangarde Group of Social and Behavioral Studies, with an error margin of 3.2%. Another three Western democracies followed the United States of America: Germany, with 45% of respondents’ choice, France with 29% and Great Britain with 16%. Additionally, over 37% of respondents want Romania to have closer relations with the United States, 25% with Germany while 11% with France.



    The study also reveals that nearly 60% of Romanians say the US anti-ballistic missile shield in Deveselu, southern Romania, is a good thing, while 20% say it’s a bad thing. As regards the foreign military presence on Romanian soil, 33% of respondents said NATO should increase the number of troops deployed to Romania, over a half say it should stay the same, while 14% believe the US should have fewer soldiers in Romania.



    According to the survey, 45% of respondents argued in favor of improving relations with Moscow, 24% say Romania should distance itself from Russia, while 31% believe Russia is Romania’s fiercest enemy. Analysts say the explanations for these idiosyncrasies are rooted both in the past as well as in the present.



    On the one hand, Romania’s treasure sent to Tsarist Russia for safe-keeping during the Great War, has never been returned by Moscow, as well as the annexation of the Romanian eastern territories in 1940 by the USSR, followed by the instatement of communist rule in 1945, are very telling of the respondents’ choice. The study also points out that 87% of respondents want the new US ambassador to Bucharest to continue to support the National Anticorruption Directorate’s crusade against corrupt politicians.



    “Romanians focus on the corruption of the political class and the fight against corruption ranks high on the public agenda. US support in this respect is well received amongst Romanians”, sociologist Marius Pieleanu, the director of the Avangarde Group of Social and Behavioral Studies concluded.

  • Romanians, victims of terror attacks

    Romanians, victims of terror attacks

    An increasing number of Romanians has recently fallen victims to terror attacks in various parts of the world, attacks that have become much more frequent in the past 16 years. In recent years however terrorists have seemingly changed their tactics and manner of operating. If until now their favorite weapons were the more sophisticated and lethal types, such as explosives and assault rifles, in the past two years terror masterminds used vehicles to mow down pedestrians in Nice, Berlin, London and Stockholm.



    Among their latest victims is Andreea Cristea, a 31-year old Romanian killed in the terror attack on the Westminster Bridge in London two weeks ago. Andreea Cristea fell off the bridge after the attacker, a radical Islamist born in Britain, had rammed his vehicle into the pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. The second Romanian tourist injured in London, Andreea’s partner, left the hospital shortly after the attack. Another Romanian was admitted to hospital with double leg fracture in the aftermath of the latest terror attack in Sweden.



    The 83 year-old woman was hit by fragments of concrete projected by a lorry used by a terrorist to mow down pedestrians in Stockholm. Other Romanians have become victims of terrorism as well, although Romania has not been targeted directly. The first Romanians to fall victims of terror were four people killed in the 2001 attacks, the ones that were said to have changed the world. Three years later, 16 Romanians were killed in the bomb attacks in Madrid. Many other countries from Europe and other continents have become targets of bloody attacks masterminded by terror networks such as Al Qaeda, ISIS and their radical sympathizers. Two Romanians were killed and two others were injured in the 2015 November attack in Paris.



    In March 2016, Brussels, the EU’s administrative capital and the city hosting NATO’s headquarters, became the scene of bomb attacks targeting the underground and the airport. 4 Romanians were injured in the attacks in Brussels. Last year a Romanian was killed and another one injured in the attack in Nice, France. Such acts of terror targeting innocent people have no justification, the authorities in Bucharest have repeatedly underscored, recalling that Romania remains firmly committed to combating all forms of terrorism reiterating the need for concerted international efforts to fight the scourge. World leaders have voiced compassion for the victims and also determination to put an end to terrorism.



    (Translated by Daniel Bilt)

  • UPDATE London attack: Three people died and about 40 were injured

    UPDATE London attack: Three people died and about 40 were injured

    Three people were killed and about 40 injured in London on Wednesday after an attacker drove his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing two people, before crashing it outside parliament and trying to enter the building, armed with a knife. The attacker stabbed an unarmed police officer who later died from the injuries, before being shot by armed police. Investigators say they believe they know the identity of the attacker, and that he is thought to have acted alone but was “inspired by international terrorism”.



    According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, two Romanian citizens, a man and a woman, are among the people injured in the attack. Romania’s Ambassador to London, Dan Mihalache, has said that the young Romanian tourists were on the Westminster Bridge when the assailant drove his car into the crowd. The woman was thrown into the Thames from the bridge. She was rescued from the water but had sustained injuries and is now in critical condition in hospital. Her partner only had small injuries and has been released from hospital.

  • On Brexit and the Romanians in Britain

    On Brexit and the Romanians in Britain

    In Spain there are automatic machines that pick up strawberries while the US has devices that pluck the apples right from the apple trees. Since robots are taking over more and more tasks every day, a British official, cited by The Guardian, has recently suggested that machines could very well replace, after Brexit, the thousands of East-Europeans currently working in Britain.



    On the other hand, former British PM John Major has recommended the current head of the government, Theresa May, to approach the Brexit issue “with a little more charm, and a lot less cheap rhetoric”, if she wants an advantageous post-Brexit agreement. And there are more British politicians who have warned the government over this issue.



    These politicians do not want workers in the UK to be used as a means of negotiation with Brussels. Also, given the fact that European workers are very important for the city of London, they should be guaranteed the right to stay even after Brexit.



    Around 6 hundred thousand workers of London’s 5 million are from other European countries. They build houses, take care of elderly and sick people and provide food and accommodation services. In other words, in case of unsuccessful negotiations, sectors such as tourism, constructions and health risk being on the verge of collapse, as they count on workers from the EU countries. Among them are numerous Romanians.



    Bucharest wants to make sure that the Romanians’ rights will be observed even after Brexit, the Social Democrat MEP and head of the European Affairs Committee, Gabriela Cretu, has explained. She has also said that in Romania’s parliament clear limits were set as to accepting changes in attitude and treatment, but that the entire community bloc must hold negotiations with London.



    In turn, the Liberal MEP Theodor Stolojan says that the British labor market needs and will continue to need labor force from the EU countries even after Brexit.



    Theodor Stolojan: “Britain needs labor force. Britain has around 1.2 million Britons working in other EU countries while it hosts some 3.5 million citizens from other EU member states.”



    In conclusion, during the upcoming Brexit negotiations Romania will pay attention to the free circulation of people and the situation of Romanians in Britain. However, people who work in Britain legally have little to fear. On the contrary, the ones benefiting social security services should be worried.



  • The Romanians outside Romania during the Great War

    The Romanians outside Romania during the Great War

    Romania joined WWI in 1916, after two years of neutrality, but in spite of that, the loss of human lives and material damage weren’t less significant though. Although it fought only for two years, Romania registered 6% of the total number of the servicemen killed in action, on the side of the Entente, as compared to the USA, which reported only 1%, after only one year of fighting. In figures, Romania lost roughly 500 thousand troops and other several hundred thousands civilians to an epidemics of typhus. Add to this the national treasure sent to Russia for safekeeping in 1916, and never returned, and you’ll get a complete picture of Romania’s loss in the WWI.



    However, the Romanians living outside the country fought four years in the Great War. Citizens of Austria-Hungary, Russia or the Balkan countries, Romanians had been drafted in the armed forces of the combating countries in the very first days of the conflict and many of them made the supreme sacrifice on the battlefield. The Romanians in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, territories making up Austria-Hungary, were present on the battlefield from the very beginning, taking part in the biggest military conflict ever seen until that moment, hundreds of thousands loosing their lives on the battlefield or falling prisoner. The Romanians in Bessarabia, which was part of Russia at that time, were serving in the Czarist army against the Central Powers. Many Romanians living in Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia also died on the battlefield, between 1914 and 1918.



    But it wasn’t only the Romanians who had to fight on various front-lines and sometimes against their own convictions. Nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire chose to be loyal to their countries and their emperor and if at the end of the war things went in a different way than it had originally been planned, it was because opinions were changing and former values decayed.



    According to historian Ion Bulei, the Romanians were not the only ones fighting for the two belligerent sides in the war; the Poles also found themselves fighting for both the Entente and the Central Powers. Bulei says that the Romanians were actually in a better position than others.



    Ion Bulei: “We, the Romanians, had a country of our own at that time, something the Slovaks, the Czech and the Poles were only dreaming of. We and the Serbians had a nucleus, around which a bigger state could be formed. That was the advantage we had at that time. We were between empires and at their disposal, but the other nationalities were part of those empires, be it Austria-Hungary, Russia or Germany. The Romanians weren’t the only ones in a special situation at that time, things were even more complicated for other nationalities. Nationalism, which was prevailing in the 19th century and turned virulent in the early 20th century, manifested itself with all its momentum during the First World War. This phenomenon manifested itself among a mixture of peoples, each trying to find its own way in the world. The Romanians were also in the same turmoil struggling to build a bigger state than the one they had back then.”



    Nationalism was the phenomenon that fuelled the fierce clashes of the First World War and it was the same nationalism sparking off feelings of fraternity among the speakers of the same language fighting for opposing sides. It was the source of a conflict between a soldier’s duty and his personal beliefs, a conflict that would further raise people’s awareness over this issue. Romanian writer Liviu Rebreanu tackled this problematics very well in a novel entitled “The Forest of the Hanged”, whose protagonist, an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army, Apostol Bologa, is torn between his duty for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his personal convictions. When the war ended everything looked different, though. The former enemies, Romanian soldiers fighting for one side or another in the war, had to rub shoulders in the same country after unification.



    It’s worth mentioning that the National Guards in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina were made out of discharged troops. They were in charge of defending the cities and were the ones that made possible the National Assembly in Alba Iulia, which proclaimed Transylvania’s union with the Kingdom of Romania. According to historian Liviu Maior, author of a volume entitled “Two Years Earlier. Citizens of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia at War, 1914-1918”, apart from winners and losers, a war changes perceptions and leaves unmendable things behind.



    Liviu Maior: ”The early days of the Great War prove how fast and unpredictable a war can be, with a dramatic aftermath for humankind. It was a harrowing war. 77,000 of the Romanians outside the country’s borders died on the battlefield, others suffered from all sorts of diseases and plagues a war usually brings about. I researched village life, the simple man’s life during the war, as well as their reactions. It all started from prison camps. It was there that former GIs and officers turned radical, and not only the Romanians. In Transylvania, there were prison camps for Italian and Serbian soldiers, in Arad, for instance, almost 4,000 Serbians died in horrendous circumstances. Italian prisoners were used for road construction works.”



    After 1918, the new European order, following nationalities’ principles, tried to straighten whatever had been viewed as being crooked. Nations formed their own states, while people became citizens once again. As for Romanians, no matter what side of the barricade they had fought on between 1914 and 1918, got united in what was termed Greater Romania, a project they believed in and where they wanted to once again find peace and happiness.

  • July 9, 2016 UPDATE

    July 9, 2016 UPDATE

    NATO SUMMIT — Romania consolidates its position of NATO member state and regional actor, which contributes to maintaining security and stability in an area marked by many risks, Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, said on Saturday, at the NATO Summit in Warsaw. The president who deemed the summit a success for Romania, stood for granting committed NATO support to the Republic of Moldova (a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population), Georgia and Ukraine. He also said the crises in Syria, Iraq and Libya, on NATO’s southward border, generate multiple challenges and added that the ISIS terrorist group poses a severe threat to international security. In another move, also on Saturday, NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said the 28 member states are united in front of Russia, which is neither a threat nor a strategic partner. Strong defence and constructive dialogue are the commitments underlying the Alliance’s relations with Russia, Stoltenberg concluded. On Friday, the first day of the summit, NATO announced the deployment of four multinational battalions to the Baltic States and to Poland and the setting up of a NATO multinational brigade in Romania. A NATO-EU joint declaration on cooperation in such domains as cyber crime and migration has been signed on the sidelines of the summit. The Alliance also decided to further provide support to Afghanistan, by 2020.



    BREXIT EFFECTS — The Romanian Foreign Ministry on Saturday called on the British authorities to prevent any mounting tension and hostile acts against Romanian citizens in the United Kingdom. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Romanian state intends to prevent, through cooperation with the British authorities, any possible spike in acts of intimidation against Romanian citizens. Romanian nationals are urged, in case they are aware of such incidents, to notify the Romanian Embassy in London. The Romanian Foreign Ministry’s reaction comes just a day after a shop belonging to Romanian citizens was set on fire in Norwich, on Friday. On the occasion of the European Council held late last month, British PM David Cameron assured Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, that Romanian citizens will be allowed to stay and work in the UK and expressed regret over the xenophobic incidents which were reported after the Brexit vote.



    TALKS — Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos has held talks with several Romanian MEPs on the impact of the Brexit vote, on Romania, the EU member states and the future of the European Union. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Government, the prime minister said one of Romania’s top priorities, during the forth-coming negotiations, is to make sure the Romanian citizens’ rights are non-discriminatorily observed. Ciolos also underlined how important it is for Romania to pay an active role in re-launching the European project and to show it further embraces and sticks to the fundamental values and principles of the European Union, pleading for a stronger, more inclusive and integrated Union. The focal points of the talks also included the functioning of the Schengen area, external border security, the migration and asylum policy, the visas for Canada, the Republic of Moldova and the relation with the EU, the Juncker Plan, as well as revising the Multi-annual Financial Framework Post 2020.



    VISAS— The Head of the Chancellery of the Romanian PM, Dragos Tudorache, will discuss in Brussels on Monday with Canadian immigration minister, John McCallum, as well as with representatives of the European Commission and of Bulgaria, issues related to the lifting by Canada of travel visas for Romanian citizens. Romanian PM, Dacian Ciolos, has said earlier this week that progress has been made in the visa exemption file, also adding that in the absence of a political decision on the issue in Ottawa, Romania, as a EU member state, might, just like Bulgaria, not ratify the EU-Canada Commercial Agreement. In April, Canada and the US received an additional three-month deadline on the visa regime reciprocity, which stipulates that the countries whose citizens do not need mandatory visas should, in their turn, allow the free movement of all EU citizens. Canada now requires mandatory visas for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens, whereas the US imposes visas on five EU member states, Romania included.



    DRILLS – Three Romanian military ships will participate in the multinational exercise BREEZE 16, over July 11- 17. The drills will unfold in Bulgaria’s territorial waters and in the Black Sea international waters. Romania’s ships are Frigate “Regina Maria”, with 240 marines on board, the sea minesweeper “Sublocotenent Alexandru AXENTE” and the “Lastun” Missile Carrier, with 60 military on board. The Romanian military ships are part of the forces and equipment made available by Romania to the North Atlantic Alliance, and the participation of the Romanian military in NATO exercises is meant to strengthen the interoperability of the ships’ crews with similar partner military structures.



    SPORTS — Romania will be represented by 96 athletes and 7 relays at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, between August 5-21, the Romanian Olympic Committee announced on Saturday. According to the Committee, Romania will take part in 16 sport events, with the largest number of athletes participating in rowing and athletics. Romania’s flag will be carried by gymnast Catalina Ponor. 103 Romanian athletes participated in the previous edition of the Olympic Games, hosted by London, in 2012.

  • Postal Voting for Romanians Abroad

    Postal Voting for Romanians Abroad

    Romania’s Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the postal voting law is constitutional and rejected the appeal filed by some MPs. Passed at the end of October, the law, which gives Romanian citizens living abroad the possibility to vote by mail, comes to fix the flaws in the organisation of the voting process abroad.



    Thus, in the presidential election last November, thousands of Romanians faced the cold and the rain in long queues in front of the Romanian embassies and consulates abroad and many didn’t even manage to cast their ballots. The queues turned into spontaneous protests, and in Paris and Turin security forces used tear gas to disperse the angry voters. In Bucharest, the scandal led to the resignation of two foreign ministers while their boss, the then prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Victor Ponta, lost the election to his Liberal contender, Klaus Iohannis. The latter included, among the priorities of his presidential mandate, the adoption of a law that should introduce a more reasonable voting system for Romanian citizens abroad.



    The law was finally adopted, after numerous talks at parliamentary level, after mutual accusations had been publicly levelled against each other, by the Social Democrats, in the ruling coalition, and the Liberal opposition, after resignations and hunger strikes in the parliament committee that drew up the bill. In a first stage, the postal voting law will only apply to the Romanian parliamentary election next fall, and, if it proves effective, this voting system will also be used in the presidential and EP elections. Initiated by the Permanent Electoral Authority, the bill stipulates that voters residing or living abroad, who wish to vote by mail, must register in the Electoral Registry following an application submitted in person or mailed by post to the Romanian diplomatic mission or consular office in their country of residence.



    The version of the bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies eliminates the possibility for online voter registration, a provision that formed part of the earlier version passed by the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies also adopted an amendment saying that disclosure of the confidentiality of the vote and voting on behalf of another person are punished by law. The Permanent Electoral Authority has hailed the decision by the Constitutional Court, that deems the law constitutional and said its enforcement at the parliamentary election in 2016 is a victory for democracy, as it comes to support millions of Romanians living abroad.