Radio România Internațional

Tag: treaty

  • Soviet prisoners in Romania

    Soviet prisoners in Romania

    Romania took sides with Germany in World War Two. On June 22nd, 1941, jointly with Germany, Romania began military operations against the Soviet Union. However, we need to say the Soviet Union had been the aggressor state, the year before. In June 1940, in the aftermath of two cession ultimatums the Soviets issued to the Romanian government, the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, Romanian territories of the east and the north. Among other things, just as it would happen in any military operation, there also were prisoners.

    Over June 22nd, 1941 and August 23rd, 1944, the Romanian Army captured 91,060 Soviet soldiers. Of them, 90%, that is 82, 057 military, were sent to Romania, in 12 concentration camps. According to the dictionary compiled by historians Alesandru Duțu, Florica Dobre and Leonida Loghin “The Romanian Army in World War Two”, of those who were detained in concentration camps,13,682 who were of Romanian origin from Bessarabia and Bukovina were released. Other 5,223 died, while 3,331 escaped.

    On August 23rd, 1944, Romania pulled out of the alliance with Germany and on Romanian territory there were 59, 856 Soviet prisoners, of whom 2, 794 were officers, while 57, 062 were NCOs and soldiers. Considering the prisoners’ ethnic origin, 25, 533 were Ukrainians, 17,833 Russians, 2,497 Kalmuks, 2,039 Uzbeks, 1,917 Turks, 1,588 Cossacks, 1,501 Armenians, 1,600 Georgians, 601 Tartars, 293 Jews, 252 Polish, 186 Bulgarians, 150 Ossetins, 117 Azeri, as well as other several dozens of ethnic groups, in smaller numbers.

    Documents reveal the Soviet prisoners in Romania were treated in accordance with the existing international legislation. Early into the war the living conditions were dire, and it was because of such conditions that most of the deaths were reported. Yet they improved rapidly, the reports compiled by the Romanian Army’s control commission mentioning the progress.

    The Soviet prisoners were confined in concentration camps, accommodation, food, hygiene and medical assistance conditions were provided for them, they were interrogated and were given the chance to work.

    Colonel Anton Dumitrescu took part in the act of August 23rd, 1944, himself and four NCOs being the ones who arrested Marshall Ion Antonescu and vice-Prime Minister Mihai Antonescu.

    In a 1974 interview stored in Radio Romania’s Oral History Center, he recalled how, prior to his arresting Antonescu, he was sent to gather intel on the center of Soviet prisoners in Slobozia. The Romanian intelligence service had found out the Germans prepared that center as a launching site of the operations against the Romanian army, should the latter defect.

    ”In Slobozia there was a big centre with Russian prisoners. The Germans had garnished the entire camp with Vlasov troops. The Vlasov troops were the Russians who, led by general Vlasov, had taken sides with the Germans. And, in German uniforms, fought against the Russians. However, from the intelligence I had, the Germans wanted to be sure about that center should something happen with us, with the Vlasovs taking sides with the Russians and fighting against us.

    I had been in contact with the Vlasovs in the Caucasus when, indeed, those people in no way wanted to surrender because the Soviets would have killed them. They were dead set on fighting. The entire region there was teeming with refugees from Moldavia and from Bessarabia and I did not see any Vlasov whatsoever.”

    Engineer Miron Tașcă used to work in Braila, at the French-Romanian plant, with a mixed, civilian and military production. In 1995, he reminisced the Soviet prisoners who worked at the Braila-based plant and what happened with them, after the Soviets reached Romanian territory.

    ”We, during the war, at the factory in Braila, also worked with a series of prisoners. They were treated very well, they did not work on the machines, they did manual jobs, downloading and uploading stuff, and cleaning. Those prisoners, the Soviets set them free, took them and brought them back to Russia. The moment they were taken, they also knew they had to leave.

    One of them, who told me he was an Uzbek, said he no longer wanted to return to the USSR. He asked me to go at all lengths to keep him there, he was a hard-working, silent and quiet boy. Of course, something like that was not possible. Prisoners were investigated, numbered, completely taken over, and that’s when he also left, the poor thing. But he was the one who under no circumstances wanted to return. Others did not want to return either, likeminded people, that is. Perhaps they did not know what was in store for them, but he, from the very beginning said he did not want to return. “

    A student of the military school during the war, Catrinel Dumitrescu, in 1998 said that, prior to seeing Soviet military after 1944, he had also seen them as prisoners:

    ”I had seen Russians before, they were prisoners. There were, in our country, about 10-20 Russian prisoners who were free to work. They were accommodated with the gendarmes post and worked in the cleaning of roads, of roadside ditches, they called in at private residences and did menial jobs there, they received food and suchlike. After August 23rd, 1944, the first ones to flee, not to the East but to the West, were those Russians! ‘Cause they knew what was going to come. “

    Soviet war prisoners in Romania are a less well-known chapter in Romanian modern history. It is that kind of chapter that still takes its time to reach public consciousness.

  • February 21, 2023 UPDATE

    February 21, 2023 UPDATE

    UKRAINE The US
    president Joe Biden Tuesday praised the Ukrainians’ resilience in the face of
    the Russian invasion launched nearly a year ago. Speaking at a rally in Warsaw,
    he emphasized that the US support for Ukraine remained unwavering and that the
    free world condemned Russia’s aggression. Biden added that he also wanted the
    people of the Republic of Moldova to be truly free, and called on participants
    to applaud Moldova’s president Maia Sandu, attending the assembly. Previously,
    in Moscow, president Vladimir Putin announced Russia would suspend its
    participation in the New START treaty with the US on the reduction of strategic
    nuclear weapons. The statement was made at the end of his state-of-the-nation address,
    ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24th February,
    and after the US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv. On Wednesday,
    Biden is due to meet the leaders of Bucharest Nine, a group of NATO countries
    from central and eastern Europe formed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea at
    the proposal of the presidents of Romania and Poland, Klaus Iohannis and Andrej
    Duda, respectively. The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that
    with Russia’s decision on the latest START Treaty full arms control
    architecture has been dismantled. Speaking at a press conference in Brussels
    with the participation of Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs,
    and Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, Stoltenberg added
    that Moscow was the aggressor in Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin had claimed that
    the West was trying to destroy Russia.


    PENSIONS In Bucharest, USR and the Force of the Right parties in opposition
    Tuesday tabled a simple motion against the labour minister Marius Budăi, whom
    they accuse of incompetence and carelessness. They argue that Budăi is
    protecting special pensions (which are not based on contributions to pension
    funds) thus jeopardising the EU funding Romania should receive under the
    National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Meanwhile, the Senate has once again
    postponed the bill reforming special pensions, for 2 weeks, until relevant ministries
    have submitted estimates of its impact on the budget and stated whether the
    bill complies with Resilience Plan benchmarks. The World Bank is also expected
    to state its view on the matter.


    TURKEY Rescuers
    in Turkey are carrying out new searches for people trapped under the rubble as
    a new quake hit the south-east of the country on Monday night, in the same
    region as the devastating earthquakes that took place two weeks ago. According
    to official reports, six persons were killed and 200 wounded in the latest
    tremor. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is running for a new term
    in May if elections are held on schedule, says his country would start building
    tens of thousands of new homes next month, a move estimated to cost at least 25
    billion dollars. Erdogan’s rapid reconstruction plans worry architects and
    engineers, who are concerned that the lack of urban planning and careful
    assessment of building safety may lead to a new disaster.


    CULTURE Two
    books about Constantin Brâncuşi were launched in Timişoara, which this year is
    holding the title of European Capital of Culture. The books, which recently
    appeared in France, are written by Doina Lemny, art historian and researcher at
    the National Museum of Modern Art and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The launch
    previews an extensive exhibition dedicated to the great Romanian sculptor next
    autumn at Timişoara’s Museum of Art. According to the city’s mayor Dominic
    Fritz, around 60,000 people attended the over 130 different events held in
    Timişoara this weekend during the official opening of the European Capital of
    Culture programme. The city will be playing host to around 1,000 different
    cultural events all year long. (AMP, CM)

  • Landmarks of Romanian historical identity

    Landmarks of Romanian historical identity




    All
    things considered, the foundation of Romania, as it is today, was laid in early
    1859. Specifically, that meant the twofold election of colonel Alexandru Ioan
    Cuza, on January 5th and 24th, as the ruling prince of Moldavia
    and Wallachia, in then the capital of the two Romanian Principalities. The
    person of a single ruling prince was the epitome of a tremendous amount of
    effort the elites had made, for two generations, in a bid to build a Romanian
    state following the modern European model.


    We
    have made an attempt to reminisce the key moments of that age at national but
    also at international level. Joining us in our endeavour was historian Marian
    Stroia, of the Romanian Academy’s Nicolae Iorga Institute of History.


    Marian Stroia:

    For the south-eastern space, the most important event with a strong
    bearing on the situation of Romanian principalities is the Crimean War,
    1853-1855. It was a pretext the Russians resorted to, so that they could put pressure
    on the Ottoman Porte to grant rights to the Ottoman Empire’s Christian nations.
    In effect, it was a mere pretext for their expansionist tendency towards
    central and eastern Europe.


    The
    Romanian elite and the Romanian society were caught between three empires that
    meant no good for Romania, as it was at that time. They were the Austria-Hungarian,
    the Tsarist and the Ottoman Empires. Through negotiations, the elite succeeded
    to find the most favourable of the three empires.

    Historian Marian Stroia:


    We can say that, broadly speaking, the Ottoman Porte was more receptive
    to Romanians’ wants and needs and was also less conservatory than Russia. All modernization
    efforts the Romanians had attempted after 1848 benefitted from its low-key
    support. Whereas Russia, at the other end of the scale, sought to impede all
    reformist attempts. During his reign, colonel Cuza tried to avert any situation
    that could jeopardize the young Romanian state in its relationship with Russia.


    In 1855,
    Russia was defeated in the Crimean War. The Treaty of Paris in 1856 provided
    great novelties as regards the historical destiny of the Romanian space.

    Marian Stroia:


    After 1856, there is another crucial moment. Just as Dumitru Bratianu had told
    his brother, Ion C. Brătianu, in 1849, when Russia would get soft, then
    the Romanians could achieve all their national objectives. The most important consequence
    of the year 1856 meant that the Romanian space was no longer under the Russian-Turkish
    suzerainty, being under the protectorate of the great European states. At one
    fell swoop, the political situation changed, making it possible for a much wider
    context to occur, for the development of the domestic political energies.


    The
    strongest domestic energies were indeed unleashed. The Unionist, Europhile party
    was the most tumultuous one, being capable of writing memorable pages of
    history at that time.

    Marian Stroia:


    The Ad-hoc
    (purpose-held) election of 1857 made the most important event in the domestic
    Romanian space. On that occasion, the Romanian nation’s political identity
    landmarks were expressed. Among them, definitely worth mentioning here, apart
    from political autonomy, neutrality and the separation of state powers, is the fundamental
    issue of the foreign prince, viewed as a necessary prerequisite of the young Romanian
    state, in a bid to draw its own roadmap towards independence. That was point
    number 4, which was no less important than the others, the enthronement of a
    foreign prince. Ruler Alexandru Iona Cuza’s reign was an intermediary stage in
    the Romanians’ undertaking to gain their national independence.


    The
    Romanian elites came up with a simple geopolitical and geostrategic scheme. Lying
    at the crossroads between the three empires, Moldavia and Wallachia had to look
    for support outside the zone where empires clashed. The ultimate solution to
    the quest for support was France, the great model of modern ideas, the
    staunchest carrier of the message of the universality of man and his rights.
    Today, historians have unanimously agreed that Romania was a creation of
    France.

    Marian Stroia once again, with the details.


    A crucial role in the Romanians’ endeavour to carry the union through and
    forge their own way to independence, that was played by France. Cuza had
    Western training. In 1845-1846 he graduated from the Stanislas College in the
    French capital. His own shape-up as well as the shape-up of the entire unionist
    movement of 1848 were closely linked to the West and to France, especially. For
    the Romanians, the most consistent support was provided by the French state,
    then headed by Napoleon III. It is something that cannot possibly be denied.


    The Union
    required certain forms of sacrifice, made by the elites and the grassroots
    alike, according to their possibilities. However, the example was set by the
    elites.

    The historian Marian Stroia:


    For its greater part, the Romanian elite back then was inspired
    by a complete material disinterest and by an utterly unusual patriotic spirit. Costache
    Negri, one of Cuza’s aides and the Principalities’ ambassador to Constantinople,
    had a complete state financial support for his funeral, so he didn’t even have
    enough money for his own interment. And when Ion C. Brătianu left for
    Dusseldorf to obtain Carol de Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen’s candidacy for the throne
    of the Principalities, he had to sell two of his estates so that he could pay for his
    trip and his stay in the Sigmaringens’ German residence.


    Cuza
    was jointly elected on January the 5th and the 24th,
    1859, in Moldavia and Wallachia. That clearly meant both principalities were definitely
    taking a European path.

    (EN)


  • The trials and tribulations of The Union Act of December 1st, 1918

    The trials and tribulations of The Union Act of December 1st, 1918


    Transylvanias union with Romania received votes in favour from 1,228 delegates. They were assembled in Alba Iulia, in central Transylvania, on December 1st, 1918. At the end of World War One, the national idea galvanized the Zeitgeist, so the Union was an act of free will accomplished by the Romanians living in the Carpathian basin. December 1st officially became the National Day of Romania after the collapse of the communist regime on December 22nd, 1989. After this date, historical debates have become free, so the accomplishment of December 1st, 1918, was emphatically broached from a geo-political perspective. However, at that time, other categories of ideas were no less relevant, for example, the ideas of eugenics and race. The two concepts were issues included in Hungarys dossier, compiled to support Hungarys defending its own standpoint during the peace treaties of 1919-1920.



    Historian Marius Turda teaches the History of medicine at Oxford Brookes University. Dr Turda is the author of an appreciable number of books and research articles on eugenics and race. Marius Turda detailed the concepts of eugenics and race underpinning the Hungarian standpoint.



    Marius Turda.:



    “The Hungarian eugenics and racial thought was quite advanced ahead of World War One. Many prominent Hungarian politicians as well as those who somehow contributed to the talks of the Peace Congress were noted eugenicists. They had their own contribution as to what Hungary had to offer, race-wise, for the stability in the region, as to why eugenics was important for the survival of the Hungarian nation in the region, demographically, culturally, as well as economically. The entire discussion they initiated revolved around a couple of key topics, in the hopes that they will persuade the Great Powers to keep Hungarys territorial integrity intact.”



    The eugenic and racial ideas emerged in the second half of the 19th century. Those ideas became very popular in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France and in the Central-European area. At that time, a widely-circulated concept was that of “biopolitics”, pertaining to political thought based on biological principles. Dr Marius Turda has detailed how the Hungarian dossier attempted to raise the winning powers awareness, resorting to the eugenic and racial reasoning.



    Marius Turda:



    “Count Teleki Pal, one of the main promoters of the eugenic trend, and president of the Hungarian Society for Racial Hygiene and the Study of Population, dispatched letters to presidents of Eugenics societies worldwide, as well as to the president of the British Eugenics Society, Leonard Darwin, Charles Darwins son. Telekis attempted reasoning focused on why the British Eugenics Society had to promote and fight for the preservation of Hungarys national integrity. From one empire to the next, stated Teleki, if we take Transylvania into account, the entire class of intellectuals is Hungarian. But if we target the intellectual class in Transylvania and have it relocated, two things are going to happen. First off, Transylvania will be deprived of a cultural, political and economic elite in its own right. Secondly, the city of Budapest and Hungary will be overpopulated, and that will also trigger a lodging and living space crisis. “.



    The confrontation between the Hungarian and Romanian dossiers was uncompromisingly sorted out in favour of the population majority claim, promoted by Romania. According to Marius Turda, we cannot speak about a failure of the eugenic claim, but rather about the whole range of ideas being interpreted and included in one single decision.



    Marius Turda:



    “The demographic superiority claim in Transylvania was much more important than the fact that the eugenic outcome of the dismantling of the Hungarian state would have had its aftermath. The fact that the Romanians were the majority population in Transylvania counted more during the political talks than what would happen to Transylvania after it became part of Romania, what they would lose, culturally, and how many of the biological qualities were to be lost, of the population living there. We cannot speak about a failure, but about prioritising and about which of the two levels of reasoning would prevail in the confrontation. The ethnographic talks on Transylvania during the peace treaties were to a great extent based on the claim that the Romanians were the majority population. The racial failure was rather more visible here. All those claims several Hungarian racists put forward, instead of pursuing the path of ethnic symbiosis and mutual interest, they opted for a much more categorical separation of the populations.”



    Marius Turda puzzled us out as to whether Romania counteracted Hungarys claims also resorting to a eugenic and racial reasoning.



    Marius Turda:



    “Romania did not have a eugenic reasoning in its own right, but it did have a racial, ethnographic and demographic set of arguments, which mattered a lot. The entire debate on ethnic groups and the importance of a certain ethnic group in a region had been initiated by people who were very well-read in physical anthropology. The kept themselves abreast of the race debates, were speaking about such thinkers as Aurel C. Popovici and Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, debates related to the racial qualities of a certain ethnic group. All those ideas greatly mattered, regarding the emergence of a certain opinion trend on the vitality of the Romanian nation in Transylvania, on its racial importance, even though the reasoning for all that was rather demographical. As for the eugenics claims like those put forwards by the Hungarian delegation, they did not exist as part of the Romanian delegations set of arguments or the Romanian campaigns abroad, carried to promote Transylvanias unification with Romania.”



    The making of Greater Romania was something hard to come by, for all our being tempted to think otherwise. The confrontation was really strong, between the eugenic and racial set of arguments and those pertaining to the demographic majority criterium. Romanias set of arguments prevailed, since Romania was part of the alliance bringing together France, Great Britain and the USA.


    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)




  • March 30, 2021

    March 30, 2021

    VACCINE Over 6,200 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Tuesday in Romania, out of 30,000 tests. A record 1,405 patients are in intensive care, and 175 people died. The total number of infections since the start of the pandemic in Romania is over 946,000, and the death toll is 23,400. Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout continues in Romania, with some 2 million people having received at least one dose so far and nearly half of them having also got the booster. The vaccination rate is expected to reach 100,000 people per day in April, PM Florin Cîţu said. New measures are in place to contain the epidemic. In areas with infection rates above 4 per thousand, a weekend curfew is in place between 8 pm and 5 am, and shops must close at 6 pm. Where the infection rate is over 7.5 per thousand, these measures are applied throughout the week.



    PROTESTS The capital Bucharest and other cities in Romania saw large-scale protests against the Governments COVID-19 containment measures for the second consecutive day on Monday. The participants chanted anti-government protests, burnt face masks and protested what they called a “medical dictatorship. PM Florin Cîţu said that after a year of restrictions, citizens have the right to protest, but they must do so in compliance with the law. Some rallies spiraled into clashes towards midnight, with 12 gendarmes injured slightly in Bucharest. A total of 188 people were escorted to police stations. The Bucharest Prefect Alin Stoica emphasized the restrictions will not be dropped because of the protests.



    PANDEMIC Leaders of more than 20 countries, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the WHO director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, call for a new international treaty for the handling of future pandemics. In an opinion article run around the world, Covid-19 is described as the biggest challenge facing the global community since WW2. The authors commit to providing universal and fair access to vaccines, diagnostic and treatment, until the whole world is safe. However, leaders of major G20 members, including the US, Russia, China, Japan, India and Brazil, have not joined the initiative. Over 128 million people have caught the novel coronavirus around the world, of whom nearly 103 million have recovered and at least 2.8 million died.



    ECONOMY Romanias consolidated budget deficit reached some 2.6 billion euros, accounting for 1.14% of the GDP in the first 2 months of this year, as against 0.33% in January and 0.73% in the corresponding period of 2020. The finance ministry blamed the record figure on the exceptional expenditure entailed by the coronavirus pandemic. This years budget deficit target is 7.16% GDP.



    SUEZ After nearly a week of efforts, the Egyptian authorities managed on Monday afternoon to free the container ship stranded in the Suez Canal, with traffic to be fully restored in the next few days. About 450 ships had been stuck because of the incident. In Bucharest, the National Sanitary-Veterinary Authority announced steps were taken to give priority to the 11 Romanian vessels carrying livestock. The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and is the shortest maritime route between Europe and Asia. Around 12% of the worlds trade takes place through this waterway.



    FOOTBALL Romanias Under-21 football team plays tonight against Germany in Budapest, in a decisive match in the 2021 European Youth Championships Group A. On Saturday Romania beat Hungary 2-1, after a previous draw against the Netherlands, 1-1. The European Championships group stage ends on March 31, with the top 2 teams in each group moving up into the Final 8 tournament, scheduled between May 31 and June 6. Meanwhile, Romanias senior national team takes on Armenia in Yerevan on Wednesday, in Group J of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. So far Romania lost to Germany but defeated North Macedonia. The group also includes Iceland and Liechtenstein. The top team in each group qualifies into the 2022 World Cup, with the runners-up facing each other in playoffs. Romania last took part in a World Cup in 1998, in France. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • January 22, 2021

    January 22, 2021

    Frequency change – As January 25, 2021, Radio Romania International will change some of its shortwave frequencies. From this date on, the 04.00 UTC broadcast beamed on India will be broadcasted on 11,790 kHz in the analog system, while the digital broadcast will go out on 13,720 kHz in the DRM system.



    Bucharest – Around 350,000 people have been vaccinated in Romania since the beginning of the campaign, at the end of December. The Prime Minister Florin Cîţu announced that the country has a stock of 2.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to use by the end of March. The government introduced in the second vaccination stage, which began on January 15, new categories of people, including people with disabilities and those who take care of them, the diplomatic staff, seafarers and athletes who participate in international competitions. According to a government decision, the registration platform will be modified to give priority to the elderly and vulnerable people. Since the onset of the pandemic, over 700,000 contaminations have been registered in Romania. About 17,000 patients have died and 1,000 are in ICUs.



    EU — Meeting for an online summit, the European leaders decided on Thursday evening to keep the Unions internal borders open, but to impose new restrictions on non-essential travels, in an attempt to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus mutations. Next week, the European Commission is to present a set of concrete measures in this sense. The head of the EC Ursula von der Leyen has announced that new color-code zones will be established, namely dark red and light red for the areas with a high number of infections and with intense circulation of the virus. The Heads of State and Government also stated that, for non-essential travels outside the Union, mandatory COVID-19 tests will be required in Europe before traveling. As for the idea of ​​a vaccination passport, proposed by the tourism-dependent countries, it has been postponed for the time being



    Protests – In Bucharest and other cities of Romania, continue the protests organized by one of the biggest trade union confederations in Romania, Cartel Alfa. Today, the trade unionists representatives went to the Labor Ministry, after, late last month, the labor minister Raluca Turcan had promised them to come up with a timetable for discussions with the social partners for the sustainable growth of the minimum wage Also today, the prefect’s offices of the cities of Arad (west) and Gorj (southwest) will be picketed. The employees of the Interior Ministry are also protesting, as they are discontented with the salary capping announced by the government.



    Restrictions — Bucharest authorities might decide today on the partial resumption of some activities indoors that had been forbidden for more than three months, when the Capital was in the red zone. Nevertheless, relaxation of measures can only happen if the contamination rate remains below 3 cases per thousand. According to Prefect Traian Berbeceanu, an extraordinary meeting of the Municipal Committee for Emergency Situations will be summoned to propose the adoption of a decision on relaxing the restrictive measures in force. Therefore, following the relaxation of restrictions, theaters and cinemas, as well as restaurants, bars and cafes will be opened with an occupancy rate of a maximum 30%. At the same time, licensed gambling operators will be allowed to resume their activity, with the observance of the 30% occupancy rate.



    UN — A UN treaty on a comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons has taken effect today. The document includes a commitment not to develop, test or threaten to use nuclear weapons. This is not the first treaty initiated by the UN which is aimed at encouraging nuclear disarmament. The Non-Proliferation Treaty, concluded in the 1970s, was signed by 119 nations, but its main objective was rather to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, rather than to totally ban them. Although there have been some reductions in weapon stocks, countries have continued to modernize their arsenal, while other countries have simply ignored the treaty. None of the 122 states that have signed the new treaty on a ban on nuclear weapons has such weapons, the BBC reports. (tr. L. Simion)

  • Centenary of the Treaty of Trianon

    Centenary of the Treaty of Trianon

    On June 4th, 1920, the Grand Trianon Palace of Versailles hosted the signing of the peace treaty between the Entente Powers, winners of World War I, and Hungary. As a result of the treaty, new countries emerged on the map of Europe, such as Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, alongside countries that had doubled their territory and population, such as Romania. Thus, the new Kingdom of Greater Romania would also comprise the regions of Banat, Bukovina, Crisana, Maramures and Transylvania, all provinces in Austria-Hungary with predominantly Romanian speaking populations.



    In March 1918, Bessarabia, a Romanian province in Russia, joined the new pan-Romanian construct based on the principle of national self-determination. The Treaty of Trianon was signed to establish the borders between the new Hungary and its neighbors: Austria, Czechoslovakia, the future Yugoslavia and Romania.



    The end of WWI had occurred in the month of November of the year 1918, when Germany had capitulated to the French, English and American forces. However, the Hungarian population and its elite in particular had not peacefully accepted the outcome, and resorted to a method of toppling the existing order after the model of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, headed by Lenin in Russia. So, the Hungarian Soviet Republic, set up in 1919, started a war against Czechoslovakia and Romania, in order to get back its territories. The victories of the Romanian and Czechoslovakian armies led to the occupation of Budapest and the dismantling of Soviet Hungary. In early 1920, the long-awaited peace with Hungary was therefore finally signed.



    Historian Ioan Scurtu described the atmosphere in the eastern half of the former Austria-Hungary, in the early 1920, before the signing of the peace treaty:


    “The Treaty of Trianon was signed after fierce debates with the Hungarian delegation, starting in January 1920, as they tried to maintain the integrity of Hungary by contesting the claims and decisions made by Romanians, Slovaks, Croats and Slovenians, which had created new states. It was a belated signing, also because the Hungarian delegation, headed by Albert Apponyi, realized it had no chance of success at the peace conference, because the decisions made there were based on the principle of national self-determination, that is the will of the people. The chairman of the conference, the French Prime Minister Alexandre Millerand, stated that the peoples had spoken in the autumn of 1918, when they freely decided their fate. Therefore, the arguments presented by the Hungarian delegation, which said the dismantling of millennial Hungary would be a catastrophe, did not stand.”




    Romania won at Trianon not only because it was part of the winners group, but also because it had some solid arguments. Ioan Scurtu explains:


    “The main argument was the decision of the National Assembly in Alba Iulia, which was a representative gathering. The 1228 delegates from all of Transylvanias districts had imperative mandates to vote for the union of Transylvania with Romania. Secondly, it was the convention of August 1916, on the basis of which Romania had entered the war at the request of the Entente, and there Romanias borders were clearly established, including those with Hungary. The third argument was the contribution of the Romanian Army to the victory of the Entente Powers, because when Romania joined the war in the summer of 1916, the western front in France was relieved, which in turn meant the transfer of Austrian and German troops to the Romanian front. Some big battles where held in Romania, such as those of Marasti, Marasesti and Oituz, in the summer of 1917, where the military forces of the Central Powers suffered significant losses, and that facilitated the victory of the Entente Powers in 1918.”



    Talking about the Union of 1918, consolidated by the Treaty of Trianon, signed in 1920, the Romanian historian Nicolage Iorga wrote: “our homage must go to all Romanians, from the highest-ranking military to the last peasant dressed in military clothes.” All Romanians had indeed contributed to the triumph, but Romania did have an exceptional generation of exceptional personalities that made the victory possible. The two sovereigns, Ferdinand and Mary, must definitely be top of the list when we speak of the 1918 generation. There follow Ion I.C. Bratianu, Iuliu Maniu, Vasile Goldis, Stefan Cicio-Pop, George Pop de Basesti, Ion Inculet, Pantelimon Halipa, Ion Nistor, military such as sub-lieutenant Ecaterina Teodoroiu, captain Grigore Ignat, generals Constantin Prezan, Alexandru Averescu, Eremia Grigorescu and many more. However, Romania paid dearly for that triumph.



    Here is Ioan Scurtu once more:


    “Little Romania paid dearly, because it paid in lots of blood. It is estimated that some 800,000 Romanians died in battle because of diseases, famish and other hardships they had to endure in two years of war. The country also lost major material and spiritual assets, as a result of the fact that the German, Austrian-Hungarian, Bulgarian and Turkish occupiers plundered the occupied territories and sent those assets to their territories. Also, we should not forget that the Romanian Government in Iasi sent to Russia Romanias Treasure, part in December 1916 and the rest in July 1917, which has not been returned ever since. The official document signed on the occasion clearly stipulated that the Russian side took responsibility for carrying the treasure and bringing it back to Romania.”



    100 years ago, the Treaty of Trianon confirmed peoples will. It was the start of an era that they had dreamed of for a long time. (M.Ignatescu)




  • January 21, 2019 UPDATE

    January 21, 2019 UPDATE

    TREATY The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis will take part on Tuesday in Aachen, western Germany, in a ceremony in which France and Germany sign their renewed treaty of friendship and co-operation. Klaus Iohannis was invited by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron. On this occasion, Klaus Iohannis, as president of the country holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, will give an address. Also taking part in the ceremony will be the head of the European Council Donald Tusk, and of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The Aachen bilateral treaty is based on the 1963 Treaty of Paris, which paved the way for the reconciliation of Germany and France, and aims to adapt the relations between the 2 countries to the challenges of the 21st century, with a focus on enhancing European cohesion.




    BRUSSELS Most Romanian ministers are in Brussels until Wednesday. They will present the agenda and priorities of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union in their respective fields, to the specialised committees of the European Parliament. During his hearing by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said, among other things, that finalising the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union is essential. Another priority is to promote the Banking Union, given the need for a safe and solid European financial sector. In the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Romanian Minister for Water and Forestry Ioan Deneş, and the Minister for Environment and Climate Change Graţiela Gavrilescu said that Romanias priorities in the field include fighting climate change, protecting biodiversity, sustainable development and water management.




    GAC The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu suggested at the meeting of the General Affairs Council held on Monday in Brussels that a special session should be devoted to hybrid warfare and fake news. According to Teodor Meleşcanu, Romania promised that, during its presidency of the Council of the EU, it will come up with a draft roadmap with measures targeting disinformation, responsibilities, means and resources allotted to this goal. The Romanian official pointed out that the EU aims to be a world leader in combating fake news. In Mondays General Affairs Council meeting, Minister Teodor Meleşcanu presented to his counterparts the main topics on the agenda of the Romanian semester, with a focus on those in the field of foreign policy and security policy.




    COHESION The cohesion policy is a priority for the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU, the European Commissioner for regional policy Corina Cretu said in Bucharest on Monday. According to her, cohesion has been one of the most flexible and innovating policies, which provides answers to the issues and tensions in the Union. Corina Creţu also said that she would like the Romanian presidency to secure an agreement on the multi-annual financial framework as soon as possible, so that the scheduled investments may be implemented starting as early as January 1, 2021. The European Commission took part on Monday in a meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary committees for Union Affairs in the national parliaments of EU member states (COSAC), held in Bucharest as part of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU.




    GOVERNMENT The Prime Minister of Romania, the Social Democrat Viorica Dăncilă, Monday sent to President Klaus Iohannis a letter requesting, for the 3rd time, the appointment of Lia Olguţa Vasilescu as Minister for Regional Development and Public Administration and of Mircea-Gheorghe Drăghici as Transport Minister. The last time Klaus Iohannis rejected the 2 nominations on grounds that their criminal records had not been included in the candidacy files. PM Viorica Dăncilă emphasized in her letter to Klaus Iohannis that the 2, whom she nominated for these posts 2 months ago, are people of unquestionable integrity and experience, capable of holding these positions, particularly since Lia Olguţa Vasilescu was a government member before. Mrs. Dăncilă also mentioned that, in her capacity as Prime Minister, by virtue of the vote of confidence given by Parliament, she has the exclusive right to assess and choose the members of the executive team she is heading.




    JUDICIARY The Bucharest Court Monday ordered the trial of the merits of a case in which the former state secretary with the Development Ministry, the Social Democrat Sevil Shhaideh, is charged with abuse of office. Meanwhile, the High Court of Cassation and Justice postponed to February 18 a trial in which the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and head of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea is accused of instigating abuse of office. The court of first instance sentenced him to 3 and a half years in prison for having ordered the fictitious employment of 2 party members by the County Social Assistance and Child Protection Agency, back when he was the head of the Teleorman County Council. The 2 were paid from public money although they apparently worked exclusively for the Social Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea pleaded not guilty.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • January 18, 2019

    January 18, 2019

    Aachen — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will participate on Tuesday in Aachen, Germany, in the ceremony for the signing of the French-German Cooperation and Integration Treaty upon the invitation of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and of the French President Emmanuel Macron. On this occasion, President Iohannis, in his capacity as president of the country holding the incumbent presidency of the Council of the EU, will deliver a speech. The ceremony will also be attended by the president of the European Council Donald Tusk and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The Aachen bilateral treaty is based, from a political and juridical point of view, on the Elysee French-German Treaty of 1963 that set the basis for a historic reconciliation between Germany and France. The Aachen treaty will focus on adjusting the relations between the two states to the challenges of the 21st century, laying emphasis on the cohesion of the two countries’ action at European level.



    Berlin fair — Romanian agri-food products will be displayed Friday at a Berlin fair called ‘2019 Green Week’. According to Romanian agriculture minister Petre Daea who is attending the event, several Romanian producers of traditional products are participating in the fair. Some of the traditional products to be displayed are the Topoloveni plum jam, the smoked Danube herring, the Plescoi sausages and the Dobrogea pie. On the sidelines of the fair, the Romanian agriculture minister will meet with his counterparts from other member states, German officials and representatives of farming associations in the EU. The Berlin Fair will come to an end next Sunday. Last year more than 400 thousand people visited the fair.



    Dacia — In 2018 Dacia Company reported the best commercial performance in its history with total sales on the domestic and international market standing at more than 700 thousand cars, 7% more than the level reported in 2017. According to a Dacia communiqué, the Romanian brand has practically doubled its sales in only 7 years. Dacia sales on external markets have risen by 5.5% reaching more than 646 thousand cars, this being one of the best performances registered in Europe. In 1999, Dacia brand and Mioveni factory were taken over by the French group Renault. Dacia models are sold in 44 countries on 4 continents.



    London — The British PM Theresa May continues Friday consultations with political parties and Monday she is going to present her new plan that, on January 29, will be debated and voted on. Talks are being held in the aftermath of the heated disputes of the past days in the British Parliament, which rejected the Brexit agreement. However, Mrs. May’s government has survived a no-confidence vote tabled by the Labor Party. PM May is trying to reach a consensus, but the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Jeremy Corbin, refuses to take part in the negotiations waiting for the government to totally eliminate the possibility of Brexit without a deal. In reply, Theresa May said the government could not provide such guarantees because that did not lie with the government. She added that such a scenario could be avoided in two ways: either a similar agreement with that already concluded with the EU is voted on or article 50 is revoked. But the government is not going to do that because they want to respect the results of the 2016 referendum.



    Belgrade — The Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday visited Belgrade where he pleaded for the stability of the Balkans, which, in his opinion, is a region threatened by the West. He reminded that the Russian Federation was one of the biggest investors in the Serbian economy, energy being a key-domain of bilateral cooperation. Besides historical, religious and cultural ties, Serbs are grateful to Russians for the supported granted in relation to Kosovo’s independence. 20 years on since the war between the Serbs and the separatist Kosovo Albanians, Moscow still does not recognize the province of Kosovo. Moreover, Serbia, although a candidate for EU accession, refuses to back the sanctions of the EU bloc against Russia, which were imposed after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.



    Tennis — The Romanian pair Irina Maria Bara/Monica Niculescu qualified on Friday in Melbourne to the eighth finals of the women’s doubles of the Australian Open, the year’s first grand slam tournament. They defeated 6-4, 7-6 the 6th seeded Lucie Hradecka (of the Czech Republic)/Ekaterina Makarova (Russia). Next, Bara and Niculescu will take on the winners of the match pitting the pair Margarita Gasparian (Russia)/Daria Gavrilova (Australia) against Raquel Atawo (USA)/Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia). Also on Friday, in the second round, Sorana Cirstea and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko were eliminated by the Slovenian-Spanish pair Andreja Klepac/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 7-5, 6-3. On Saturday in the same stage, irina Begu and Mihaela Buzarnescu, 10th seeded, will play against the pair Alize Cornet (Franţa)/Petra Martic (Croatia). Also on Saturday, world’s no. 1 player Simona Halep will take on American Venus Williams (36 WTA) in the third round. (translation by L. Simion)

  • October 22, 2018

    October 22, 2018

    STRASBOURG President of Romania Klaus Iohannis will take part on Tuesday in Strasbourg in a debate organised by the European Parliament with respect to the future of the European Union. The head of state will present Romanias views on the topic. It is for the first time that the President of Romania will address the European Parliament, and his participation in the event takes place in the context of a series of debates on the future of the European bloc, in which the leaders of the EU member states are invited to take part. In the plenary session that begins on Tuesday, the MEPs will also discuss the 2019 budget of the Union, ways to reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, and the taxes to be charged for the use of certain infrastructure segments by heavy duty vehicles.




    SECURITY The European Commissioner for Security Union Julian King is on an official visit to Bucharest today. He will discuss with the Interior Minister Carmen Dan topics related to the security of EU citizens, including ways to identify efficient European legislation to fight online radicalisation. Julian King will also have meetings with the head of the Romanian Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig, with the presidential adviser for national security and with Justice Ministry officials.




    LAW The Parliament of Romania is re-examining the Offshore Bill, after the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats reached an agreement last week. In early August, President Klaus Johannis did not sign the bill into law and sent it back to Parliament for a review. What is at stake is, first and foremost, the profit that Romania will make from natural gas extraction in the Black Sea. The Energy Minister, Anton Anton, is expected to attend in the Chamber of Deputies today a debate on the Offshore Bill and the solutions for capitalising on the natural gas in the Black Sea. The Deputies in the specialised committees are to decide on the final text of the bill to be subject to the vote in a plenary sitting.




    PROTESTS Several hundreds of people Sunday night took part in a new anti-government protest. The participants voiced their discontent with a recent ruling of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which bans unplanned protests, and with an emergency order issued by the Government concerning changes of regulations in the judiciary. In Cluj Napoca, in the north-west, around 100 people also gathered further to an appeal on social media, to protest the Governments policies in the judiciary.





    TREATY The US national security adviser John Bolton has arrived in Moscow today, where he will be received by the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The latter will request clarifications regarding the USAs plan to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF). The US President Donald Trump announced a few days ago that Washington would withdraw from the INF. The US unilateral withdrawal from the treaty signed with Russia during the Cold War is a mistake, China warned on Monday. The spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunyiong said Beijing is against this plan. The INF treaty was signed in 1987 by the US President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The document bans the use of missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,000 km, ending the crisis started in the 1980s by the Soviet deployment of SS-20 nuclear missiles targeting all western capitals. Analysts say the withdrawal could have major implications with respect to the American defence policy in Asia, giving the Pentagon new conventional options to reinstate military balance in the region, where China has invested massively in conventional missiles.




    INVICTUS Romanian troops won the first medal in the 2018 Invictus Palarympics in Sydney, Australia, in the indoor rowing event. In the 4-minute endurance event Dumitru Paraschiva won the 3rd place, and his colleague Ciprian Iriciuc, the 4th place out of 21 competitors. At the Paralympic Games held in October 20-27, Romania is represented by 15 soldiers wounded in theatres of war. Romanian athletes, who take part in the competition for the second time, compete in the archery, cycling, Paralympic athletics, rowing, swimming, and volleyball events.




    HANDBALL The Romanian womens handball team SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea Sunday qualified into the 3rd round of the EHF Cup, after being defeated by the Turkish side Kastamonu Belediyesi, 21-20, in the return leg of the 2nd round. Another Romanian team, Măgura Cisnădie, has also qualified into this stage of the EHF Cup, after winning the 2 legs of the 2nd round against the Czech team Slavia Prague (28-25 and 29-20). SCM Craiova also enters the competition in the 3rd round, after having lost the qualifiers into the Champions League and continues into the EHF Cup. Meanwhile, HC Zalău was defeated away from home by the German team Borussia Dortmund, 24-20, and failed to qualify into the 3rd round of the EHF Cup.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)