Radio România Internațional

Tag: tribute

  • February 28, 2024 UPDATE

    February 28, 2024 UPDATE

    CONGRESS The European People’s Party (EPP) congress will be held in Bucharest next week, on March 6th and 7th. Over 2,000 delegates from more than 40 countries will take part, including the president of the European Commission, the president of the European Parliament, heads of state as well as European Commissioners affiliated to the EPP. The agenda will focus on the party’s preparations and strategy for the European Parliament elections. The meeting is hosted by the National Liberal Party (a member of Romania’s ruling coalition), jointly with the EPP. Bucharest last hosted an EPP congress in October 2012.

     

    MOLDOVA The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu had a meeting in Bucharest on Wednesday with Moldova’s deputy PM for integration, Oleg Serebrian.  The two officials reviewed the regional security developments and Russia’s destabilising actions, with a focus on their impact on the Republic of Moldova. In this context, minister Luminiţa Odobescu praised Chişinău’s efforts to curb the effects of the hybrid war and reconfirmed the support Romania is prepared to extend in this process. She also reiterated Romania’s support for a comprehensive, peaceful and sustainable solution for the issue of Transnistria, in compliance with international law and in line with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova, within its internationally recognised borders and without affecting its European future. Since 1992 Transnistria has been de facto independent from Moldova, following an armed conflict in which Russian troops backed the separatists.

     

    NAVALNY The European Parliament Wednesday condemned the killing of the Russian activist Alexei Navalny in prison, and called for an international independent investigation to establish the circumstances of his death. The EP honoured to the life and legacy of the Russian activist in Strasburg, in the presence of his widow, Yulia Navalnaya. The meeting was opened by the EP president, Roberta Metsola, who spoke about Alexei Navalny’s courage of fighting against an authoritarian regime. She emphasised that Alexei Navalny had dedicated his life to the fight against corruption and for a democratic Russia.

     

    CONCERT The Children’s Choirs of Radio Romania and Radio Bulgaria will give a joint concert at the Radio Hall in Bucharest, on Thursday. It will be the first time when these choirs perform together, and the concert programme is spectacular, as both choirs can easily perform difficult works, adding set design elements that will impress the audience. The event is part of an international cooperation programme between the two public radio broadcasters. On the same day, the Bulgarian Children’s Choir will open a reception hosted by the Bulgarian Embassy in Bucharest, on the occasion of Bulgaria’s National Day, celebrated on March 3rd.

     

    HANDBALL Romania defeated Croatia, on Wednesday, 26 – 24 at home, in Group I of the European Women’s Handball Championship qualifiers. The away leg will be held on Sunday, in Koprivnica. The two teams are competing for the top spot in the group, currently having the same number of points, 4, but being separated by goal difference (43 vs. 24). They are followed by Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina, without any points. Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, CS Dinamo Bucharest beat CSM Constanţa 33-25, in main group IV of the men’s EHF European League. The Romanian champions thus secured a spot in the playoffs, with the group winner going straight into the quarter-finals. (AMP)

  • Tribute to Navalnyi, support for Ukraine

    Tribute to Navalnyi, support for Ukraine

    The news that Aleksei Navalnyi, the main critic of the Kremlin leader, Vladimir Putin, had a sudden death in the Arctic Circle prison where he was serving, just a month before the election in Russia, has triggered a wave of reactions around the world. Political activist, Navalnyi, 47, collapsed after a walk at the Polar Wolf penal colony, one of Russia’s northernmost and toughest, located 1.900 km north-east of Moscow, where the activist was serving a 19 year sentence.

    According to the authorities, Navalnyi’s death was caused by a blood clot, but his family was denied access to his dead body. The Western leaders together with US president Joe Biden have paid tribute to the political activist for his courage.

    The opposition and the Russian independent press as well as Western ministries have more or less blamed the Russian president for having ordered the death of Navalnyi, who used to be Kremlin’s number one enemy for 15 years. In turn, Moscow considers the West’s reaction to Navalnyi’s death as unacceptable and obnoxious.

    The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and other dignitaries have voiced sadness for Aleksei Navalnyi’s death. ‘The international community has lost a brave warrior for freedom and rights’ the Romanian president said adding that Russia must launch a thorough and transparent investigation into the death of the activist.

    In a communiqué recently released, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has voiced its profound regret for the death of the political activist, one of the leading figures of the opposition in the Russian Federation.

    Numerous flowers and candles have been placed in front of the Russian embassy in Bucharest along with the message ‘Don’t Give up’ by the people who paid tribute to Alesei Navalnyi’s activity.

    “We must fight all the time for democracy!” was another message carried by the people who came to pay homage to Russia’s most important dissident of the moment. The Bucharest branch of the Save Romania Union, a.k.a USR, has proposed a General Council decision that the street where the Russian embassy’s consular section is located be named Aleksei Navalnyi.

    According to the USR Bucharest, this initiative represents a major step in the process of supporting the democratic values and human rights, reiterating the solidarity bonds with those fighting for freedom and justice the world over. Also in line with this principle of freedom fighting, the head of the diplomacy in Bucharest, Luminita Odobescu, who went to Germany a couple of days ago to attend the Security Conference in Munich, has pleaded for maintaining the multi-dimensional support for Ukraine. Odobescu has conveyed a firm message of Romanian solidarity with Ukraine and its people in their legitimate fight to defend the country’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty in the illegal aggression war waged by Russia.

  • Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great’s reign, revisited

    Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great’s reign, revisited

    The Romanian historian Liviu Campeanu, in 2012, while on a research stage at the Prussian Cultural Heritages Secret State Archives in Berlin, came across the manuscript of the diary kept by Liborius Nacker, the Secretary general of the Teutonic Order. Written in late 15th century, the document, whose existence had already been known to historians, mentions the contribution of the Teutonic knights who accompanied Polish King Ioan Albert in his campaign against then the Moldavian ruler Stephen the great. Resulting in the famous defeat of the Poles in the battle of Cosmin Woods, Codrii Cosminului, in Romanian, the campaign can be viewed in a fresh perspective and a more nuanced one, at that, according to the documents discovered by historian Liviu Campeanu. Actually, the discovered documents provided the starting point for Liviu Campeanus book, The Crusade against Stephen the Great. The Cosmin Woods 1497. Brought out by the Humanitas publishers in 2023, the volume depicts an even more complex and detailed picture of the woiwode. Stephen the Great s image was intensely hyped up according to the communist historiography.



    The Romanian Orthodox Church already canonized him as Stephen the Great and the Holy. Notwithstanding, in Liviu Campeanus volume, a more comprehensive and objective analysis is provided, of Moldavian woiwodes 47-year-long reign, from 1457 to 1504. It should be noted, though, that his most remarkable achievements are never questioned in the book. A telling example of that is Stephen the Greats stance towards the Ottoman Porte. We all remember Stephen the great has usually been described as a long-term and staunch anti-Ottoman opponent.



    Historian Liviu Campeanu:



    “Nothing new for the historians, yet for the lay public, for whom Stephen the Greats profile as a mighty crusader is all too familiar, a profile that has been constantly been build up towards, in the past two or three decades and even earlier, it may seem baffling to find out that, in earnest, Stephen the Great was an ally of the Sultan. Of his 47-year-old reign, Stephen the Great was at war with the Turks for 13 years, while of those 13 years, there were only three when he had to face large-scale Ottoman campaigns or massive Ottoman invasions that, on average, were conducted for about two months a year. Therefore, for 6 months out of 47 years he properly and openly fought the Ottoman Empire. Let me stress that once again, the state of belligerence lasted for about 13 years, while for the remaining number of years of the 47-year-old reign, Stephen the Great was an ally of the Sultan. “



    The alliance with the Ottoman Empire, just like the state of belligerence, at that time largely depended on specific circumstances and on the medieval states need for mutual help. The extremely volatile peace of the time, and the almost constant warlike atmosphere lead up to changes in the vassalage relationships, in keeping with the immediate interests and the looming dangers. As for Stephen the Greats Moldavia, it was no exception to that either, in Central and Eastern Europe.



    Liviu Campeanu:



    “I have been trying to present to the public the results I have achieved, precisely thanks to the documents discovered in 2012 in the Archives of the Teutonic Order that have been preserved in Berlin, to this day: the fact that Moldavia had been tributary to the Ottoman Empire about 20 years earlier that it had been usually known. So, according to historiography, everybody agreed that Moldavia began to pay tribute in 1455 or 1456. But I discovered documents clearly attesting the fact that twenty years earlier already, so from 1432, Moldavia had become a stipendiary for the Ottoman Empire. So it was in that tradition that Stephen the Great fit in, he actually paid the tribute for three decades of his glorious reign, which is not a negative aspect. Perhaps very few people know that even the Hapsburgs paid the tribute to the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, what with the French King Francis the 2nd, being Suleiman the Magnificents ally in the first half of the 16th century. So such alliances and peace or mutual help treaties were just as normal at that time, and Stephen the Great was no exception to that himself. Besides, thanks to the tribute he paid, not only did he secure peace with the Ottoman Empire, but also, he got proper help from the Turks in various campaigns and battles he fought with the neighbors. Speaking of which, what I have in mind is Matthias Corvinuss Hungary or Casimir the 4th s Poland or Wallachia, where war was in full swing, pitting the Dracula against the Dan boyar families in the second half of the 15th century. In that conflict, Stephen the Great intervened on a number of occasions, sometimes even with Ottoman support. “



    At the time when Stephen the Great was at war with the Ottoman Empire, one of his most remarkable victories occurred, that of January, 1475, when he defeated Soliman Pasa in Vaslui. Following that victory, Pope Sixtus the 4th named him the Athlete of Christendom. However, the title should be viewed only in close connection to that particular moment of his reign. Subsequently, from 1486 to the year of his death, 1504, Stephen the Great complied with the politics of the Sublime Porte. And there is more to it than that: the Ottoman Empire was his ally in the conflict with the Polish King Jan Olbracht, resulting in Moldavians win in the battle of Cosmin Woods, Codrii Cosminului, in Romanian, in September 1497. Bach then, in the Cosmin Woods Battle, two great alliance systems went against one another: the Polish-Lithuanian Union and its vassals, the Duchy of Mazovia and the Teutonic Order, on one hand, and, on the other hand, Moldavia, with its allies, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. But how exactly the buildup to the conflict occurred, even though Stephen the Great had become Polands vassal in 1495, through a treaty signed in Colomeea? Here is Liviu Campeanu once again, this time outlining the historical background of that.



    “It was precisely from that kind of vassalage and the responsibilities Stephen the Great and the Polish King Casimir the 4th mutually took in Colomeea, in 1485, that this conflict sprang from. In effect, in 1484, Stephen the Great had lost to the Turks the Chilia and Cetatea Alba fortresses. Then he tried to regain them from the ottomans totally on his own, but that was virtually impossible. And then he veered towards the King of Poland. The Polish King consented to helping him, on condition that the former took a vassalage oath, which actually happened, in September 1485. However, the military aid made available by Casimir the 4th was insufficient and in no way met Stephen the Greats expectations. And then, in 1487, the Pope proclaimed an anti-Ottoman crusade across the entire Christendom and the Crusaders Army massed in Poland. Yet he did not rush to help Stephen the Great, just as the Colomeea Treaty stipulated, but Prince Jan Olbracht, still a prince back then and the supreme commander of the crusaders army, hijacked the crusade in Podolia. It was then that the great rift occurred, between Stephen the Great and the Polish Kings. Several minor border conflicts occurred as well, on both sides, culminating with the conflict of 1497. “



    Notwithstanding, King Ian Olbrachts campaign against Stephen the Great had an inconclusive ending. Considering the intricacies of the inter-state alliances of that time and also taking into account his victories and the relationships he set with the other monarchs, the Moldavian woiwode Stephen the Great was one of Central and Eastern Europes leading political actors of his time.




  • July 30, 2023

    July 30, 2023

    GOVERNMENT The government
    prepares to pass a set of fiscal measures in the coming days, designed to bring
    more money into the state budget and to keep the deficit close to this year’s
    target of 4.4% of GDP. As of this autumn, employees in agriculture,
    constructions and IT may have to contribute 10% of their incomes to the public
    healthcare fund. The government also intends to keep only 2 VAT rates, 9% for
    foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and hospitality services, and 19% for all other
    sectors. Governmental sources say the ruling coalition are also discussing a
    reorganization of the public sector, by scrapping 200,000 posts which are
    currently vacant. At the same time, the Cabinet is working on measures to support
    citizens cope with the rising inflation. The government is considering an
    increase in minimum wages in 2 stages: to roughly 670 euro in September and to
    750 euro as of January next year. But the plan is opposed by private
    entrepreneurs, who say they cannot afford to raise minimum wages for employees.
    According to a recent poll, should this measure be introduced, more than half
    of the private entrepreneurs in the country said they would raise prices for
    their products and services or downsize their staff.


    FIRE A Romanian fire fighter unit specialising in
    wildfires is leaving for France today, as part of a redeployment programme
    organised by the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and
    Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). As many as 40 Romanian fire fighters
    with fire engines, water tanks and other equipment will be stationed in
    Marseilles, on the Mediterranean Coast.


    TRIBUTE The Bucharest National
    Opera orchestra performs tonight for the first time at the Musikverein hall in
    Vienna, in a tribute concert to the Romanian composer Ciprian Porumbescu. The
    year 2023 was declared the year of Ciprian Porumbescu, to mark 170 years since
    the birth and 140 years since the death of the famous composer. The concert
    will consist exclusively of works by Ciprian Porumbescu: New Moon, the first
    Romanian operetta, the Ballad, the Romanian Rhapsody. The soloists, choir
    and orchestra of the National Opera House in Bucharest are conducted by Daniel
    Jinga, with special guests including maestro Gheorghe Zamfir and the soloist
    Maria Coman.


    UKRAINE A Ukrainian drone
    attack on Moscow hit 2 office buildings last night, the mayor of Russia’s
    capital city Sergei Sobyanin said, according to France Presse. According to the
    Russian defence ministry, a drone was shot down and 2 others were neutralized but
    crashed into a building compound. This was the latest in a string of attacks
    that Moscow blames on Kyiv, while also claiming the US and their NATO allies
    have provided assistance to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities say
    at least 2 were killed and 1 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the city of
    Zaporizhzhia.


    SPORTS Romania finished 4th
    at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Maribor (Slovenia), with 9
    gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals. This is the best performance for Romania in
    this competition, after the ones in 1995 (Bath) and 2003 (Paris), when it came
    out 3rd. On Saturday, the last day of the event, Romania won 2 gold medals,
    thanks to Alin Şavlovschi, in the men’s 2,000 m hurdles race and Bianca Maria
    Tiţa, Ştefania Balint, Maria Denisa Capotă and Alexandra Ştefania Uţă, who won
    the women’s relay race with a new competition record (2’06”13). Romania’s
    women’s handball team won the silver after losing the final to France, 32-27. Three other
    medals were won in the tennis competition, by Giulia Safina Popa in the women’s
    singles, Giulia Popa and Alexia Tatu in women’s doubles and Yannick Theodor
    Nicolas Alexandrescou/Alejandro Mateo Berge Vega Nourescu in the men’s doubles.
    In the gymnastics competition, Alexia Gabriela Vânoagă won the silver in the
    beam final. Romania participated in the Festival with a team of 92 athletes. (AMP)

  • Gift-offering as an exercise in power, in communist Romania

    Gift-offering as an exercise in power, in communist Romania


    Personality cult in the case of political
    leaders is a common trait in all historical ages. Flattering the leaders is part
    and parcel of a deeply-engrained human psychological mechanism. On one hand, it
    has something to do with the human being’s wish to receive over-the-top recognition
    as a sign of their power. On the other hand, it has something to do with the
    human being’s wish to climb up the social ladder, undeservedly, more often than
    not. However, over and above such an old practice, dating from time immemorial,
    we find the political leaders’ personality cult as a hallmark of fascism and communism. In Romania,
    the communist regime was no exception to the rule. Between 1965 and 1989, the
    communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu was the figure head around whom a blatantly
    wanton personality cult revolved.


    Such an exaggerated praise
    of the political leader was in fact an outgrowth of the regime’s brutality. In effect, praising the leader translated into hyper-eulogizing
    newspaper articles, grandiose shows on stadiums, parades, television and radio
    shows, official birthday ceremonies. Offering presents was a significant part of
    the personality cult. Presents were offered by economic entities, by craftsmen,
    by people from all walks of life or by foreign cultural and scientific personalities.
    Throughout the years, the presents received by Elena and Nicolae Ceaușescu made a special
    collection, as their diversity was literally spectacular. Paintings and
    sculptures alone make a nonesuch collection of works, whereby painters and
    sculptors were elbowing each other out, in their bid to pay their respects to
    the two communist leaders.


    Thirty years were marked
    in 2019 from the December 1989 revolution, when the Ceausescu regime was
    toppled. On that occasion, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest brought out
    a small-sized, 440-page album. The work included reproductions of paintings and
    various other works of art, dedicated to Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu. The album
    is somehow a sequel to Cornel Ilie’s A Portrait for the comrade, including reproductions
    of objects in the collection of Romania’s National Museum of History The latter
    album was published a year earlier, in 2018.

    Calina Barzu is a museographer with
    the National Contemporary Art Museum’s Photography Archive. Calina is also a
    curator of the tribute art exhibition. Ms Barzu didn’t fail to mention the parallel
    exhibition mounted on the premises, including items that were part of the then
    the automobile owners, members of the Retromobil club. Integrating day-to-day
    objects into the tribute exhibition is a way of understanding the spirit of the
    time when two generations of Romanians lead their lives, between 1945 and 1989.


    The
    exhibition was put together based on the 2019 catalogue that marked 30 years
    from the Revolution. It is a selection of the tribute works from the collection
    of the museum. The exhibition brings together works authored by well-established
    artists, in front of the onlookers and visitors, but also works made by ordinary
    people or working teams, works that were part of the heritage of the museum’s
    collection. The exhibition was initiated in December 2019, it had several
    episodes or series where the collections objects were on display. We initiated
    a collaboration with Retromobil Romania, they joined us along this theme and
    came up with several items belonging to their members’ collections, with automotive-related
    exhibits. The Retromobil items on
    display range from driving licences, automobile publications, maps, magazines
    and board notebooks. We also have a fridge that could be encased in the trunk
    and a TV set which could also be encased in the car’s accumulator. We have several
    registration plates and each of them has a story of its own, how they were
    rated according to the social class. We also have automobile objects that could
    be included in the travel kit. We also have a selection of archive images
    featuring pictures of cars.


    Small-sized though it is, the
    catalogue of tribute items at the National Museum of Contemporary Art quite aptly
    highlights the propagandistic charge of the tribute works of art. Sabin Balasa (1932-2008), was one of the most highly acclaimed painters of the Ceausescu
    regime. In the album, he was included with The Ceausescu Era, a painting he made
    in 1988, oil on canvas, 120
    x 150 centimetres. The work depicts four miners looking forward, against a
    half-dark, blue background. Here is Călina Bârzu once again, this time telling
    us what special items has the museum exhibited, which were part of the Ceausescus’
    presents collection.


    The special items in our collection include scale models
    of the presents sent by the people or by the enterprises that offered those
    presents. One such object, which is rather more special, showing a lot of
    creativity, performance and quality, is this present received from the Aeronautic
    Enterprise in Bacau, which also has a dedication for the two. It is a scale
    model of an airplane, symbolizing the work of the factory staff. Part of our items
    come from the original collection of then the Museum of the Romanian Communist
    Party and the Art Museum. It is a similar manner to place
    the leader centre-stage. The objects were supposed to illustrate the achievements
    of the factory, on one hand, but also his own achievements, on the other hand, they
    spoke about how he succeeded to bring the entire technological process and
    about the fact that it was entirely thanks to him that all the economic achievements
    were possible, thanks to him and to the work of the people. Everything was possible thanks
    to him, since he succeeded to contribute to the people’s progress and well-being.
    Most of the objects are in a good preservation condition.


    The tribute exhibition
    of presents received by Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu, hosted by the Museum of
    Contemporary Art, has a plain message for today’s generation: under a dictatorship,
    valuable as it may be, fine art falls outside the scope of a free spirit.

    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)



  • Landmarks in modern Romanian history

    Landmarks in modern Romanian history


    The year 2021 is, among other things, a year of utmost
    importance for the history of Romania. In 2021 we mark 200 years since an
    iconic event occurred in Romania’s past. Historians have been unanimous in
    describing the event as the trigger factor for the process of national rebirth.
    Such a process was possible against the backdrop of a deep-seated social discontent.
    The event is known as the 1821 Revolution. In April 2021,
    Romanian Parliament voted in favor of the year 2021 being officially declared
    the Tudor Vladimirescu Year. By the same token, Ecaterina Teodoroiu and Tudor
    Vladimirescu were granted hero status of the Romanian nation. In one of our previous instalments we focused extensively on the events
    staged in Gorj county, the native region of both Teodoroiu and Tudor
    Vladimirescu. Our host back then was Gorj County
    Council’s spokesperson Oana Palos.     It is also Oana Palos we have
    approached, so that she may give us details on the whys and the wherefores of
    the 1821 Revolution. First off, Oana Palos emphasized the importance of the
    1821 Revolution.

    Oana Palos:

    In fact, it
    was a revolt known as the Revolution of 1821, which was started right here in
    Gorj, by a bunch of commoners who were known as panduri/pandours (irregular,
    skirmisher troops) and who grouped themselves around Tudor Vladimirescu, a
    chieftain who was also born in Gorj, into a family of freehold peasants. The
    Revolution flared up and galvanized Oltenia, reaching as far as Bucharest, but it was short-lived, it lasted for a couple of months,
    because Tudor Vladimirescu was assassinated, just as it happened to a great
    many other Romanian leaders, at various stages in history. However, for the
    full commitment of those who fought for the Romanian cause, the 1821 Revolution
    earned its place in history and Tudor Vladimirescu gained hero status, being
    associated, according to the traditional mindset, to the status of prince,
    Prince Tudor. Let us perform an exercise in imagination, 1821, 1921, 2021. We
    go across time and space. And here we are, marking 200 years since those
    events. Allow me to invite you to think of the month of June
    1921, when, a century ago, Tudor Vladimirescu’s centennial had also been marked
    through the reinterment, in Targu Jiu, of the remains of Romanian army’s first
    female officer who fought in World War One, we’re speaking about Ecaterina Teodoroiu,
    the young woman who was also born in Gorj, back in the day she took a go-against-the-grain-stance
    and went on to become a symbol of courage and sacrifice.


    Oana Palos also told us that, locally, a yearly
    program has been thought out, dedicated to Tudor Vladimirescu’s bicentennial,
    including cultural and artistic evocative presentations, so each and every
    month, taking into account the circumstances generated by the pandemic,
    exhibitions were mounted as well as stage performances or religious and
    military ceremonies.


    Oana Palos:


    On May 2, but also on June 9,
    the events we staged were held under the aegis of the bicentennial. In Tudor
    Vladimirescu’s birthplace, the commune of Vladimir, in the very house where he
    was born, a wreath-laying ceremony with military honors was held, followed by a
    significant historical and military reenactment of a battle episode in 1821,
    when the apparel was presented, typical for the age, that of the boyars, of the arnauti (the Albanian guards), the pandours. In the same evocative vein, this
    time on June 9, in the center of Targu Jiu municipal city, where The Heroine of
    Jiu is interred, at the Mausoluem that was erected in her honor, a wide-scope
    series of events was held, followed by a traditional manifestation: a
    commemoration round dance was performed, whose significance was twofold: 200
    years since the Tudor Vladimirescu’s Revolution and 100 since the reinterment
    of Eaterina’s bones in Targu Jiu. We should also say that the official
    commemoration divine service was performed by a 100-strong gathering of
    priests, the number of one hundred was purposefully picked, to pay tribute to
    Ecaterina Teodoroiu, the divine service was followed by that ancient, typical
    Gorj custom, the commemoration round dance, usually performed to commemorate
    the departed. The custom has been preserved to this day. Also, as an absolute
    first, a stage performance was presented, titled The Tudor Vladmirescu Case,
    no doubt, a one-of-a kind-performance, primarily because of its concept, we’re
    speaking about a rock opera, a fusion between a ballad, rock and traditional music, which brought before
    the audiences unique episodes of Tudor Vladimirescu’s life way back when the
    battles were waged, led by him, yet the conception is a modern, abstract one.
    We would also like the show to become an element of tourist attraction, it will
    be on in Targu Jiu for the summer.


    Oana Palos once again, this time speaking about other projects they have
    prepared for the Tudor year.


    What else have we prepared for the Tudor Year…Projects,
    that’s for sure, and we want them to have as great an impact as possible. We’re
    speaking about photo-documentary exhibitions, including documents from museum
    archives and the collection that are our property, pertaining to Tudor
    Vladimirescu’s life and activity, launching events for photo and graphic
    albums, street performances, theatre and film festivals. In august, for
    instance, and also as part of the bicentennial, we will mount a street
    exhibition with 50 metal boards being placed in the city center with historical
    images of the Revolution, we will also have images projected on the municipal
    city’s historical buildings, a national historical film and theatre festival
    will also be held, the Vatra/The Hearth festival.


    The organizers are set to facilitate participation in
    the events to all those who so wish, so they assured us we’re only one click
    away from that. We can follow, live online, all the events, if we search Gorj,
    Targu Jiu, Tudor Vladimirescu on our computers.

    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)


  • A tribute to Corneliu Coposu

    A tribute to Corneliu Coposu

    The poems created by Corneliu Coposu in prison and written 17 years later, when he was released from communist prisons, have been brought together in a book launched Monday night in Bucharest, as part of a gala named after the celebrated Romanian politician. The event marked 24 years since the death of this anti-communist dissident, who was the leader of the Romanian Peasants Party until 1947. The President of the Romanian Association of Former Political Prisoners Octav Bjoza, spoke about Corneliu Coposus moral uprightness and about the role model he was for the Romanian society:



    Octav Bjoza: “It was very difficult to get close to him, but 2 or 3 times I had the chance to talk to him briefly. The last time was 4 or 5 months before he left for the last surgery in Germany. Do you know what he told me? Mr Bjoza, he said, I would like to see the members of Parliament battling for their strategies and programmes, and even ideologies, but after they leave Parliament I would like to see them together, going out to a concert, a play, a beer, or a football match. But these people… they hate each others guts, Mr Bjoza. Im sorry, but I find this unacceptable.



    Corneliu Coposu served time in the most terrible communist prisons: in Vacaresti, Jilava, Pitesti, Malmaison, Craiova, Aiud, Poarta Alba, the Danube-Black Sea Canal, in Gherla and Sighetul Marmatiei, and he was detained in harsh solitary confinement in Ramnicu Sarat between 1954 and 1962. During the 8 years spent alone in a cell, he spent his time praying, doing maths and writing poems, so as not to lose his mind.



    In spite of terrible hardships, Corneliu Coposu never renounced his principles and constantly struggled to turn Romania from a Soviet satellite into a Western democracy. Born in 1914, the great politician was trained under another noteworthy statesman, the former prime minister Iuliu Maniu, whose political secretary Coposu was. He was involved in organising the anti-communist opposition at the end of World War II, and organised student protests against the communists.



    In 1947 Coposu was arrested and detained without a trial. When released, the communist regime asked him to collaborate in exchange for clearing his name, but Coposu turned down the offer. He re-established the National Peasants Party as a clandestine group and in 1987 he had it affiliated to the Christian Democrat International.



    After the fall of communism in 1989, he brought together the opposition groups of the time into what was known as the Democratic Convention. He died in 1995, a year before the Convention won the local, parliamentary and presidential elections in Romania. Of Coposus 3 key goals, namely Romanias joining the European Union, NATO and the restoration of the monarchy, only the latter was not achieved.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)