Category: The Future Starts Today

Most Roma resort to beggary, allegedly in order to survive. 51% of Roma families say they suffer from hunger at least two days a year, while 15% argue that hunger is a permanent ordeal. Statistics indicate that in some countries up to 30% of Roma families live on social welfare, while 24% subsist on child-rearing benefits. According to the latest census, Roma people account for the second-largest ethnic group in Romania after ethnic Hungarians, standing at some 500,000 people. According to the overall perception, they are twice as many in reality. The problems of ethnic Roma have recently been the topic of a conference held in Bucharest, where Labour Minister Mariana Campeanu highlighted education as the main solution for Roma inclusion and for improving the living standards of their community. Unfortunately, a lot of time has already passed without any real progress.

Mariana Campeanu: “If we had focused more on educating Roma children in the first place during the past 20 years, at present we would have had a generation of children with high chances of integrating into any European society, with very high chances of holding well-paid jobs, which should allow them a decent living, and which in turn would allow their children to access all the benefits that a modern society has to offer”.

The Roma’s worldview is on the whole uncomplicated. Most Roma who responded to an opinion poll believe that “a person needs good health, luck and diligence to be successful”. State benefits rank 4th on the same list of requirements in terms of importance. Nine in ten Roma are currently victims of discrimination in its various forms. And that’s not just Romania, but the entire European Union, according the data made public by the European Commission. Gelu Duminica, the head of the “Together” Community Development Agency believes there is some good news among these figures, although change requires a lot of time.

Gelu Duminica: “20 years ago there were some 0.1% of Roma young people who completed higher education studies. At present this figure has risen to 1.2%. It is a significant increase, although it remains low as compared to the national average, which stands at 10%. There are also certain areas that have seen some improvement, such as access to healthcare services”.

But Gelu Duminica also sees the matter from a different perspective. He believes Roma should not be viewed as a social problem, but rather as an opportunity for Romania in terms of the demographic evolution in the coming years.

Gelu Duminica: “According to Eurostat, in 2050 Romania will have around 16 million citizens, of which the number of Roma will be standing at the same 1-1.3 million. But the young Roma population will be prevalent in the 16-45 year age bracket, that is, active population. In other words, it is them who will be paying the pension benefits and access to health and education for my generation, who are 35 years old today.”

The need for Roma inclusion is a major issue at European level. Special institutions, scores of NGOs and programs focus on this particular problem, including in Romania and Bulgaria, which have sizeable Roma communities. Minister Mariana Campeanu acknowledges the role of national policies for Roma integration, but also calls for the involvement of European institutions, if viable solutions are to be found.

Mariana Campeanu: “The European Union must accept the idea that the Roma issue is an EU-wide issue, just as it is an issue for each member state. And only together, through cooperation and by finding the best solutions, can we help these people out of their current pariah status. It’s no point in offering money to people, in exchange for leaving a state and returning to their home country, because after a while they will come back.”

The same view was expressed in Bucharest by the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Laszlo Andor. According to him, the integration of the Roma should not be limited to a particular community, town, region or country. If Roma integration fails anywhere in the EU, the entire European society stands to lose. In order to truly make a difference in the daily life of the Roma, particularly of those who live in underprivileged environments, common efforts are needed, as well as the long-term involvement of European, national, regional and local stakeholders.

One area where parents generally fail however is raising these children with very high IQs. And even if they had the expertise, Romania lacks the special schooling units matching their off-the-limits potential. Professor Florin Colceag, an international expert in excellence education, spoke about Romania’s gifted children.

Florin Colceag: “Romania ranks among the countries with exceptionally good rating in this field. I specialize in intellectual giftedness, I also tutored a great number of gifted people and I recognize a genius when I see one. Intellectual prowess is reported in only a small number of peoples, Romanians included. IQ standards are off the charts in the case of Chinese, Indians, Russians, Jews and Romanians. The word that best describes this condition is complexity. Such people have an absorbing capacity in several fields, can grasp several dimensions of a problem at several complexity levels, and this is particularly valid for Romanian gifted people. Paradoxically, Romanian giftedness is especially associated to the village idiot paradigm. The gifted types are usually confronted with overpowering situations, have no support in their efforts to overcome it, they face a complex array of problems, and for these reasons they’ve developed a certain capacity to solve high-difficulty problems, a capacity both extraordinary and unique. Unique is perhaps too much said, but it is a kind of capacity that only a handful of people exhibit, the ones I’ve just mentioned. Other peoples have developed different strands of giftedness, such as technical or administrative giftedness, but we Romanians are the chaos type. We thrive on chaos, and that’s the extraordinary side of it. Even if millions of Romanians have fled Romania, people who were top professionals, this did not deal a deathblow to our genius population. The fact that we are still facing the same problems we’ve always been facing doesn’t dent our giftedness whatsoever. On the contrary, today’s generations have some extraordinary abilities from an early age, many of them becoming overachievers at a later stage in life”.

Although it is not a rule, usually the minds of gifted children are ahead of their physical growth: they make connections between ideas and establish relations between concepts, while at the same time displaying remarkable concentration capacity.

Florin Colceag again: “At three years of age, children have the three characteristics of geniuses: curiosity, a sense of freedom and confidence in people. Most of them lose these traits as they grow up, because they are not encouraged to use and develop them. Ten years later, therefore at 13 years of age, their genius traits are gone, because kids had to integrate in an environment that rejects geniuses. They have to be less different, because being different from the others entails rejection. This is one of the greatest lessons children learn.”

Instead of being brought down by adverse social and economic reactions, gifted children put their natural potential to use, professor Florin Colceag says. Next he tells us more about the abilities of child prodigies in Romania:

Florin Colceag : “It all depends on age. At an early age, the capacity of Romanian gifted children to distinguish between what is significant and what is not and to create relevant scenarios equals that of the Jewish prodigies, in other words it is very high. Unfortunately, this capacity is not encouraged. If it were, we would have outstanding performances in a wide range of domains. Then come inventiveness and creativity, which grow at an extraordinary rate until the age of 12. If not encouraged, they stop developing after this age, but where there is an encouraging environment, they continue to develop and reach exceptional levels. Later, in teenage years, we have far-sightedness and the integration capacity, but on the other hand there is also the need to get away from a system that suffocates them. It doesn’t give them the strength to go on, it doesn’t allow them to breathe, it eats into their liberties. Hence, what we call the ‘brain drain’. We fuel the West with the intelligent people we educate.”

According to Florin Colceag, 80% of the gifted children grow up to be mediocre because they have not been involved in skill development programmes. The methods recommended by professor Florin Colceag for identifying and maximising the potential of gifted children include the feedback method. This involves parents and teachers discussing with kids and asking for their opinions at very early ages, to draw their attention to relevant details, to encourage them to create scenarios, to give them complex information and, not least, to ensure their contact with nature, which will leave a mark on their attitude.

After conducting its first nuclear test in 2006, North Korea agreed to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid and security assurances. In recent years however, Pyongyang has voiced its intention to restart its nuclear reactor and to resume uranium-enriching activities for military purposes. The announcement comes at a time when North Korea is engaged in a war of statements with Washington and Seoul, threatening to launch ballistic attacks on the US and to invade South Korea. Tension has been building up in the Korean Peninsula for decades, but every sudden surge of tension was followed by a period of quiet. How is the situation any different now? Political commentator Bogdan Chirieac explains:

“It boils down to nuclear weapons. Apparently American experts know for sure that right now North Korea doesn’t have the capability to manufacture nuclear warheads carried by missiles. Therefore the bombs they have been detonating underground are too big to be carried by missiles. Believe it or not, North Korea is now part of the elite club of nuclear-powered countries. But Pyongyang signing the non-proliferation treaty has always been out of the question. They do have nuclear-powered missiles, they have tested one recently, when missiles were deployed in the Sea of Japan. So, in other words, the United States and South Korea say North Korea’s display of nuclear prowess is no more than just a threat, and we have seen such threats before”.

The crisis in the Korean Peninsula has also come to the attention of European institutions, which might impose fresh sanctions against North Korea. Our Brussels correspondent Luminita Apostol has the details.

“The EU might enforce new sanctions on North Korea if necessary. For the time being this is only possible course of action, as member states are discussing it as an option. A high-ranking European official, who wanted to remain anonymous, has said that Europe might adopt new sanctions if Pyongyang decides to launch a new missile or carry out another nuclear test. The last set of sanctions was imposed on February 18, shortly after North Korea’s latest nuclear test. Under the new sanctions, EU states are banned from importing from or exporting to North Korea key components for ballistic missiles, and also from trading gold or precious metals with that country. Moreover, 26 persons are subject to a travel ban on EU territory, while the number of businesses targeted by asset freeze on EU soil has now been increased to 33. The EU is currently considering the idea of imposing sanctions on the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank. The same EU official however said that the Member States are also bearing in mind the negative consequences these sanctions might have on European embassies in North Korea and on the North Korean people”.

Europe is relying on China and Russia to persuade North Korea to resume peace negotiations. Beijing has already taken a first step in this direction, saying it doesn’t want the Korean Peninsula to slip into chaos. After Pyongyang warned all foreign nationals in South Korea to leave the country, as the risk of war breaking in the area is high, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei has announced his country will oppose any party’s action that would escalate tension and impair stability on the Korean Peninsula. In turn, Moscow has said that the G8 countries (namely the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia) reject what they’ve called North Korea’s “provocative and bellicose line of conduct”, urging all parties to seek a diplomatic resolution to crisis in North-eastern Asia. On the other hand, the amount of money currently being invested in military hardware is staggering. Bogdan Chirieac again:

“Last year North Korea invested close to 9 billion dollars in its arms industry, while South Korea spent 35 billion dollars. There is of course a huge difference between the two country’s GDP, as the North is currently famine-struck. Remember that last time Kim Jong-il agreed to let the International Atomic Energy Agency to install CCTV cameras in North Korean nuclear reactors in exchange for rice and food. It is a well-know fact that people in North Korea live on roots and tree bark. People live in dire poverty, they are terrorized and tortured in gigantic political prisons, as satellite images have confirmed. And still the international community does too little to rid the country of this political and military aberration”.

Bogdan Chirieac believes a possible solution to the current crisis might emerge from negotiations between the US and China.

The result of an oversized banking system and of tax incentives that attracted more or less legal money from all over the world, the Cyprus crisis has had a considerable effect on financial markets in Europe, in particular in terms of the currency exchange rates. This is the opinion of Dragos Cabat, a member in the managing board of the Organisation of Certified Financial Analysts in Romania. He says Romania has also been indirectly affected by this crisis.

Dragos Cabat: “The Cyprus crisis first led to the depreciation of the euro following uncertainty over what was going on in the euro zone and what the solution would be. Once a solution was found, the single European currency started to appreciate again on the market. However, the measures taken in Cyprus, which can also be applied in other euro zone countries at any time, have put pressure both on Cyprus and the euro. The euro will thus continue to be weak compared to the American dollar and the other currencies. Romanian markets are indirectly affected by the volatility of the euro and the even bigger volatility of its own currency, the leu. Anything bad that happens in the euro zone or the European Union will have a strong influence on the leu-euro exchange rate.”

As in the case of Greece, the crisis of Cypriot banks seems to have caught the European Union unprepared. The latter had to take some unprecedented measures to prevent Cyprus from going into default on payment. Cyprus has agreed with the its lenders, the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to restructure two of its biggest banks, Bank of Cyprus and the Laiki Bank. Laiki will actually close, and its good assets transferred to the Bank of Cyprus.

Following these measures, Bank of Cyprus depositors are bound to lose around 40% of their deposits, which will be immediately converted into shares to support the recapitalisation of the bank. Another 22.5% of deposits will be frozen in non interest- bearing accounts pending the finalisation of the restructuring process, a project that is estimated to last a few months. These funds may be accessed if need be and in turn be converted into shares.

Faced with the possibility that people might withdraw large sums of money, Cypriot authorities have enforced a temporary restriction on cash withdrawals to 300 euros a day. At the same time money transfers abroad have been capped at 5,000 euros per month, while the cashing of cheques has been banned.

This is the first time in the history of the euro zone when a member state resorts to such harsh measures, the underlying principle of which is general public interest. The 10-billion-euro loan has prevented Cyprus from defaulting on its payments, although it does not provide all the solutions for restoring economic growth and stability to this country, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said. Cyprus will need to restart the real economy, while at the same time alleviate the social consequences of the economic shock, Barroso went on to say. It is highly unlikely other European states should introduce such drastic measures, IMF spokesman Jerry Rice has said. Cyprus’s case has its idiosyncrasies and couldn’t occur in another Member State. Economic journalist Dan Suciu commented on this prospect:

“It all depends on what statements we choose to believe as being true. Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem has already made it clear that should the model currently tested in Cyprus prove to be a success, it will be used to intervene in other countries as well. Moreover, we have seen the statements of French president Francois Hollande and of Spanish Prime Minister Rahoi, both arguing against such a move and insisting the measures in Cyprus do not represent a model as such, but rather a singular intervention and nothing more. The statements of the Dutch Minister have sparked great concern, particularly in Spain, a country that finds itself in a somewhat similar situation”.

The solution to the banking problem of Cyprus is a relief not just for the whole of Europe, the vice-president of the Association of Banking and Financial Analysts in Romania Ionut Dumitru has argued:

Ionut Dumitru: “Ensuring the stability of Cyprus’s banking sector and working out a solution could have a positive impact on international financial markets, especially at EU level. Romania has not been affected by the developments in Cyprus, nor will it be affected in the future either”.

Now that the crisis in Cyprus seems to have receded, global markets have responded positively, with the euro rebounding from the recent one-month low against the dollar and international stock markets reporting hikes.

White smoke appeared from the chimney of Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on the 13thof March, indicating that a new pope had been elected. For the first time in over 100 years, the pontiff was elected after only five rounds of voting. He is also the first pope to come from Latin America, the first Jesuit pope and the first non-European pope since Gregory III in the 8thcentury. 76-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina is also the first pope after John Paul II to pick up a unique name.

The choice of the name of the young rich man from Assisi who renounced his wealth and founded the Franciscan order in 1290 may be an indication of the new pope’s priorities in his efforts to usher in some peace and quiet for a troubled Catholic Church. The pontificate of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, was marked by many scandals inside the Church, especially related to cases of paedophilia in the United States and Ireland, as well as problems of communication with the people. Following his election last week, the 266thleader of the Catholic Church gave his first blessing to the thousands of people gathering in St. Peter’s Square. Here’s father Adrian Danca, from Radio Vatican:

“A bow before the crowds. Pope Francis, who has been called to serve the church from the end of the globe, amazed an entire world during his first public appearance by making this disarmingly simple gesture before thousands of cameras and microphones. Before delivering his Urbi et Orbi blessing, the pope bowed before the crowds and first asked them to give him their blessing. This gives us precious indication about the personality of the new pontiff. Our first reaction was surprise, something the staff of the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major must also have experienced when the pope stepped down from a modest bus early the next morning, breaking with protocol. He prayed for half an hour and left flowers on the altar of the Virgin Mary. He continued the first day of his pontificate by stopping at the hotel where he had stayed before the Conclave and paying his bill, packing and saying goodbye to the hotel staff. He was told his low-cost return ticket to Argentina could not be reimbursed.”

The first things that the new leader of the Catholic Church did suggest that this will be the pontificate of a Pope close to the people, of a humble Pope, only interested in serving God. In his homily during the inaugural Mass, Pope Francis called for kindness and compassion:

“Everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts! Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are “Herods” who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women. Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!”

Difficult challenges are ahead of the new Pontiff, including the moral issues and abuse accusations facing a Church that brings together some 1.2 million believers. An overview of these problems by France Presse mentions, among others, a wave of unprecedented internal disputes. Many religious and priestly organizations demand more democracy within the Catholic Church, a reform of Papacy, priest marriage and the ordination of women. The new Pope will be under a lot of pressure, including from some of his bishops, as regards a number of realistic reforms—particularly those allowing divorced and re-married persons to receive communion and those paving the way towards making priest celibacy voluntary. There is also a lot of talk regarding the localization of Catholic ceremonies, which often raises problems from India to Latin America. Abuse complaints continue to be reported in the West, especially as regards the 1965-1985 period. One example is the Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles, subject to a huge sexual abuse scandal, with attempts to cover up cases of child abuse by Catholic priests in the past. Meanwhile, many congregations and dioceses are accused of corruption, particularly in Africa, and the financial situation of the Vatican is rather delicate, as a result of the global financial crisis.

White smoke appeared from the chimney of Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on the 13thof March, indicating that a new pope had been elected. For the first time in over 100 years, the pontiff was elected after only five rounds of voting. He is also the first pope to come from Latin America, the first Jesuit pope and the first non-European pope since Gregory III in the 8thcentury. 76-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina is also the first pope after John Paul II to pick up a unique name.

The choice of the name of the young rich man from Assisi who renounced his wealth and founded the Franciscan order in 1290 may be an indication of the new pope’s priorities in his efforts to usher in some peace and quiet for a troubled Catholic Church. The pontificate of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, was marked by many scandals inside the Church, especially related to cases of paedophilia in the United States and Ireland, as well as problems of communication with the people. Following his election last week, the 266thleader of the Catholic Church gave his first blessing to the thousands of people gathering in St. Peter’s Square. Here’s father Adrian Danca, from Radio Vatican:

“A bow before the crowds. Pope Francis, who has been called to serve the church from the end of the globe, amazed an entire world during his first public appearance by making this disarmingly simple gesture before thousands of cameras and microphones. Before delivering his Urbi et Orbi blessing, the pope bowed before the crowds and first asked them to give him their blessing. This gives us precious indication about the personality of the new pontiff. Our first reaction was surprise, something the staff of the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major must also have experienced when the pope stepped down from a modest bus early the next morning, breaking with protocol. He prayed for half an hour and left flowers on the altar of the Virgin Mary. He continued the first day of his pontificate by stopping at the hotel where he had stayed before the Conclave and paying his bill, packing and saying goodbye to the hotel staff. He was told his low-cost return ticket to Argentina could not be reimbursed.”

The first things that the new leader of the Catholic Church did suggest that this will be the pontificate of a Pope close to the people, of a humble Pope, only interested in serving God. In his homily during the inaugural Mass, Pope Francis called for kindness and compassion:

“Everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts! Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are “Herods” who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women. Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!”

Difficult challenges are ahead of the new Pontiff, including the moral issues and abuse accusations facing a Church that brings together some 1.2 million believers. An overview of these problems by France Presse mentions, among others, a wave of unprecedented internal disputes. Many religious and priestly organizations demand more democracy within the Catholic Church, a reform of Papacy, priest marriage and the ordination of women. The new Pope will be under a lot of pressure, including from some of his bishops, as regards a number of realistic reforms—particularly those allowing divorced and re-married persons to receive communion and those paving the way towards making priest celibacy voluntary. There is also a lot of talk regarding the localization of Catholic ceremonies, which often raises problems from India to Latin America. Abuse complaints continue to be reported in the West, especially as regards the 1965-1985 period. One example is the Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles, subject to a huge sexual abuse scandal, with attempts to cover up cases of child abuse by Catholic priests in the past. Meanwhile, many congregations and dioceses are accused of corruption, particularly in Africa, and the financial situation of the Vatican is rather delicate, as a result of the global financial crisis.