Recently in Romania Category

Yesterday, on my way to work, I got swamped by a horde of leftist proletarians sleepwalking into history guided only by the smell of two pieces of roasted meat and one beer. Those reds will vote for restoration and the democracy of putsch.

That's why you should go and cast your vote, too.

I don't enjoy writing about politics, but as 2006 was drawing to an end, developments were building up.

A few remarkable specimens crawled out of the sewers lately but they're marginal compared to the one who has the power to rule them all. And it's not even his merit. It is media's.

Some journalists have little reason for sleeping well at night — during 2006 they proved crassly irresponsible in a self-distructive kind of way by promoting the extreme-right "militant of light," Mr. Becali, a growing force that once created by reckless media people is rapidly becoming a serious menace.

Consequently, he clocks in second now in the polls and experts predict his figures will continue to climb in 2007. Suppose a heart attack or an accident disables President Basescu in near future. What then?

Here are a few points that — for me — will make 2006 a year to remember:

Politics

- Who would've thought a few years ago that Romania will be able to join the European Union? This, in my opinion, is the single most important landmark event since the 1989 Revolution, a move that will shape our future history.

- A once in a life-time event was the public condemnation of communism and the former communist regime, the Lustration Bill and the establishment of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes (IICC).

- Crawled right out of the sewer for "a bit of the old Ultra-Violence" in 2006: Mr. Vadim and Mr. Voiculescu. Those Droogs should be reformed by means of The Ludavico Treatment. But, just like in the movie — real horror show! — instead of joining "the smelly perverts and hardened crustoodniks" in jail, those two remained top dogs in "a job for two, who are now of job age, the police." Political police, that is.

- Mass media people have little reason for sleeping well at night since in 2006 they proved once again idiotic in a self-distructive kind of way by promoting "the knight" of the extreme-right, Mr. Becali, a growing force that once created by reckless media is rapidly becoming a serious menace. The tabloid channel ProTV proved surprisingly dedicated in this matter.

Business

- The incredible boost this opportunity and this new found confidence gave to business, especially in the last few months.

- On the downside, one notable fact was the rumor started by a financial newspaper about unrealistically huge median salaries available on the market, especially in marketing-related positions.

Culture

- I enjoyed quite a few great small-budget movies in 2006, like The Squid and the Whale, Me and You and Everyone We Know. 2006 seems like it was a good year for Romanian cinematographers with premieres for A fost sau n-a fost and Hartia va albastra, Catalin Mitulescu's How I Celebrated the End of the World and Tudor Giurgiu's Love Sick (Legaturi bolnavicioase)

What would you add to the list? What were the notable events that marked 2006 for you?

The full half

This XIth Francophonie Summit in Bucharest will paralyze the centre of the city and the hysteria already begun. Closed streets, police, helicopters, poker-faced guys with swollen armpits, unavailable parking spots, closed institutions.

Even dogs have to get passing permits in order to have access on the closed streets.

We're opening up towards Europe by closing down the city to its own citizens.

However, let's see the full half of glass in the story — I think this is a reasonable price to pay for all the refurbishing that's going on in Bucharest for the last few weeks. We now have a cleaner city that hopefully will educate the citizens that cleaner is better. Even the Victory Square and its surroundings turned into a more civilized place.