Political migration affected twice as many mayors last year than in 2005 with the governing Liberal (PNL) and Democratic (PD) parties luring most interest, a new study shows. The opposition Social Democrats (PSD) and the Greater Romania Party (PRM) reported most losses, the report published by the Bucharest-based Institute for Public Policies says.
Last year, the total number of PNL and PD-affiliated mayors exceeded that of PSD mayors for the first time. The fastest pace of political colour changing was recorded before a new low banning political migration came into effect last summer.
According to Adrian Moraru, the coordinator of the study, the number of transfered mayors last year might have equaled the record 37% reported in 2003 if the new law hadn’t been applied.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Rain, snow and strong winds storm Romania
Winter hit Romania hard in the first days of January with roads closed and traffic seriously perturbed by snow and rainfalls in many parts of the country. Police advise drivers to postpone their travels on several national roads as the National Weather Administration expected a high quantity of precipitations between January 2 and January 4.
The regions of Moldavia in Eastern Romania, Dobrogea, the Southern plains as well as the Southern Carpathians were most affected by Wednesday evening. According to the Antena 3 TV news station, authorities planned the closure of the National Road 1 (DN1), linking capital Bucharest to the city of Brasov in Central Romania, for the first time in ten years on Wednesday night.
The order was considered after a bus with 40 people on board slid off the road between Brasov and the nearby resort of Poiana Brasov. Nobody was hurt in the accident.
The main problems by noon on Wednesday were found on the national road DN 67C, where 12 kilometers were blocked by the snow, between Novaci and Ranca, as well as on the national road 71, connecting Targoviste and Sinaia, where two freight trucks skid and blocked half of the road.
In the county of Buzau, over 100 villages lost power because of electricity pillars being affected by strong winds.
In Bucharest it snowed heavily on Wednesday morning before turning into rain as temperatures started to rise later in the day. Still, the usual terrible traffic in these conditions was nowhere to be seen as many city dwellers are not yet home from holidays.
There were also problems in the city of Sibiu, which is the European Cultural Capital this year. Over 20,000 people there were left without electricity on Wednesday due to heavy snowfalls.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
The regions of Moldavia in Eastern Romania, Dobrogea, the Southern plains as well as the Southern Carpathians were most affected by Wednesday evening. According to the Antena 3 TV news station, authorities planned the closure of the National Road 1 (DN1), linking capital Bucharest to the city of Brasov in Central Romania, for the first time in ten years on Wednesday night.
The order was considered after a bus with 40 people on board slid off the road between Brasov and the nearby resort of Poiana Brasov. Nobody was hurt in the accident.
The main problems by noon on Wednesday were found on the national road DN 67C, where 12 kilometers were blocked by the snow, between Novaci and Ranca, as well as on the national road 71, connecting Targoviste and Sinaia, where two freight trucks skid and blocked half of the road.
In the county of Buzau, over 100 villages lost power because of electricity pillars being affected by strong winds.
In Bucharest it snowed heavily on Wednesday morning before turning into rain as temperatures started to rise later in the day. Still, the usual terrible traffic in these conditions was nowhere to be seen as many city dwellers are not yet home from holidays.
There were also problems in the city of Sibiu, which is the European Cultural Capital this year. Over 20,000 people there were left without electricity on Wednesday due to heavy snowfalls.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
EU accession euphoria leaves room for gloomy days
Moody winter days took reign in Romania over the past few days as the country and its southern neighbor Bulgaria are coming to terms with EU accession following huge celebrations to mark boosting the Union to 27 members on January 1, 2007. Impressive fireworks lit the skies of Bucharest, Sofia and other cities across Romania and Bulgaria on a mild New Year’s Eve.
But they did not last long - with the exeption of Romanian city of Sibiu, which has the honor of representing the European Cultural Capital for 2007.
The accession of Romania and Bulgaria means the EU will now have some 30 million more citizens, although not all of them will have all the related privileges.
That was enough to lure throngs of hundreds of thousands in downtown Bucharest and Sofia to celebrate the event on Sunday to Monday night, with national and international performers, local authorities and European officials as important as EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn as gifted masters of ceremony.
Still, the streets in the two capitals have been gloomy since shortly after midnight on January 1, when EU-honoring lasers turned off and firecrackers went silent to leave the people go home for their New Year’s Eve meal.
And to make a difference between the two countries - among the poorest in democratic Europe - and the rest of the EU - most companies remained closed for much of the week, the newspapers did not see print and the streets turned muddy by heavy snow and rainfalls across Romania made sure those who remained home for the holidays would not dare outside.
Those who did not remain home - many members of the strongly evolving middle class in the two countries - are expected to return home from once unconceivable ski trips to Austria, Italy and France or travels to exotic as Tunisia, Egypt and Thailand.
The merits for dealing with the impact of accession belonged mostly to international media in the first two days of the year, where many newspapers and broadcasters reported how the two countries have passed an overwhelming period of transition from communism, but are still struggling with the task of catching up with the rest of the EU.
In Bucharest, it was the TV that helped President Traian Basescu spread his message hailing the success of EU membership. “It was hard, but we reached the end of the road - the road of our future, the road of our joy”, he said during celebrations in Bucharest.
“You are not alone. The EU is with you”, sounded the message of Commissioner Rehn, EU Parliament president Josep Borrell and other EU officials visiting Sofia, Bucharest and Sibiu, the 2007 Cultural Capital of Europe.
The EU accession fulfills a dream both countries have pursued since applying for membership in 1995, six years aftert they threw off their communist regimes. They started the negotiations in 2000 and, on the back of impressive economic growth over the past several years, concluded them in 2004, but kept a long series of problems still to be solved in the first years since accession.
The European Commission finally agreed to let them in in September this year despite some members’ concerns about the lack of substantial progress in tackling corruption and reforming the state institutions in Romania and Bulgaria.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
But they did not last long - with the exeption of Romanian city of Sibiu, which has the honor of representing the European Cultural Capital for 2007.
The accession of Romania and Bulgaria means the EU will now have some 30 million more citizens, although not all of them will have all the related privileges.
That was enough to lure throngs of hundreds of thousands in downtown Bucharest and Sofia to celebrate the event on Sunday to Monday night, with national and international performers, local authorities and European officials as important as EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn as gifted masters of ceremony.
Still, the streets in the two capitals have been gloomy since shortly after midnight on January 1, when EU-honoring lasers turned off and firecrackers went silent to leave the people go home for their New Year’s Eve meal.
And to make a difference between the two countries - among the poorest in democratic Europe - and the rest of the EU - most companies remained closed for much of the week, the newspapers did not see print and the streets turned muddy by heavy snow and rainfalls across Romania made sure those who remained home for the holidays would not dare outside.
Those who did not remain home - many members of the strongly evolving middle class in the two countries - are expected to return home from once unconceivable ski trips to Austria, Italy and France or travels to exotic as Tunisia, Egypt and Thailand.
The merits for dealing with the impact of accession belonged mostly to international media in the first two days of the year, where many newspapers and broadcasters reported how the two countries have passed an overwhelming period of transition from communism, but are still struggling with the task of catching up with the rest of the EU.
In Bucharest, it was the TV that helped President Traian Basescu spread his message hailing the success of EU membership. “It was hard, but we reached the end of the road - the road of our future, the road of our joy”, he said during celebrations in Bucharest.
“You are not alone. The EU is with you”, sounded the message of Commissioner Rehn, EU Parliament president Josep Borrell and other EU officials visiting Sofia, Bucharest and Sibiu, the 2007 Cultural Capital of Europe.
The EU accession fulfills a dream both countries have pursued since applying for membership in 1995, six years aftert they threw off their communist regimes. They started the negotiations in 2000 and, on the back of impressive economic growth over the past several years, concluded them in 2004, but kept a long series of problems still to be solved in the first years since accession.
The European Commission finally agreed to let them in in September this year despite some members’ concerns about the lack of substantial progress in tackling corruption and reforming the state institutions in Romania and Bulgaria.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
Francis Ford Coppola in love with Romania
Francis Ford Coppola’s strong bond with Romania, where he shot a movie inspired from the works of Romanian writer and scholar Mircea Eliade, is explored by France Presse in an interview according to which the American director is visibly attached to the CEE country.
According to Coppola, the professional qualities of the team he worked with in Romania were excellent.
The motion picture, shot in Bucharest and Piatra Neamt in Romania, but also in locations in Switzerland, Malta and India, stars Tim Roth, Matt Damon, Bruno Ganz and Romanian actress Alexandra Maria Lara.
Coppola tells AFP that Romania enjoys a rich cultural heritage in all art forms, especially poetry, literature, theater and music, which prove to be a guarantee for success.
He opted to work with a team formed almost exclusively of Romanian professionals.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
According to Coppola, the professional qualities of the team he worked with in Romania were excellent.
The motion picture, shot in Bucharest and Piatra Neamt in Romania, but also in locations in Switzerland, Malta and India, stars Tim Roth, Matt Damon, Bruno Ganz and Romanian actress Alexandra Maria Lara.
Coppola tells AFP that Romania enjoys a rich cultural heritage in all art forms, especially poetry, literature, theater and music, which prove to be a guarantee for success.
He opted to work with a team formed almost exclusively of Romanian professionals.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
Sibiu becomes Cultural Capital of Europe
The Central Romanian city of Sibiu became the Cultural Capital of Europe for a whole year on January 1, 2007, an honor that caught the usually quiet medieval burg in full swing of progress, yet far from what many would have expected from a place that expects hundreds of thousands of visitors this year.
The official ceremonies including unmatched fireworks, official speeches, concerts and other performances marking the start of the Cultural Capital year took place across Sibiu on Monday. But the tens of thousands of people that faced winter rain to attend the events left home with a split opinion.
On one hand, the New Year’s Eve ceremonies and massive works to rebuild the historical center of the city over the past two years have left their positive marks: much of downtown Sibiu, with its never-have-the-same-color-with-your-neighbor houses, hi-tech ornaments and jaw-dropping shows of light and sound looks nothing like the grayish city landscape of the communist past.
On the other hand, on the first day of the Cultural Capital year most museums remained closed - as did most shops and restaurants in the key spots across the old town. On the streets, only a couple of people sold hot (yet sour) wine and small plastic cups of vodka to freezing revelers. And when President Basescu attended a ceremony to open a library, the lights went off for several minutes.
While many local businesses hope to make a good profit on the backs of the European program, the honor also costs big money - some 90 million euro, shared by the Culture Ministry and the Sibiu City Hall. The money goes both on cultural programs and on infrastructure projects.
Some 1700 cultural events involving about 200 cultural operators are to be organized in Sibiu this year. But one man is expected to draw most profit - Mayor Klaus Johannis, whose popularity locally exceeds 80% due to works to rehabilitate the city infrastructure.
Sibiu shares the title with Luxembourg, which marked the beginning of its 2007 Cultural Capital programs in December 2006.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
The official ceremonies including unmatched fireworks, official speeches, concerts and other performances marking the start of the Cultural Capital year took place across Sibiu on Monday. But the tens of thousands of people that faced winter rain to attend the events left home with a split opinion.
On one hand, the New Year’s Eve ceremonies and massive works to rebuild the historical center of the city over the past two years have left their positive marks: much of downtown Sibiu, with its never-have-the-same-color-with-your-neighbor houses, hi-tech ornaments and jaw-dropping shows of light and sound looks nothing like the grayish city landscape of the communist past.
On the other hand, on the first day of the Cultural Capital year most museums remained closed - as did most shops and restaurants in the key spots across the old town. On the streets, only a couple of people sold hot (yet sour) wine and small plastic cups of vodka to freezing revelers. And when President Basescu attended a ceremony to open a library, the lights went off for several minutes.
While many local businesses hope to make a good profit on the backs of the European program, the honor also costs big money - some 90 million euro, shared by the Culture Ministry and the Sibiu City Hall. The money goes both on cultural programs and on infrastructure projects.
Some 1700 cultural events involving about 200 cultural operators are to be organized in Sibiu this year. But one man is expected to draw most profit - Mayor Klaus Johannis, whose popularity locally exceeds 80% due to works to rehabilitate the city infrastructure.
Sibiu shares the title with Luxembourg, which marked the beginning of its 2007 Cultural Capital programs in December 2006.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
RO, BG bring 53 new members in European Parliament
The European Parliament has 53 new members as of January 1, 2007, following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU. The national parliaments of the two countries nominated 35 Romanians and 18 Bulgarians respectively to represent them in the EP until both nations are summoned for their first European elections later this year.
The numbers coincide with those of the observers Romania and Bulgaria have had in the European Parliament since September 2005. Many of these observers will keep their seats as full MEPs, while others are soon to be named.
The 53 brings the total number of MEPs to 785, which will go down to 736 after the 2009 European elections, when Romania will be represented by 33 MEPs and Bulgaria by 17.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
The numbers coincide with those of the observers Romania and Bulgaria have had in the European Parliament since September 2005. Many of these observers will keep their seats as full MEPs, while others are soon to be named.
The 53 brings the total number of MEPs to 785, which will go down to 736 after the 2009 European elections, when Romania will be represented by 33 MEPs and Bulgaria by 17.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
First baby born in Turin this year is Romanian
His’ name is Simone Tabarcea, he weighs 3.7 kilos and is perfectly healthy. He is the first baby born in the northern Italian city of Turin in 2007 - and he is Romanian.
He was born ten minutes after midnight on January 1, while thousands of Italian citizens and Romanian workers were celebrating the New Year - and some of them, the EU accession of Romania - in the city’s main squares.
“We planned to celebrate in the Castello Square at midnight, but the little one wanted to be born faster”, mother Simona Tabarcea told La Stampa newspaper. Simone’s father, a 24-year old worker come to Torino several years ago, received the news tears in his eyes.
“We’ve been in italy for so many years, and I’m happy that my baby is a symbol. I hope it would be a good charm both for the Romanian community here and for the Turin people”, Simona says.
According to La Stampa, Turin’s last boy born in 2006 is also a Romanian. His name is Giulio and was born prematurely but is in good condition now.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
He was born ten minutes after midnight on January 1, while thousands of Italian citizens and Romanian workers were celebrating the New Year - and some of them, the EU accession of Romania - in the city’s main squares.
“We planned to celebrate in the Castello Square at midnight, but the little one wanted to be born faster”, mother Simona Tabarcea told La Stampa newspaper. Simone’s father, a 24-year old worker come to Torino several years ago, received the news tears in his eyes.
“We’ve been in italy for so many years, and I’m happy that my baby is a symbol. I hope it would be a good charm both for the Romanian community here and for the Turin people”, Simona says.
According to La Stampa, Turin’s last boy born in 2006 is also a Romanian. His name is Giulio and was born prematurely but is in good condition now.
HotNews.ro, Jan 4, 2007
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