Zoom on Romania

POLITICS

i) On June 9, Romania will hold the first of the four series of elections scheduled for this year. The fact that local elections will take place here on the same day as the European ones has two major implications:

• European topics and themes – which are not very attractive to Romanians anyway – were almost completely absent from the electoral debate.
• Nationalist/conservative/right-wing parties will probably achieve a better electoral score than in the last local elections, helped by the higher turnout of those who would not otherwise have voted in the European elections.

A sociologist, Barbu Mateescu, humorously noted that "For the first time since the Ceau?escu regime, we are witnessing this experiment: a few million people are being made to vote in an election they did not want to attend."

We will certainly have much to comment on in the coming days.

ii) The European Parliament elections are, however, being watched with great interest in the Republic of Moldova, which, although not a member of the European Union, will be able to participate in this vote through the approximately 1 million Moldovans who also hold Romanian citizenship. An article on this topic, for Balkan Insight, was written by M?d?lin Nec?u?u: https://balkaninsight.com/2024/06/07/in-non-eu-moldova-romanian-passport-holders-cant-wait-for-june-9/

MEDIA

i) On SINOPSIS, I published an in-depth article about how current legal regulations, which allow any sum to be claimed in court for allegedly defamatory articles written by journalists, are affecting freedom of expression in Romania.

This opinion is also shared by APADOR-CH, which has proposed an amendment to the Civil Code so that in cases of defamation, moral damages are capped at a predictable level. Full article here: Romanian Journalists Can Still Be Harassed in Court (in Romanian only).

ii) On the other hand, the recent buzz in the media market is noteworthy, with three new journalistic projects launched in the last ten days: two investigative journalism sites (publicrecord.ro and snoop.ro) and one sports site (golazo.ro). All look more than promising.

TOURISM

i) Romania finally has its first tourist guide. Created with European funding, it proposes 12 routes that reveal a long-ignored multicultural diversity. More details in a DW report (Romanian only).

ii) Moreover, British journalist and filmmaker Charley Ottley has recently launched the film "Discover Oltenia”. The new documentary promotes the Oltenia de sub Munte region in Romania - an aspiring UNESCO geopark that stands out with its rich cultural and natural wealth.

iii) The first direct flight between Romania and the U.S. has resumed on June 7 after a hiatus of over 20 years. Funny enough, the flight departed with a delay of around one hour.. There will now be four direct flights per week between Bucharest and New York.

In related development, recently has also been inaugurated the first direct flight between Bucharest and Baku (Azerbaidjan).