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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 28/04-4/05/2008 |
| (2008-05-02) |
| Last updated: 2008-05-07 17:23 EET |
This week Romania has practically been on holiday. First, Orthodox and Greek-catholic believers celebrated Easter; they went to churches to bring home the lit Easter candles and then they enjoyed traditional Easter meals, such as roast lamb, painted eggs, lamb meatloaf, pound cakes, cheese cake accompanied by a glass of red wine. Some of them took advantage of the two days off, granted by the government, and have extended their mini holiday for Mayday, the International Labor Day. Romanians enjoyed walks in the park, barbecues with friends and visited mountain or seaside resorts. The well-off went to more exotic destinations such as Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria. Hotel owners on the Black Sea coast also jumped at the opportunity to officially open the 2008 summer season.
May the 2nd saw the beginning of the campaign for the election of mayors, local and county councilors due in June. The campaign will continue until May the 31st. During this time, candidates of parties, political and electoral alliances and also independent candidates will be able to make their views and programmes public in shows and meetings broadcast by public radio and TV stations as well as in articles carried by the printed press. According to the Central Election Bureau, 54 political groups forwarded applications to field candidates at country level, with only 41 having been fully completed. According to local election law, the parliamentary parties’ access to public radio and television, including to local studios, is free of charge, whereas non-parliamentary parties can benefit from similar access only if they have fielded candidates in at least 50% of the elections taking place in a county. At the same time, opinion polls, election spots, commentaries concerning the election campaign, as well as shows focusing on the candidates, are banned 48 hours before the election day.
Several days before International Press Day, marked on May the third every year, the well-known human rights organisation Freedom House published its annual report on media freedom all over the world in 2007. The report placed Romania in 94th position, four places down, out of a total of 195 countries evaluated, noting that the press in Romania only benefits from partial freedom. Among the reasons which secured Romania’s fall in the standings were the criminalization of defamation and calumny, which are still punishable by jail, under a Constitutional Court decision. According to Freedom House, access to information of public interest, although granted by law, is not always easy to obtain. The authors of the aforementioned report have also mentioned that journalists run the risk of going to prison for publishing secret information. However, as compared to the social-democratic rule between 2000 and 2004, the press in Romania currently enjoys more freedom, the report has revealed. Freedom House mentions that although the presidency and the government are no longer interfering in editorial policy, they are still appointing the board of managers of public radio and television stations. As far as the independent press organisations are concerned, Freedom House believes they are prone to self-censorship due to their owners, influent politicians or thriving business people.
The European Commission has authorised Romania’s request to grant a 143 million euro aid to US carmaker Ford for the production of vehicles and engines at the car plant in Craiova, southern Romania, involving total investments of up to 600 million euros. In February Brussels called on Bucharest to recover 27 million euros from Automobile Craiova, arguing the sum represented an illegal state aid granted to Ford. An EC spokesperson explained the decision has been made taking into account the fact that Dolj county, where the plant is located, has been included on a list of Romania’s disadvantaged regions, with people in low income brackets and a high unemployment rate. The commission has estimated the Ford investment will create over 40 thousand new jobs.
This weekend will see the fourth edition of White Nights, an event held in 21 major Romanian cities concurrently with national Youth Day. White Nights - a programme much appreciated in other EU countries, was first staged in Romania in 2006. As part of this event, Romanian youngsters will be able to attend cultural-artistic programmes. The ‘Shakespeare 2008’ International Theatre Festival, one of the most important theatrical events in Romania began this week in Bucharest and Craiova. The event is part of a series called the “European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008.” For the first time, starting this year, the International Shakespeare Prize will be awarded to a leading figure from contemporary theatre.
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2025-04-03
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