December 1, 2013 UPDATE

ROMANIAS NATIONAL DAY— Romania’s National Day was celebrated on December 1st by the Romanians in the country and abroad as well as in the theaters of operations where Romanian soldiers are taking part in international missions. In Bucharest more than 2000 Romanian soldiers and for the first time soldiers from the US, France, Poland and Turkey participated in the traditional military parade. The parade, one of the most spectacular of the past 25 years, was attended for the first time by a special guest, the president of the neighboring Republic of Moldova who joined the Romanian President and PM. Romania’s National Day was also celebrated by the Romanian diplomatic missions abroad through concerts, exhibitions, theater plays, film, screenings and reception parties. On the other hand, the central Romanian city of Alba Iulia hosted these days the 17th Congress of Romanian Spirituality. The congress is being attended by delegates from 23 countries. The topic of this year’s meeting is “the state of Romanians 95 years since the Great Union of 1918”. The union of all Romanian principalities in one nation, unitary state took place on December 1st in Alba Iulia.

DAY OF ROMANIANS ABROAD — November 30th, the day of Romanians from all over the world is a moment of celebration, of national pride and affirmation of the Romanian spirit all across the world, said the Romanian minister delegate for Romanians abroad, Cristian David. He urged the millions of Romanians who live abroad to keep alive in their souls the Romanian culture, language and traditions. Minister David reiterated that the Romanian Government was supporting the Romanian communities aboard and would use all institutional, political and diplomatic instruments to defend their rights. The Day of Romanians Abroad was marked in several European capitals and in the Romanian communities from abroad.

ROYAL TRIP— On Romania’s National Day, several members of Romania’s royal family took a symbolic trip aboard the royal train from the central mountain resort of Sinaia to Bucharest. Crown princess Margareta, prince Radu and Princess Elena were accompanied by Transport Minister, Ramona Manescu and other public personalities. Upon their return to Bucharest they participated in the inauguration ceremony of the royal lounge at the North Station, that was restored to resemble the original form it had during Carol I’s reign. This symbolic trip retraces the long tour of Romania King Ferdinand and Queen Marie made in 1919-1920 in order to meet the Romanians from the principalities which, through the will of their inhabitants, united with the mother country — Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia. The royal train started being used by the Royal House of Romania in June 1928 during the first reign of King Mihai I. It was used by King Carol II (1930-1940) and Mihai I (1940-1947) and also during the Communist times when it was a presidential train.

BUDGET— As of December 3rd the state budget and social security bills for 2014 will start being debated by Romania’s Parliament. The bills were approved Friday by the Parliament’s joint budget-finance committees. The Liberal Democrat opposition, whose amendments were rejected, claims that the budget bill for 2014 encourages tax evasion. President Traian Basescu in turn criticized the draft budget law and warned that he would not promulgate it unless they eliminated the 7 eurocent- increase in the fuel excise tax.

FILM FESTIVAL — In New York continues, until Tuesday, the most important Romanian film festival in the US “Making Waves” which has reached the 8th edition. At Lincoln Center the audience will see films by Nae Caranfil, Corneliu Porumboiu, Iulia Rugină, Adrian Sitaru as well as Romania’s Oscar nomination in the best foreign language category “Child Pose” by Calin Netzer, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. For the first time this year the festival in New York has a theme: propaganda.

BOXING — Romanian boxer Ionuţ Dan Ion, aka JO JO Dan, 32, defeated Canadian Kevin Bizier in 12 rounds in a professional gala hosted by Quebec, Canada. He won the North-American Boxing Association NABA and IBF Inter-Continental titles in the welterweight category. This was the 32nd victory in the Romanian boxer’s career. He was defeated only twice. Following this victory JO JO Dan has become the 2nd challenger for the IBF world welterweight title. He will fight for the big title in this category in 2014.