November 19, 2016 UPDATE

President Klaus Iohannis receives the Martin Buber Plaque.

Newsroom, 19.11.2016, 13:28

DISTINCTION – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has voiced hope that the legislative elections due on December 11 will not bring any extremist parties in the country’s parliament. He has pointed out that Romania is a country where the European spirit is at home and where there are no xenophobic or anti-European tendencies. Iohannis has made these statements in the Netherlands, upon receiving the Martin Buber Plaque of the Euriade Foundation. Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Sylvia of Sweden, Gari Kasparov and Helmut Schmidt are some of the personalities who had previously received this award.

YIDDISH– Professional theatre troupes from the US, Israel France and Poland, klezmer artists and groups, book launches and workshops will bring to public attention the Yiddish culture at the TES FEST International Festival that kicks off on Sunday in Bucharest. The first edition of the festival is organised by the Jewish State Theatre in Bucharest, between November 20 and 27. The event marks the anniversary of 140 years since the opening of the first Yiddish professional theatre in the world, in the Romanian city of Iasi, back in 1876. The festival addresses wide audiences, both Romanian and foreign and is aimed at bringing cultures closer together, the director of the Jewish State Theatre in Bucharest, actress Maia Morgenstern, has said.

STUDY – Around 60% of Romanians see their financial situation as average, with incomes that barely cover their basic needs. According to a recent study, 15% of respondents say that the money Romanians earn are often spent before the end of the month and are insufficient even for their basic needs, while 58% say they can cover their daily needs but they can hardly cover any other unexpected cost. On the other hand, 18% of Romanians can afford anything they want and can cover even costs that come up unexpectedly. Only 8% of the people interviewed say they can buy anything they want and they can even make savings. We remind you that the average salary in Romania is among the smallest in the EU, the equivalent of 280 euros per month.

GUIDE – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has launched the “Guide of the Romanian Voter Abroad” offering information to Romanian citizens in the Diaspora about how to exercise their right to vote in the December 11 legislative elections. Romanians living outside the country’s borders can cast their votes at one of the 417 polling stations available, by 111 more than at the 2012 elections and by 123 more than at the presidential elections of 2014. We remind you that two years ago, due to organisational problems, thousands of Romanians abroad were unable to cast their votes.

TOURISM – Mountain climber Alexandra Marcu, known for having conquered the world’s highest volcanoes has been declared “Ambassador of the Romanian tourism”. In January 2015 Alexandra Marcu succeeded to climb Chile’s Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano in the world measuring 6,893 meters high. Alexandra, aged 17 at that time, became the third woman in the world that has ever climbed this volcano. This is also Europe’s youngest mountain climber to conquer Pico de Orizaba of Mexico, and the youngest Romanian to get on top of the Kazbek massif in Georgia.

CELEBRATION – The Bucharest subway on Saturday celebrated 37 years since becoming operational, in 1979, after five years of construction works. At present, Bucharest’s subway network covers almost 70 kilometres and has 51 stations. Over 600 thousand people take the subway every day, accounting for 20% of the total number of people using public transport.

BOOK FAIR — The Gaudeamus International Book Fair organised by Radio Romania is under way in Bucharest. Among the dozens of cultural activities scheduled for Saturday was the final of a national contest initiated by Radio Romania in 2002 in order to promote reading among high school students. The fair, which comes to an end on Sunday, brings together hundreds of publishers and more than 850 events. This year’s guest of honour is China. Gaudeamus is organised by Radio Romania, the only public radio station in the world to initiate and develop a programme of such magnitude to support print culture.

(Translated by Elena Enache)