Given that a Romanian parliamentary commission this week called for Minister of Tourism Elena Udrea to be criminally investigated for a number of alleged offences, including misuse of funds, it is a relief to know that at least one Romanian organisation is doing its utmost to spread the word that there is more to this country than meets the eye: the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR).
Read about their current programme of events in Prague here, in the Prague Post, a programme that includes a recital of poet Nichita Stanescu’s work in Czech and Romanian, photography exhibitions and concerts. And all free.
Makes you think that simply doing away with the Ministry of Tourism and handing its budget to the ICR might be the way forward?
(Note by the way how the Prague Post refers to Romania as Eastern Europe, as though the Czech Republic somehow isn’t…)
Anyone know the Dinamo result?
And by the way of nothing, Nichita Stanescu (a kind of Romanian Jeffrey Bernard) brings back happy memories of our university days.
Stanescu was a regular subject on the timetable in our Romanian poetry class, and no mention of his name was complete without our professor telling stories about the great man (usually involving drunken misbehaviour).
On one occasion our professor admitted that as a young student himself he had for some time loitered around university bars in order to engage Stanescu – who was always usually well-oiled – in discussion about the meaning of his poetry, only for Stanescu to bang on the whole time about football.
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Surely the real definition is: the amorphous crap bit. So as soon as a country feels it is doing well for itself or acquires a clear identity, it graduates to central europe or just get referred to by it’s own name (like russia)
@Valentin: Indeed, a perfect description.
One of best definitions of Eastern Europe is by Robert Pynsent, a Czech literature expert:
‘Eastern Europe is represented by countries and territories dominated, occupied or incorporated at one time or another by the four European overland empires (Russian, Austrian, Ottoman and Prussian) and where the language of the majority ethnic group/ population is not Russian, German or Turkish.’ (I recall that from memory)
It is a brilliant definition which encompasses everything from geography, history, politics and culture and obviously makes Czech lands 100% East European, despite their proffered wishes.
Actually I (and most Romanians) perceive the Czechs as Central Europeans more than Eastern Europeans.
Considering they have a medium wages of 1500 Euro / month, considering they actually produce something (so they have an economy not only consumption), considering they are serious, working people they don’t really match the Eastern typology.
The East is Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Serbia and the former Yugoslav republics (except for Slovenia), Albania, Greece (! – yes, they are Eastern although they had some luck after WWII), Moldova and Ukraine.
Poland, Hungary and Slovenia are also perceived as Central Europe, while the Baltic states are an extension of Scandinavia, the way I see it. Russia is Russia, Turkey is Turkey while from Austria to the left we can call the territory as West
Craig, I just walked by statue of Nichita Stanescu this morning. I had not heard of him before but my guide, Valentin of Via Pontica fame, was telling me about him and now a few hours later I see you mentioning him! I think the Czechs like to think of themselves as Central Europeans as opposed to Easterners. Prague is further west than Vienna after all and has been full of tourists since the fall of Communism. Bucharest is still an Eastern outpost!
To me – and i think most people of my generation – anywhere behind the Iron Curtain was and always will be Eastern Europe
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