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Hera, Calin
5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
A successful provocation of Romania's cultural scene
Romanian literary critic and historian Adrian Marino wrote the book The Life of a Lonely Person, which at his own request was to be published five months after his death and will now go on sale in March. In the book Marino accuses famous intellectuals of provincialism and making moral compromises. The daily Evenimentul Zilei comments: "With all due respect to the intellectuals in Adrian Marino's book, it is good that he has voiced criticism against them; it's good even if it looks bad. Provocation. A discussion about a person can sometimes help to understand his work. At any rate controversy attracts attention and thus has the same effect as a shelf full of trophies. ... However the posthumous discussion triggered by Adrian Marino risks turning into a typical Bucharest smear campaign instead of a genuine and necessary debate about Romania's cultural values - what they are, what they should be and how they should be fostered."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Cultural Policy, » Philosophy, » Weltanschauung, » Romania
Demands for autonomy down to a lack of ideas
The National Council of the Szekler, a Hungarian-speaking minority in central Romania, has yet again called for an autonomous Szeklerland. In the daily Evenimentul Zilei Calin Hera describes this repeated call as part and parcel of the election campaign as Romania is due to vote for a new president in November: "Every four years the … demands of the Hungarian/Szekler representatives and the reactions of Romanian politicians send tremors through Romanian society. It's a cheap spectacle, a ritual solemnly performed before each election. Because ideas and concrete offers are lacking the Romanian and Hungarian politicians play the nationalist card. And so we're likely to see naïve voters fall into this trap and turn up at the ballot in large numbers. … I believe that the politicians in Bucharest could have created a good-looking Romania if they genuinely tackled the Hungarian problems. One that has roads that lead to the coast or to the [Danube] delta, to Bucharest's historical centre, to the Retezat Mountains or to the guest houses on the Danube."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Minorities, » Romania
Environmental problem insignificant in economic crises
For several years a Canadian business has wanted to develop Europe's biggest gold mine, reputed to lie under the Romanian location of Roşia Montană. Until now local authorities have refused to grant permission for environmental reasons. The company has now promised in a television advertisement that the project will bring Romania earnings of four billion dollars. The daily Evenimentul Zilei criticises the ad: "Broadcast nonstop on television, a question is followed by the answers of 'simple people'. They talk of schools, daycares, streets, environmental protection, small businesses etc. ... With their Pavlovian instinct being tweaked in this way, Romanians are brimming with big plans and increasingly hope the Rosia Montana project will go through. The project, which comes at a time when the entire world is stressed by the economic crisis, now represents for them not environmental catastrophe but a ray of hope. ... Then the politicians will begin to say that the project isn't so bad as all that, and that money - virtual money that is - is like a burst of oxygen in times of difficulty and other claptrap of the sort."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Economic Policy, » Hungary, » Romania
Watered-down review of Securitate files
A Romanian senate committee has changed the law on reviewing Securitate [the former secret service in communist Romania] files. If the parliament approves there will be no more probes into the past of priests and former members of the nomenklatura who are still active in politics today. The daily Evenimentul Zilei points out: "Lustration was necessary in the past and still is today. The lustration was a naïve concept in a Romania that lacked principles - and still does. Why do we need to know who worked for Securitate? Because they persecuted us for years, they tried to listen in on our thoughts, to influence us. They read our letters, bugged our telephones, disdained our lives. They did all this secretly ... To our faces they were friends; behind our backs they were spies for small or big rewards. They were blackmailers, cowards or simply lacked any principles. ... They slowed down the progress of this country, robbed us, forced us to leave our home to escape them. ... Who will represent 'us', the naïve who believe in justice and truth and that good will triumph over evil."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Romania
What are the seven wonders of Romania?
Why shouldn't Romania have its own seven wonders of the world, asks the newspaper. It recommends 25 Romanian wonders for people to vote on. Included in the selection are buildings such as the Black Church in Brasov, built by German settlers, or 'Dracula's castle', Schloss Bran. "The French have the Eiffel Tower, the USA has its Statue of Liberty, the Chinese have their wall and the Russians the Kremlin. A country's degree of recognition is expressed through such famous symbols. But what represents Romania? Each of us has our favourite place here, something we're proud of. Like the bewitching Moldau Cloister, with its outdoor wall paintings, in the north of Bukhovina. One simply has to visit the Royal Palace of Peles, as well as Sibiu or the Unesco city centre of Sighisoara. There's probably not a single Romanian who doesn't have a photo of him or herself and the casino in the port city of Constanza. Let's choose the seven wonders of Romania."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Architecture / Cities, » History, » Romania
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