How the 'Star of Romania' has been reduced to nothing more than a piece of metal

The Romanian head of state Traian Basescu wanted to have the right-wing extremist politician Vadim Tudor divested of the country's most distinguished medal, the 'Star of Romania'. A court has now ruled that Tudor be given back the honour. Marius Nitu examines how seriously the medal is taken today. "Ex-President Ion Iliescu awarded the order to Vadium Tudor for alleged outstanding services in the name of democracy. But beyond the discussion about whether Tudor really deserves the Order or not - which by the way has also been awarded to Queen Elisabeth II and Kofi Annan - the decision is a declaration of bankruptcy for all Romanian orders and medals. Ex-President Ion Iliescu conferred honours on virtually the entire population, distributing over 66,000 orders, medals and honours... Ultimately this exaggerated conferring of medals has had the effect of reducing them to nothing more than a pile of colourful metal."

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