Considering all the racist shit that’s been going on lately, I thought it was worth discussing a few basic definitions. Today, we use the word “country” (Ro: țara) rather loosely, sometimes meaning a sovereign political entity and sometimes in the older sense of a territory inhabited (predominately) by one people. For example, we say that Romania is a “country”, but there are several “countries” inside … Continue reading Nation vs. State
When we last left the neverending saga of Rosia Montana back in July, it seemed like things had finally come to a peaceful end. The area was going through the process of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and, well, the Romanian government was going to have to cough up around 4.4 billion dollars for its stupidity. As a wise man once said, when you … Continue reading Opening Up a Can of Gold Worms
Over the weekend, I had the misfortune of watching the (Romanian) internet blow up over a video posted on YouTube. Ostensibly, it shows a faceless Romanian man filming with a hidden camera as he tries to order some food at a Kaufland in the town of Odorheiu Secuiesc but get refused service because he didn’t speak Hungarian. Antena 1, the conservative television news network, covered … Continue reading Race Baiting for Fun and Profit
Here’s a question for you – What if an international film star traveled to Romania to shoot a movie and nobody cared? Well, of course, that’s exactly what happened last week. As far as I can tell, the entirety of the vaunted Romanian press paid zero attention to the fact that a scene for a major movie was being filmed in the country except for … Continue reading Spyder, Spyder, Burning Bright
The biggest non-Hungarian statue in Cluj-Napoca is of Mihai Viteazul, known as Mihai “Bravu” in the southern regions of Romania and “Michael the Brave” in English. Today, there are statues of Mihai all over Romania and several villages bear his name. His incredible claim to fame is that, in the year 1600, he united all three of the majority-Romanian lands – Transylvania, Moldova, and Wallachia … Continue reading The Ballad of Mihai Viteazul
All Things Romania 