Romania’s Prime Minister Emil Boc resigned on Monday following weeks of unrest spurred by the cost-cutting measures his government has introduced as part of an IMF bailout deal. Intelligence chief Mihai Razvan Ungureanu was named to replace him.
An estimated 2.5 million Roma people live in Romania. Here, the government has fully understood the importance of education in integrating the community into wider society. But in practice, going to school often brings new problems for these Roma families.
It's yet another blow to the supposed right to free movement within the European Union. Spain has been allowed by the EU to restrict its job market to Romanian workers. Madrid says it has to do this as it struggles with the highest unemployment in the EU. The number of Romanians in Spain has quadrupled in the last five years to more than 800,000, but now many of them feel ostracized and unfairly singled out.
In today's show we find out if the ex-Nouvelle Vague singer Nadéah is as flamboyant, playful and theatrical as she seems. Also on the programme, a classical music festival in Bucharest that gives a nod to an earlier, grander era and the 'French Elvis' stages a reincarnation. The rock legend Johnny Hallyday stars in a slightly camp Tennessee Williams play in Paris.
Argentina’s Pumas roared to an overwhelming 43-8 victory over Romania Saturday in a Pool B match of the Rugby World Cup, scoring four tries within the first half hour.
Today on the net, more and more Syrian activists are now calling for foreign intervention. Romanian villagers campaigning against the construction of an open-pit gold mine. And a website which ranks hackers and pits them against each other…
Could the future of European organic farming be in Romania? Investors in the agricultural industry have come to realise what a goldmine lies under the green pastures of the Carpathian mountains - land here costs a fractions of Western European prices and farmers can buy far bigger properties.
Lisa Nesselson joins us today to talk about two very different films. "The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu" is put together entirely from 1,000 hours of archival footage, by director Andrei Ujica. "Rabbit Hole", meanwhile, adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is directed by John Cameron Mitchell and stars Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman.
Acclaimed Romanian writer Norman Manea has a lot to say about persecution - he joins Catherine Nicholson in the studio to talk about his latest novel “The Lair”. Plus, a Roma actress who's hoping to bridge cultural gaps with her autobiographical play. Also, the French troupe the Sea Girls are bringing burlesque back to the stage.
Romania is stepping up immigration controls along its borders to boost its bid to join Europe's Schengen visa-free zone. Stopping the flow of illegal immigrants is seen as key for allowing the two countries to join. Last month, France and Germany said that it was "premature" to let Bulgaria and Romania enter the passport-free travel area in March 2011; and it only takes one member country of the Schengen block to vote against them and scupper their plans.
