The article responds to the Secrets of Transformation multimedia series, a joint project of Bertelsmann Transformation Index and Deutsche Welle.  On paper, the Romanian economy seems to be the star of the region, if not the child prodigy of the EU as a whole. According to the latest Eurostat reports released early in December 2013, […]

 A few days ago I went to Stockholm’s excellent Moderna Museet to see a photography exhibition on Swedish workers’ marches and demonstrations against fascism and for the usual labour demands: better wages, increased job security and so forth. One photo showed people wanting the right to a peaceful retirement. I […]

42% of Romanian women live in severe poverty. This is the worrying conclusion of a 2013 European Union Report on Gender Equality. I wanted to find out more on how women in my country got there, so I spoke to Prof. Oana Băluță, associate professor at the Faculty of Journalism […]

A mere two subway stops away from  Bucharest’s center lies the ghetto of Ferentari. It’s Romania’s most dangerous neighbourhood, a festering pocket of crime, gangs, drug addiction, drug trafficing, prostitution, abject deprivation and multi-layered exclusion. 100,000 Romanians call it home. During the interwar period and all the way through the […]

Romanian opponents of the grandiose mining scheme at Roşia Montană were delighted when a photo of American actor Woody Harrelson supporting their cause circulated for days on the Internet. Harelson is just one of the many people opposed to the project. But pressure on the Government is not yet  enough […]