Romania Today

Romania finds itself in a clean-up phase, both physically and metaphorically. Towns and cities around the land are sprucing themselves up, renovating and modernising in step with the country's expanding reputation as a tourist destination. The new emphasis on tidiness extends to the upper reaches of government. Officials have launched a long-awaited crackdown on corruption in the hope of winning the favour of Brussels and finally gaining all of the benefits of EU membership.

Not Quite a 'Full' EU Member

While Romania has been a formal member of the EU since 2007, visitors to the country will notice that not all perks of membership appear to apply.

The first major difference is that entry into the country from the EU requires you to show a passport. Romania is still not a member of the EU’s common border and customs ‘Schengen Zone’. Membership in Schengen was part of the original package when Romania and Bulgaria were negotiating EU membership in the run-up to 2007, but Brussels delayed the decision for both. More recently it has again deferred the question of Schengen entry, and at the time of research it wasn’t clear when or if Romania would receive this coveted perk.

The other big difference is that Romania still does not use the euro. It is among a handful of EU states where old national currencies still circulate. The reasons are complex. At first, Romania didn’t meet stringent EU budget and inflation standards for joining the common currency. Later, in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, particularly with problems in EU-member Greece, neither Bucharest nor Brussels appeared eager to force the euro on Romania. Central banks still make occasional noises about joining the euro, but the date keeps getting pushed off further and further into the future.

Best on Film

4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (2007) Breakthrough drama on illegal abortion that kicked off the 'Romanian New Wave'.

Tuesday, After Christmas (2010) Slow dissolution of a marriage, with the pressure of the holidays in the backdrop.

Child's Pose (2013) Gripping story about bending the system to get a man absolved of a crime.

Best in Print

Between the Woods and the Water (Patrick Leigh Fermor; 1986) Reminiscences of an Englishman who undertakes a remarkable journey through Transylvania in the '30s.

The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova; 2005) Brilliantly reanimates the Dracula myth focusing on Vlad Ţepeş.

Nostalgia (Mircea Cărtărescu; 2005) Short stories on modern Romanian life weaving together dream and reality.

Best in Music

Band of Gypsies (Taraf de Haïdouks; 2001) Updated Roma-inspired folk music.

OM (Negură Bunget; 2006) Timișoara-based metal band blends folk and noise.

Romanian Rhapsodies (George Enescu; 1901) The best-known compositions of Romania's greatest classical composer.

Growing 'Colectiv' Conscience

The evolution of Romanian society since the fall of communism in 1989 has been an amazing process. In the first decade after the revolution, it looked (from the outside at least) as if little had changed. After all, the new election cycles seemed only to return the same old and familiar faces to power. More often than not, these leaders had ties to the old regime.

In more recent years, though, it appears this former acquiescence to the status quo – the belief that nothing will change – is itself starting to change. Many point to the Roșia Montană environmental dispute of 2013 and 2014 as the first glimmer of a population willing to fight back. The dispute involved a deal between a Canadian mining company and the Romanian government to exploit a gold seam in a protected part of Transylvania. Fearing the project would destroy the area, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets around the country and eventually forced the government to halt the deal.

Less than two years later, a tragic nightclub fire at the ‘Colectiv’ club in Bucharest killed more than 60 people, and protestors came back out in force. This time the enemy was widespread corruption – the argument being that bribes and protection rackets had allowed the owners of the nightclub and similar places to skirt fire and safety rules.

The result has been a breathtaking crackdown on corruption at all levels. In 2016 Romanians joked that there were more mayors around the country behind bars than hardened criminals. For visitors, the crackdown has resulted in some closed-down nightclubs and bars, but also the prospect of improved safety. For Romanians, it’s spurred the slow but growing realisation that people can effect change when they work together.

The Place Never Looked Better

Romania is sprucing itself up and credit for that probably goes to Sibiu. The Saxon city served as the EU’s Cultural Capital in 2007 and used the opportunity to polish the cobbles and transform itself from a shabby Transylvanian town to a top-shelf destination.

Other cities around the country took notice. Cluj-Napoca took the bait in 2015, when it served as the EU’s Capital of Youth. The city converted that honorific into a chance to renovate, innovate and reinvent itself as a lively student hub.

Indeed, everywhere you go, cities and towns sport a new shine. In 2016 Iaşi pulled the scaffolding down from the long-idle Palace of Culture. After eight years in the planning and nearly €30 million in investment, the former seat of Moldavian power now looks like a glimmering Taj Mahal.

Fix-up fever has even reached scruffy Bucharest, with central Calea Victoriei getting a long-awaited spruce-up by way of new bike lanes and trendy boutiques. Timişoara will serve as the EU’s Cultural Capital in 2021, and is also cleaning itself up at a feverish pace.

Population

19.9 million

Area

238,391 sq km

GDP Growth (2016)

5%

Inflation rate (2015)

-0.6%

Average monthly salary (2016)

2108 lei (€467)