A Presentation About
România
Peleş Castle - XIX Century Royal Castle

România
I. Overview
II. Brief History
III. Recent History
IV. Political System
V. Security & Defense
VI. Famous Romanians
VII. Images

Overview
 7th most populous EU state
(19 million)
 92,043 sq mi
 $282Bn GDP (2013 PPP)
($13K/capita, 46% EU avg.)
 Industry is 30% of GDP
(EU average is 15%)
 89% Romanians, 7%
Magyar, 4% other
 Mostly Christian-Orthodox,
some Catholics & reformats
 Caucasians
România within the European Union (blue),
and on the European continent
România
Location & Demographics

Landmarks
1.Danube river (South)
2.Carpathians
mountains
(shape and position
heavily influenced
history)
3.Black Sea
4.Capital București
(Bucharest)
România
Physical Map
Iași
Ploești

România
I. Overview
II. Brief History
III. Recent History
IV. Political System
V. Security & Defense
VI. Famous Romanians
VII. Images

Dacia Kingdom (led by
Decebal) conquered by
Rome (led by Emperor
Trajanus) and made part
of Roman Empire
Dacians natives and
Romans colonizers
formed Romanians
Trajans’s Column in
Rome, Italy, built by
Trajan, can be seen
today and depicts
images from the war
Romanian is a Latin
(Romance) language,
just like Italian, French,
Spanish, and Portuguese
România
History - Antiquity
King Decebal
Emperor Trajanus
Bridge over Danube built by Apollodorus of Damascus Trajan’s Column in Rome

3 Kingdoms
(Moldavia in East,
Wallachia in South,
Transylvania in
West)
Between Ottoman
Empire, Austrian-
Hungarian Empire,
and Russian Empire
Kings Stephen and
Vlad both fought
against the
Ottomans
Three Romanian kingdoms in 15th century
România
History – Middle Ages
Stephen the Great
of Moldavia
Vlad the Impeller
of Wallachia
Iancu de Hunedoara
of Transylvania

 King Michael the
Brave unifies all
Romanian
kingdoms in
1600 AD
 Kingdom did not
survived his
assassination by
foreigners, but set
the precedent of a
Romanian state
United Romanian Kingdom (1600)
România
History – Middle Ages

 Alexandru Ioan Cuza forms
personal union in 1859,
creating the first modern
Romanian state
 Introduces modern reforms
(Secularization, Agrarian &
Land, Civil Code, Education,
Universal Man Suffrage,
Standing Army, etc.)
 Cuza is authoritarian, forced to
abdicated; Romanian elite
select a German noble to
establish a royal family (Carol I
de Hohenzollern
 Carol I lead and wins the 1877
Independence War Ottoman
Empire, proclaims Kingdom of
Romania
România
History – XIX Century
Proclamation of Union (1859)
Alexandru Cuza
King Carol IIndependence War (1877) Industrialization
1850

 Carol I’s son, King
Ferdinand I, leads Romania
in WWI with Allies
(Entante Cordiale)
 Romanians in Transylvania
proclaim the Great Union
with Romania (1918)
 Romanian Army conquers
back Transylvania from
imploding Habsburg
Empire
 The resulting Kingdom of
Greater Romania
confirmed by Trianon
(Paris) Peace Treaty (1920)
România
History – After World War I
Proclamation of Great Union Romanian Army in Budapest King Ferdinand I

România
History – 1920 to 1940
Regional industrial
power
Main industries:
1. Oil & Gas:
exploration &
refining – 6th
worldwide
2. Agriculture: major
exporter
3. Heavy & light
industry
4. Machinery
construction

At the end of the WWII, Romania:
1) Lost Eastern Moldova to USSR, and
2) Was occupied by the Red Army and forced to embrace communism for the
next half century
 Nazi Germany and
USSR partition
Eastern Europe in
1939-40. Soviets
annex eastern
Moldavia, Hungary
occupies Northern
Transylvania
 Allies are powerless
(France conquered,
UK isolated),
neutrality not an
option
 Between two evils,
Romania chose to
fight bolsheviks
alongside Germany
România
History – During World War II
City of Iaşi bombed by soviets; Red Army soldiers occupying Romania

WWII
 Towards end of war, Romania switches sides to Allies;
Eastern Moldavia lost back to USSR, but conquers
Transylvania back again
 Falls under soviet and bolshevik occupation; Soviets
pillaged the country savagely; mass rapes &
deportations
After WWII: Forced communism
 Elites (capitalists, land owners, upper middle class)
imprisoned and executed, or (few) exiled;
King Michael I abdicated and exiled
 Properties (land, real estate, industrial, cash)
confiscated, even small land from peasants
 45 years of oppression, dictatorship, and isolation
România
History – After World War II
Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain
(USSR and occupied states)
România
USSR
Poland
Hungary
Bulgaria
East
Germany

România
I. Overview
II. Brief History
III. Recent History
IV. Political System
V. Security & Defense
VI. Famous Romanians
VII. Images

România
Oppressed by Soviets & Communists
(1945-1989)
Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain
(USSR and countries oppressed by the communist regimes)
România
USSR

Three phases
1) 1945-1955 USSR dismantle
former industrial base, pillage
resources (via Sovroms “JV-s”);
country planned as agriculture
base only
2) 1955-Early 1980s National
communists took over, distance
from USSR, borrow funds from
West for massive re-
industrialization, especially
heavy industry; small
“openness” towards West
3) Early 1980s-1989 National
communists isolated by West
(due to direct USA-USSR talks &
Gorbatchev’s Perestroika);
Foreign debt paid through
severe austerity; Little
maintenance, no new
investments leads to economic
stagnation & collapse in 1989
România
History: Communism (1945-1989)
Danube – Black Sea Canal
Rombac 1-11 (BAC license) Dacia 1300 (Renault license)
Cernavoda Nuclear Plant (CANDU)
Subway (Romanian design) Trucks (MAN license) Petromidia Refinery
Political prisoners in forced labor camps Nationalization of all property decreed

 Based on very austere life,
only very basics covered
very poorly: electricity
rolling blackouts,
rationalization of food and
gasoline, one TV channel
(only propaganda)
 Severe political oppression
by feared Security Police
(“Securitate”), no free
speech, propaganda and
cult of personality (epoch
claimed as “Golden Age”)
România
History: Communism (1945-1989)
Daily commute Line for food ratios Line for heating gas
Palace “of the People” Bucharest street view (1960’s)
Ceausescu and forced “support” rallies Cult of personality at large scale (stadium show)

Fighting and Dying for Freedom against Communism
More than 1,100 heroes – Rest in Peace!
România
Revolution Against Communism (1989)

 Free elections, new Constitution,
new laws, multiple changes of
power by democratic means
 Land, most properties restituted
 Transition to free market
economy, liberalization of prices
 Mass privatizations
 Integration in European economy,
borders opened to capital, goods,
services
 Major foreign investments
 Received EU cohesion funds
(EU ‘s “Marshal Plan” for Eastern
Europe)
World Trade Center in Bucharest
România
1990’s and 2000’s

 1990 – 1999: Building
Democracy
 1999: Invitation to join EU
 2000 – 2004: Negotiations
o 2004 Joined NATO
 2005: Accession Treaty Signed
 2005-2007: Accession Treaty
Ratifications by EU States
 2007-Present: EU State
Romanian President Băsescu (left) and
Prime Minister Tăriceanu (right) signing the
Accession Treaty of Romania to the
European Union (Luxembourg, 2005)
România
Joining the European Union (2007)

România
Joining the European Union (2007)
The European Union flag is officially raised in front of the Romanian
Government seat in Bucharest, at midnight, 2007 New Year Eve

România
Joining the European Union (2007)
The Romanian Delegation joins the
European Parliament in Bruxelles, Belgium
Bruxelles, Belgium

2007 New Year
Joining EU – Ceremonies & Celebrations
România
Joining the European Union (2007)

România
Benefits as EU State
The European Union (EU) is a confederation of 28 sovereign states. The States remain sovereign but
voluntarily delegate powers (competencies) to the EU government institutions for the purpose of
achieving the Union’s goals (“Ever closer Union”)
1) Benefits for Romanian Citizens: True Freedom on a Continental Scale
 As EU Citizens (formal status): right and freedom to work, have residence and live,
study, invest, own properties and land, vote and be elected in any state of the Union
(no visa, passport, or permits required other than for any national of that state)
 Direct representation in the European Parliament (via direct elections)
 Protection from the embassy of any EU state outside Europe
2) Benefits for Economy and Romanian Enterprises: World’s Largest Market
 Freely move capital, goods, services and part of the largest economy in the world
($17.3Tn 2013 Est.) and one of the largest markets in the world (500 million citizens)
 Interests represented globally via EU’s representation in G7, G20, etc.
3) Benefits & Obligations for Romanian State: Western Discipline and Developing Grants
 Western (often German inspired) EU legislation rigor & regulations
 Access to EU Cohesion funds (grants; €34 Bn 2007-2013)
 Access to EU Agriculture Policy subsidies
 Anti-corruption and assistance for improved justice system from EU
 Obligation to implement EU Laws and European Court of Justice rulings
 Obligation to contribute to the EU Budget

România
The Last 25 Years Story as Reflected by GDP
1. Former centralized economy
collapsed (could not compete in
capitalism)
2. 300+ % inflation, very high
unemployment, massive deficits
3. Modest reforms (1996-2000)
Lastyearsasunder
communistregime
Romanians win Freedom
(Dec 16th-22nd 1989)
Formal invitation to
join EU (Helsinki EU
Summit, Dec 1999)
1.Western companies invest
in the future EU state
2.Visa-free travel makes it
easier to Romanians to
seek work and send
money home, fueling
consumption
Romania joins EU
as the 27th state
(Jan 1st, 2007)
1.More foreign investments
2.More Romanians seek
opportunities across EU
and send money home
3.EU cohesion funds
(grants) add to economy
4.Economy connected to
world’s economy suffers
from recession and
recovers
Romania joins
NATO
(Apr 2004)
Note: Nominal GDP, not adjusted to PPP

GDP $285 Bn (IMF 2013, PPP)
GDP per Capita $13.4K (40% EU average)
GDP Formation Services 52%, Industry 35%,
Agriculture 12% (2009 est.)
Tax Rate 16% Flat Rate
Inflation 1.5% (2013)
Labor Force 9.3 million (2012)
Unemployment 7.1% (2014/Jun)
Exports $64 Bn (2012)
Source: IMF, Wikipedia
România
Economic Integration in the EU
Mercedes Powertrain Plant (Cugir)
Dacia Logan, European Best Seller
Softronic, Romanian High-Speed Train
OMV Petrobrazi Refinery
Ford Plant (Craiova)
New A3 Highway (segment)

România
Today
România
Today

România
Romania & Republic of Moldova
 2.5 million Romanians live in Republic of
Moldova (65% of country’s population);
former Romanian territory occupied by USSR
during WWII and made soviet republic
 Moldova declared independence from USSR
in 1991
 Union not possible yet, but aspired by many
o Romania has EU and NATO obligations;
needs more economical power
o Moldova held in-check by Russia, who has
troops and supports an unrecognized
breakaway puppet “republic of
Transnistria” in the East
o Unionists on both sides think that the best
path towards some form of unification is
within EU; Romania is actively supporting
Moldova’s accession to the EU
o Moldova signed an EU free trade
agreement in 2014 (early association step)
Romanians in Republic of Moldova attending a pro-EU rally

România
I. Overview
II. Brief History
III. Recent History
IV. Political System
V. Security & Defense
VI. Famous Romanians
VII. Images

România
Political System - Overview
 Romania is a democratic republic,
deriving its sovereignty from the people
 Semi-presidential parliamentary
representative democracy
• President is Head of State
• Prime Minister leads the Government
 Multi-party system
• Executive power is exercised by the
Government
• Legislative power is vested in
both the Government and Parliament
• Judiciary is independent of the
Executive and the Legislature
Provision in the Romanian Constitution formally establishing the
legal link with EU Treaties and their precedence over national
law (Adopted by public Referendum in 2004 by the Sovereign
will of the Romanian people)1):
Title VI, Art. 148 from the Romanian Constitution
“(2) As a result of the [EU] accession, the provisions of the
constituent treaties of the European Union, as well as the other
mandatory community regulations shall take precedence over the
opposite provisions of the national laws, in compliance with the
provisions of the accession act.
Note 1) This is the legal design of a supra-national union of sovereign states;
Can theoretically be revoked also by Sovereign will.
Romanian Constitution
(Supreme law of land)
EU Treaties

EU Council President
EU Council (Senate)
Elects
România
Political System – How It Works
RO President
RO Government
RO Prime Minister
 Constitutional Amendments & Referendums
 Local Councils & Mayors
 County Councils & County Presidents
Vote of (No)
Confidence
Appoints
European Commission
(Government)
EU Commission
PresidentAppoints
Vote of (No)
Confidence
EU Level
State Level
Local & County
RO Parliament
EU Parliament
by Citizens from all EU States
Other Heads of EU States
(Presidents or Prime-Ministers,
depending on state)
Sits in the EU Council as
Head of State
Romanian Citizens
Direct Vote
Direct Vote
Direct Vote
Direct Vote

Klaus Werner Iohannis
 President of Romania
(2014-2019)
 Liberal-Democrat Party (European
People’s Party)
 Former Mayor of Sibiu
 Ethnic German & Protestant
România
Political Leadership - President

Romanian Government
 Prime-Minister Dacian Cioloș
(2016)
 Agronomist engineer and
politician
 Former EU Commissioner for
Agriculture in the European
Commissions (2009-2014 led
by José Barroso)
România
Political Leadership - Government
The Romanian Government led by Prime-Minister Dacian
Cioloș after being sworn in by the President (center of the
photo), following the vote of investiture by the Parliament
(Nov/2015)

Romanian Parliament
 Chamber of Deputies & Senate
 Last elections Dec/2012
o Won by Social Liberal Union
60%
 Next elections Dec/2016
România
Political Leadership - Parliament

România
Political Leadership - Judiciary
Constitutional Court
High Court of Cassation and Justice
 Constitutional Court
• President: Augustin Zegrean (from 2010)
 High Court of Cassation and Justice
• President: Horaţiu Dumbravă (from 2011)
 Superior Council of Magistrates
• President: Livia Stanciu (from 2010)

Mugur Isărescu
 Governor of Romania’s National
Bank
 Co-leads (with the Government)
the process to adopt the EURO
currency (Target: 2019)
România
Political Leadership - National Bank

Corina Creţu
 Regional Policy Commissioner (Minister) in
the European Commission (Government)
2014-2019
 Manages EU’s improving the economic
well-being of regions by restructuring
declining industrial areas and diversifying
rural areas which have declining
agriculture
 33% of EU budget is dedicated to this
policy area
România
Political Leadership – EU Government

Adina Vălean
Vice-President, European Parliament
European People’s Party
România
Political Leadership – EU Parliament1)
Ioan Mircea Paşcu
Vice-President, European Parliament
Party of European Socialists
Note:
1) European Parliament has a total of 14 Vice-Presidents and 751 Members directly elected by EU Citizens every five years

România
I. Overview
II. Brief History
III. Recent History
IV. Political System
V. Security & Defense
VI. Famous Romanians
VII. Images

România
Security & Defense
 NATO Member State since 2004
 Frontier state with FSU space
(Ukraine & Black Sea)
 Stability factor in Balkans
 Active participation in NATO/UN
missions
o Afghanistan
o Iraq
o Angola (UNAVEM)
o Former Yugoslavia (IFOR/SFOR)

România
Security & Defense
 Key US strategic partner in Europe
 Romanian Air Base in Constanta
(Kogalniceanu) to serve as the main US
transit center for Afghanistan, replacing
Manas in Kyrgyzstan
o “It is therefore no surprise that the U.S. has
opted to use the Mihail Kogalniceanu
airbase, situated in south-east Romania 16
miles northwest of Constanta, the country’s
principal port on the Black Sea, for transit of
people into and out of Afghanistan. In 2003,
it became one of four Romanian military
facilities that have been used by U.S.
military forces as a staging area for the
invasion of and ongoing counter-insurgency
efforts in Iraq, operated by the 458th Air
Expeditionary Group, and it has become one
of the main operating bases of US Army
Europe's Joint Task Force East.”
--Star & Stripes

România
Security & Defense
Romania’s Bold Eagles Battalion in Iraq (2006)
Romanian troops next to US/NATO Allies (Afghanistan)
NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania (2008)
US & Romanian Navies performing joint exercises in
Black Sea, in the context of the Ukrainian Crisis (2014)

România
Security & Defense
Armed Forces Parading on the National Day (December 1st)

România
I. Overview
II. Brief History
III. Recent History
IV. Political System
V. Security & Defense
VI. Famous Romanians
VII. Images

Nadia Comăneci (born 1961) – 1st Perfect “10”
Winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in
Montreal and the first female gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect score
of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event
România
Famous Romanians

Henri Coandă (1886-1972) - The Jet Engine Grand-Daddy
Build and flown the first ever jet engine and jet aircraft in 1910
România
Famous Romanians

Bran Castle
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476)
Known as Vlad the Impeller was the basis of the fictional
character Dracula in Bram Stoker’s famous novel
România
Famous Romanians

George Emil Palade (1912 – 2008)
1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine
together with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve. The
prize was granted for his innovations in electron
microscopy and cell fractionation which together laid
the foundations of modern molecular cell biology. [1],
the most notable discovery being the ribosomes of the
endoplasmic reticulum – which he first described in
1955.
România
Famous Romanians

Herta Müller (born 1953)
Romanian-born German novelist, poet,
essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel
Prize in Literature
Müller is noted for her works depicting the effects
of violence, cruelty and terror, usually in the
setting of Communist Romania under the
repressive Nicolae Ceauşescu regime which she
experienced herself. Many of her works are told
from the viewpoint of the German minority in
Romania and are also a depiction of the modern
history of the Germans in the Banat, and
Transylvania. Her much acclaimed 2009 novel The
Hunger Angel (Atemschaukel) portrays the
deportation of Romania's German minority to
Stalinist Soviet Gulags during the Soviet
occupation of Romania for use as German forced
labor
România
Famous Romanians

Constantin Brâncuși 1876 – 1957)
Sculptor; his abstract style emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms
inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art
România
Famous Romanians

România
I. Overview
II. Brief History
III. Recent History
IV. Political System
V. Security & Defense
VI. Famous Romanians
VII. Images

Sibiu (Nagyszeben / Hermannstadt)
European Union’s Capital of Culture 2007
România
Images
Sighişoara
Braşov

România
Images - Iaşi
Royal Palace & Palas City Center
National Theater
Old street car

Putna Monastery – XV Century
România
Images

România
Images - Landscapes
Danube Delta
Carpathians Mountains

România
Images – Rural Areas

România
Images – Rural Areas & Prince of Wales
In 2006 the Prince of Wales bought and restored
an 18th Century Saxon house in Viscri, Romania,
a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
His Royal Highness said: "Ever since I first visited
Romania in 1998, I have been doing my utmost to
ensure a sustainable future for the Saxon villages
of Transylvania and their people. Tourism clearly
has a vital role to play in this.“

România
Images – Traditional Costumes

România
Images – Urban Romania
Various cities
Typical cities built during communism
Street View

România
Images – Urban Romania
Modern apartment buildings
Various cities

România
Images – Bucharest (Capital)

Photos of Every Day Romanians
România

România
© 2001-2015 by Irina & Radu Filip. All right reserved. This presentation is not to be used for private commercial purposes.
Modifications are permitted only if this notice is kept unchanged in its entirety. Permitted to be used for academic purposes. Copyright
of the photos shown belongs to their respective authors.