Dateline: BUCHAREST

Picking up on Adi’s comments re the recent elections in Rome [I will get back to the more general topic of the Italian political scene in a later post], I must say I share his concern over the most recent developments there.

To sum up, Sunday’s local elections in Rome saw an unlikely winner emerging - his name is Gianni Alemanno - a member of Berlusconi’s Party and a former fascist. Initially an underdog, he ran on an anti-crime, anti-immigration ticket, vowing to curb crime and to expel all illegal immigrants caught committing offenses. He was undoubtedly helped by a recent wave of crime perpetrated by Romanian immigrants.

I am concerned because this means that Italians are fed up with immigrants [and I am not going to question their justification here], and that may lead to a rising wave of intolerance.

Without further ado, let me give the floor to a person with much more insight than me on this issue, an actual Roman, who has agreed to give an ‘exclusive interview’ for datelinebucharest.com

When you drink your coffee, you should drink it with a straw!

Two way bus ticket to Istanbul (Ortadogu or Murat): 65 EUR
Three star accommodation in Taksim: 55 EUR
One caipirinha at the Leb-i derya Richmond: 15 EUR
Watching the sun set over the Golden Horn from the top of a skyscraper and actually understanding where it gets its name from: Priceless

Official website

PK: Just came back from Sainte Catherine and it is crouded with Romanians
PK: Funny how you can pretty much guess who is Greek
PK: And then I’m a bit unsure, but I heard çe faç? (which I can’t spell)
PK: : Happy Easter anyway, bulanjiule

SB1: so it’s full of orthodox people there
SB1: disgusting

SB1: but why st. catherine’s?[smile]
PK: Just round the corner
PK: the big church
SB1: i know, but why there?
PK: You do anything:
SB1: it’s not an orthodox church, is it?
PK: I don’t know they had like three different Orthodox priests speaking three languages
PK: quite cool
PK: One was definitely Greek
Sb1: haha
PK: the other seemed like could have been yours [smile]
SB1: yeah, they do that
PK: It was nice
SB1: greek, rom, and some slavic language
SB1: you actually went?
PK: But everyone was pissed [smile]
PK: Drinking beer because it was outside
PK: on the place
SB1: haha
PK: The little shop that sells cigarettes was invaded
PK: I don’t think they’ve everrrrr seen so many customers
SB1: eastern europeans claiming their god-given right to smoke their lungs away
PK: hahahahaha

There has been a lot of fracass in recent months concerning the supposedly partisan nature of some Romanian media outlets and, more often than not, Pres. Basescu was at their center. There was a conflict between a cheeky reporter and the President, resulting in an informal confiscation of the journalist’s camera phone, and racist remarks by Basescu. Later, the same Basescu called certain media trusts ‘jukeboxes’, implying the fact that they are commanded by certain political/financial interests.

The issue is of course a mute one. The Intact trust, owner of Antena 1, 2, and 3, take a consistent and blatant anti-Basescu stance, to the point where they lose much of their credibility. On the other side, Realitatea Media are traditionally soft on Basescu, while pursuing campaigns [see the one against the first registration tax] that are, more than populist, targeted at certain parties.

Now, with the beginning of the campaigning for local elections, media scandals are likely to start anew. I guess the question to ask is: are media that are subordinated to financial/political interests free? if so, are they useful for the society? and, finally, what is the best way of minimising the impact of partisan media?

For a broader discussion of press freedom in Eastern Europe [and case studies in Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria], see this article by Edward Lucas that was published in the most recent Economist.

Here is a video of a Russian MIG-29 blasting a Georgian UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or drone]. The images are shot from the Georgian spy plane. I am shocked by the fact that the Georgian military actually owns UAV’s, I wonder where they bought them from!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMjHbU_22Uo&hl=en]

My friend J. points out a story from today’s Can-Can [Romanian tabloid]: several Romanian prostitutes were killed by an Italian Satanic cult called “The Beasts of Satan.” Apparently, the sect was trying to cleanse the society of all “human scum.”

Now, going beyond the obviously grotesque character of the story lies a very interesting fact, and I have to give credit to my source here for rightly pointing it out: since when, in Italy [a Catholic, Conservative country run by the Mafia], Satan-lovers seek to eliminate prostitutes, which, religion-wise, perform an act of sin?

The obvious conclusion is that Italian fascists must be basking in the sun, sipping on their cappuccinos from hand-painted Duce teacups and, overall leading La Dolce Vita while outsourcing all their dirty work to misguided youth with a natural propensity for the Dark Side.

I came across this blog entry [Romanian only] about South Ossetia. It tells the author’s [who happens to be an expert on frozen conflicts] impressions during a visit to Tskhinvali, Kurta, and Georgian villages. It ends with a dinner with Misha Saakashvili. Well worth the read!

18 April 2008, Bucharest, Fabrika, Asian Dub Foundation (sort of), hundreds of teenagers (some older types, wearing Bob Marley-like gear) dancing frantically, getting into the rhythm, while two big screens project images of the Bucharest Parliament, riot police, and messages like ‘ the only good system is a sound system.’

I getflashbacks of places like Expirat et al., with the same kids going nuts to this same music. Wtf? Are the Romanian youth getting into the alter-mondialiste discourse, going all post-modern and fighting racial and social injustice? Is Adrian Nastase the new Ghandi? Is Marean Vanghelie the new Martin Luther King Jr.? Is Cristian Diaconescu the new Kennedy?

Weird, weird, weird. I remember I got the full discography of ADF back in 2004, listened to it, was not really that impressed, but then really enjoyed as part of the soundtrack for Need for Speed Underground. Clearly ADF live is better then ADF recorded - but the beats get old after like 20 minutes, and I find it hard to keep up the pace having had only alcohol hehe.

Anyway, I guess the question here is: why do Romanian youth listen to dub? What kindof niche are we talking about here? Is dub (still) cool? Are we becoming socially aware?

I had little time to follow international events this week. Partly because of post-Belgium depression, partly because of actual work. But here are two things that caught my attention:

1. Berlusconi, aka ‘Il Cavaliere’, wins a handsome victory in the last Italian elections, defying reason, common-sense and any sense of rationality. I seriously think Italy is un-governable, that it should either go for a neo-medieval confederation of city-states model, or totally outsource its government to Germany (or Switzerland).

I also think Italians are totally irrational. And not just because they elected Berlusconi. Let me explain. With 61 governments since Mussolini (that makes for a rough average of one government/year), 158 parties contesting the last elections, 0,3% economic growth forecast for 2008, 80% participation rate at the last poll, an underground economy estimated to be at about 50% of GDP (compare with 30% for Romania), Italy is by far the most blatant case of bad governance to have ever beset any country West of Vienna.

And yet Italians go to the polls, elect the same Berlusconi that did absolutely nothing to reform the economy although was afforded ample time to do so. Italy stands on a pile of garbage that needs to be cleaned (and I am not only talking about Naples here).

As a funny and, of course, fanciful sidenote, The Economist points out that, if current economic trends persist, Romania should be able to surpass Italy in terms of GDP/capita, in just 20 years. Here is the story.

2. Russia grows serious balls and starts to gobble up Abkhazia. Putin signs a decree establishing ‘official’ cooperation b/w Moscow and Abkhazia, allowing Russia to interact at a quasi-official level with de facto authorities there. The act also provides for Moscow’s recognition of legal acts passed by the authorities in Sukhumi. Here is a good analysis from Eurasianet. And here a great piece of Russian propaganda from Russia Today.

Coming in the wake of the NATO Summit here in Bucharest, Russia’s move is an annexation all but in name. If you have any doubts about it, just watch the clip from Russia Today. What this means for Georgia is that, if it ever joins NATO, it will be without Abkhazia.