Romania - Roemenië

Romania is a country in the east of Europe that borders on Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldavia, Serbia and Ukraine. Romania is not having an easy time economically, dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu ruled from 1968 to 1989, the communist regime (1946-1989) and the centrally controlled economy missed its target and the country is now one of the poorest countries in Europe.

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Tourism is not yet highly developed, but the Romanians are eager to connect with Western Europe and have already made great efforts, it is now a democratically governed country. The images of the neglected orphanages that went around the world should not stop you from visiting this country because the Romanian population needs tourism. The beautiful landscape, the unspoilt nature of the Carpathian Mountains, the Black Sea coast and regions protected by UNESCO, such as the Prahova River Valley and the Danube Delta, make Romania worth exploring. The Danube Delta is the largest river delta in Europe and one of the most beautiful river deltas in the world. The second largest building in the world, the Palace of Ceaueauescu, is located in Bucharest. The splendor present in the building bears witness to the craftsmanship of the Romanian workers.

The beaches of the Black Sea are wonderful for relaxing. They are sandy beaches that are not so crowded. The hilly Romania is very suitable for extensive walks or you can enjoy the high mountains in the Carpathians.

From January to April, winter sports are possible, mainly in the Apuseni Mountains.

Did you know that Bram Stoker got his inspiration for Dracula from the region Transylvania?

Geography

Various crops are grown in Romania, such as wheat, grain, potatoes and fruit.

In the north of the Dobruja you will find the largest delta in Europe, the Danube Delta. This delta is rich in birds and fish.

The highest point of the Carpathians is the Moldoveanu (2554 m), a mountain in the Făgăraş Mountains. Two other mountains in the Făgăraş Mountains occupy the second and third place.

The largest river in Romania is the Danube, which flows largely in Romania on the border with Bulgaria. On the Danube are also several important port cities such as Galaţi, Brăila and Tulcea. Other major rivers, which are not important for trade, are the Mureş, the Someş, the Olt, the Siret and the Prut.

Mountain areas: Carpathians, Apuseni, Rodna Mountains, Beskids and Măcin, in the Dobruja.

History

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dacia

In 513 B.C. south of the Danube, several tribes of the Geta were defeated by the Persian emperor Darius the Great during his campaign against the Scythians (Herodotus IV.93). The Getae were a Thracian people. After half a millennium, the Getes (in Latin the Daci) led by Decebalus were defeated by the Roman Empire under the Emperor Trajan. Trajan needed two campaigns to defeat the Geten, between 101 AD. and 106 A.D. Their Dacian kingdom was transformed into the Roman province of Dacia. The Gothic and Carpic campaigns between 238–269 (from the beginning of the military anarchist period until the battle of Naissus) forced the Roman Empire to reorganize a new Roman province of Dacia, south of the Danube, in the former Moesia Superior .

Dacia was at its peak during the Burebista rule around 80 BC.

Romania after Roman rule

Between 271 and 275 the Roman administration and the Roman army left the former Dacia, which had been invaded by the Goths, who lived there together with the local population until the 4th century. Then came a nomadic people, the Huns. The Gepids and Avars ruled Transylvania until the 8th century, when the Bulgarians added Dacia or the Romanian lands to their empire, and ruled until 1018. Transylvania was Hungarian when the Hungarian Kingdom was founded, from the 10th or 11th century to the 16th century, when the Principality of Transylvania was formed. But due to the devastation and financial burden, the local population was not affected in way of life, and their culture, by the migrants. The Petjenegen, Koemanen and Uzen were also on Romanian territory, evidence of archaeological finds. The Romanian principalities of Wallachia (by Basarab I) and Moldavia (by the Maramureşan Dragoş) were founded between the 13th and 14th centuries. In the Middle Ages, the Romanians lived in two distinct and independent Romanian principalities: Wallachia (Roe: Ţara Românească - Romanian Country) and Moldova (Roe.: Moldova) but also in Hungarian-ruled Transylvania.

Romania in the Late Middle Ages

In 1475, Stefan the Great defeated Moldavia (tefan cel Mare) the Turks at the Battle of Vaslui; the Turks had a tremendous loss. Also other rulers in the 15th century such as Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula, ruler of Wallachia) and Johannes Hunyadi (Iancu de Hunedoara, ruler of Transylvania) the Turks had to repel. Despite many victories in the 15th century, Wallachia and Moldavia came under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th and early 16th centuries (1476 - Wallachia, 1514 - Moldavia). As vassal states and complete internal autonomy and an external independence that the vassal states completely lost at the end of the 18th century. In 1812 the Russian Empire annexed the eastern half of Moldova (although Moldova partially regained it after the Treaty of Paris in 1856), in 1775 Austria-Hungary annexed the northern part of Bukovina (northern Moldova) and the Ottoman Empire annexed the southeastern part of Moldova. part of Moldova, the Budjak (Ru: bugeac). One of the greatest Hungarian kings, Matthias Corvinus (known in Romanian as Matei Corvin - he was originally a Romanian, ruler between 1458–1490, was born in Transylvania and is claimed by the Romanians because of his Romanian father, Johannes Hunyadi (Roe: Iancu de Hunedoara), but has also been claimed by the Hungarians because of its Hungarian mother. Later in 1541, Transylvania officially became a multi-ethnic principality, under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire after the Battle of Mohács.

Early Modern Romania

Michael the Brave (Roe: Mihai Viteazulu) (1558 - 9 August 1601) was ruler of Wallachia (1593-1601), of Transylvania (1599-1600) and of Moldavia (1600). During his rule, his three principalities, mostly inhabited by Romanians, were for the first time united and governed by one monarch. He is one of the Romanian national heroes.

At the end of the 18th century, Austria-Hungary succeeded in conquering Transylvania. During the time of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary (1867-1918), Romanians in Transylvania were oppressed by the magyarization politicians and by the Hungarian government.

After centuries of Ottoman rule in Moldavia and Wallachia, the Romanians there also began to feel more and more oppressed. Thus, in 1848, a revolution under the leadership of Tudor Vladimirescu began in Wallachia. There was fierce fighting but to no avail. Wallachia remained under Ottoman rule.

Kingdom of Romania

Wallachia and Moldavia declared their independence from the Turks in 1859 and elected the same monarch, Alexander Johan Cuza (Roe: Alexandru Ioan Cuza), but were not recognized by Franz Joseph I of Austria. Sultan Abdülaziz finally recognized this state on December 23, 1861, after which Moldavia and Wallachia were formally united on January 24, 1862 to form Romania with Bucharest as its capital. Cuza was replaced in 1866 by Karel van Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (Carol I). During the Russo-Turkish War between 1877-1878, Romania fought on the Russian side; In 1878 the independent state of Romania was officially confirmed by the Great Power at the Congress of Berlin. In exchange for ceding the three southern districts of Bessarabia to Russia, which had been regained by Moldova after the Crimean War in 1852, Romania received the Dobruja. In 1881 the principality of Romania was dissolved and a new kingdom took its place; the monarch Carol I was crowned King of Romania.

During the Second Balkan War in 1913, Romania acquired the southern Dobruja from Bulgaria at the Treaty of Bucharest.

After two years of neutrality in World War I, Romania declared war on the Central Powers. The Romanian campaign ended in disaster for Romania; the Central Powers occupied much of the country and destroyed much of the Romanian army in four months. After the war, the Russian Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy fell apart and Bessarabia (1917), Bukovina (1918) and Transylvania (1918) united with the Romanian kingdom. The Treaty of Trianon in 1920 ensured that the regions regio banana, Crisana and Maramureş joined the Kingdom.

On October 15, 1922, King Ferdinand (the nephew of Carol I, King of Romania since 1914) in Alba Iulia, in the heart of Transylvania, became King of the Complete-Romania crowned.

Romania during World War II

Just before World War II, in 1939, Romania became Germany's largest oil supplier. In 1940, General Antonescu seized power in a coup d'état. Antonescu behaved like a dictator and collaborated with the Iron Guard, a fascist group.

In 1940, northern Bukovina, Bessarabia, northern Transylvania and southern Dobruja were occupied by Russian, Hungarian and Bulgarian troops. Carol I resigned in panic that same year and was succeeded by the young Michael of Romania|. The government sought help and eventually sided with Nazi Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria, so Romania declared war on the Russians and the Allies. After Operation Barbarossa, Romania recaptured Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from the Soviet Union, under the command of General Ion Antonescu. Romania received from Nazi Germany the area "Transnistria", part of present-day Ukraine.

During World War II, the Antonescu regime, which collaborated with Nazi Germany, played a role in the Holocaust; the regime oppressed and murdered many Jews and to a lesser extent Romas (Gypsies). According to a rather controversial report released in 2004 by a commission appointed by ex-president Ion Iliescu, the Romanian authorities were one of the main perpetrators in the planning and implementation of the murder of 280,000 to 380,000 Jews, mainly in the eastern regions. areas of Romania.

At the end of the war, Soviet armies invaded Romania in 1944. King Michael ended Antonescu's dictatorship and war was declared on Germany, but the Paris conference in 1947 recognized no role for Romania in the loss of Nazi Germany.

Communist Romania

With Soviet Armies stationed in the country, elections were held in 1946; the communists wrongly got 80% of the vote, by way of vote manipulation among competing parties. King Michael was forced to abdicate his throne, by the communists (and the Red Army). He left the country, which was promptly declared a people's republic. Communist Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej came to power.

Romania was a communist state that existed directly under the military and economic rule of the USSR until 1958. In this period, the scarce resources left over to Romania after WW2 were handed over or more simply taken away by the Russians after a treaty, the "SovRom": mixed Soviet-Romanian companies had to hide the damage of the Russians in the Second World War, in return for paying the "abundant" war reparations, to the USSR. During this period, more than two million people were arbitrarily imprisoned for political, economic or other reasons. There were hundreds of thousands of murders, torture and abuses from political competitors to normal citizens, which brought a darkness over Romania. At least 200,000 people lost their lives due to communist influences in Romania between 1948 and 1964.

In 1952, Gheorghiu-Dej settled as a national communist in a show trial with the rival Moscow-promoting communists around Ana Pauker. In 1965, Gheorghiu-Dej died and Nicolae Ceaueauescu became the party's first secretary. A new constitution was adopted and the name of the country was changed from People's Republic of Romania to Socialist Republic of Romania. Two years later, in 1967, Ceauşescu was appointed head of state. He issued the Decree 770. Under his dictatorship, Romania strove for a more independent course within the Soviet bloc. For example, the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 was condemned, and the country did not want to get involved in the conflict between the Soviet Union and China. Romania also did not submit to the Brezhnev Doctrine, in which only limited sovereignty was granted to the communist countries of the Eastern Bloc. Nevertheless, in 1970 it came to a renewal of the friendship treaty with the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Ceauşescu's internal administration was characterized by an increasing harshness with regard to everything that was regarded as dissident behaviour. Gradually, the dictator forfeited his initial goodwill at home and abroad, partly because of his wife Elena's quest for power and by building a gigantic palace in the capital Bucharest, for which entire residential areas had to disappear (see Systematization).

A brief period brought relative economic boom between the late '60s and early '70s, which some referred to as the "golden age." This era gradually ended, first politically and then economically. Some party leaders (such as Ion Iliescu, Corneliu Manescu, or Gheorghe Apostol) questioned the regime's achievements during the later period of this era, causing them to be relegated. From an economic point of view, the Romanian public debt increased enormously between 1977 and 1981: from 3 to 10 billion dollars. The influence of international financial organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank grew and competed with Ceauşescu's autarkic politicians. Ceauşescu eventually initiated a project of total repayment of the external debt (completed in 1989, very shortly before his ouster). To achieve this goal, he imposed policies that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy. He dug deep into the police (see Securitate) and imposed a cult of personality.

One positive achievement during this period was the spread of near-universal literacy and the development of an efficient education system. However, this educational transformation was not linked to industrial development and urbanization policies, so that almost half of Romania's population still lives in rural areas (approx. 47%; see the Demographics of Romania). Another achievement is the discussed withdrawal of Soviet troops into Romania, in 1958. This (withdrawal of Soviet troops) allowed the country to reconsider independent policies including the Communist Party's condemnation of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Slovakia (1968) (Romania was the only Warsaw Pact country not to participate in the invasion), the continuation of Romanian-Israeli diplomatic relations after the 1967 Six-Day War (Romania was the only Warsaw Pact country to do so), the establishment of economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany, and so on. The close ties between Romania and Israel and the Arab countries (and PLO) allowed Romania to play a vital role in the Israel-Egypt processes and of the Israel-PLO peace.

Ceauşescu's suppression led to a popular uprising that started in December 1989 in Timişoara. Ceauşescu is deposed and executed together with his wife Elena after a short trial in a courtyard in Târgovişte. Ion Iliescu was immediately elected "savior of Romania" and later president. He is an ex-communist and followed a moderate course.

Romania since 1989

After the end of the Cold War in 1989, Romania developed better ties with the West of Europe.

Yet many Romanians left the country after the revolution because of discontent. In 1992, the first free elections were held, where Iliescu was elected president.

In the next election, in 1996, Emil Ion Constantinescu defeated Iliescu, but 4 years later Iliescu was re-elected. Adrian Năstase became Prime Minister.

On December 12, 2004, Traian Băsescu was elected president. His promise to stop corruption by, for example, exposing all former members of the Securitate (Romanian secret service during communism). He was supported in elections by a coalition called the Alliance (DA) of Truth and Justice, which was formed by his Democratic Party and the National-Liberal Party. The government was formed by a larger coalition that also included the Humanist Party (now called Conservative Party) and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR.

Regions

Romania consists of 1/3 mountain landscape, 1/3 plateau and hilly and 1/3 is flat. We can divide Romania into a number of regions:

Towns

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• Adamclissi
• Agapia
• arad
• Arbore
• Babadag
• Bucharest
• Sinaia
• Brasov
• cluj
• persistence
• Constanta
• Eforie
• Galatia
• Humour
• lasic
• Mamaia
• Moldivita
• Oradea
• putna
• Radautic
• Satu Mare
• Sibiu
• Sighisoara
• suceava
• Success Vita
• Tulcea
• Voronet

Other destinations

Arrive

By plane

Romanian Air provides connections between Brussels Airport [1] and Bucharest Airport (Otopeni).

Swiss Air provides connections between Zurich and Bucharest.

Czech Airlines provides connections between Prague and Bucharest

Blue Air flies from Brussels Airport (low-cost airline) to Bucharest

MyAir also flies from Brussels Airport (low-cost airline) to Bucharest since the autumn of 2007

Wizzair flies from Brussels South Charleroi Airport [2] to Bucharest

Wizzair also flies from Dortmund to Cluj-Napoca and to Tirgu-Mures. From June 2013, Wizzair also flies from Eindhoven to Cluj-Napoca.

By train

From the station of Munich (Germany) there is a night train every day to Bucharest North Station. You then drive by Budapest and Timisoara. Munich can be reached from Cologne. There are several Thalys connections between Cologne and Brussels South. Count on 36 hours of travel, it is an adventurous journey and an alternative way to reach Romania, but certainly not the fastest and not the cheapest. The train journey is more comfortable than the bus journey and introduces you to the railways of different countries. The German railways and trains are excellent and pleasant for the train amateurs.

From Amsterdam you can also via Munich travel to in Bucharest to get to. This is possible (partly) by ICE. Another option is to travel by CNL (City Night Line) via Munich or via Vienna and Budapest.

More information can be obtained from:

Deutsche Bahn [3],Dutch railways [4]and the NMBS [5]

Timisoara in the west you can be reached in 24 hours.

By car

A Belgian or Dutch driving license is valid for 90 days. After that, you have to exchange it for a Romanian driving licence.

A car with a foreign number plate is only allowed to circulate within Romania for 90 days. For a longer period, a temporary number plate must be requested. If you come by car, then the greatest caution is advised, especially after sunset.

From Belgium/Netherlands

• Romania can easily be reached via the motorway, you drive along Germany, Austria and Hungary. Count on two to three days driving depending on which region you have in mind, the Romanian border can even be reached within 24 hours. You can spend the night in Austria or Hungary. Germany and Austria have excellent highways, in Hungary you can drive smoothly on the major highways, once past Budapest the quality of the highway drops and your average speed is directly proportional. The legal maximum speed limit on the motorways of Europe can be here to look at.

• Western Romania (Timisoara) about 1680 km, Eastern Romania (Bucharest) (about 2250 km), Northern Romania (Dorohoi) (about 2130 km) and the port city of Constanta (about 2390 km).

• If you drive through Austria and Hungary you will have to pay toll if you want to use the major highways and motorways.

• In Austria a toll sticker is mandatory for all autobahns and major highways. Additional tolls are paid on certain tunnels and passes. Additional information: a fluorescent safety vest is mandatory in the car, otherwise you are not allowed to leave the car on the breakdown lane of a motorway.

• In Hungary a toll sticker is mandatory on the highways M1 Budapest-Hegyeshalom, M3 Budapest-Polgar, M5 Budapest-Kiskunfélegyháza, M7 Budapest-Balatonaliga. This is for sale at border crossings and gas stations.

• In Romania there has been a vignette requirement (Rovinieta) since 1 January 2005, the vignette is mandatory on all roads, no distinction is made between motorways or other roads. This vignette can be obtained at the border, at post offices in Romania and at Petrom petrol stations. You can buy vignettes valid for 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months or 1 year.

• The Romanian police is known for its corruption, you may be fined for driving without lights during the day while on the other side of the road a car with a Romanian number plate speeds past a rotten canal. Keep calm and negotiate is the message.

By bus

Eurolines has a direct bus connection from Amsterdam to Bucharest with departures on various days. This company also provides a (very cheap) connection from Brussels North.

By boat

Travel around

• The South Transylvania Tour (2 Days) from Bucharest
• Bucharest and Southern Transylvania Tour (3 Days)
• The Southern Transylvania Tour (3 Days) from Bucharest
• The Southern Transylvania Tour (3 Days) from Brasov

Language

Romanian is an Indo-European language mainly spoken in Romania and Moldova. Romanian is a Romance language, so it is also closely related to (Latin), Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese etc.

To look at

To do

To buy

Cost

Food

Romanian cuisine has incorporated many Hungarian, Austrian, Slavic, Turkish and Greek influences. A lot of meat, including pork and mutton, is eaten. However, the Romanian meal revolves around meat, and fruits and vegetables are harder to come by. Each region has its own specialties.

Some Romanian dishes are:

• Romanian cake
• Ciorba
• Trout meatballs
• Gulaş
• Mămăligă, a kind of corn mash
• Romanian moussaka
• Sarmale, cabbage rolls filled with minced meat, herbs and rice
• Mititei, sharp sausages from a seasoned minced meat
• Smântănă

The national drink ţuică, a traditional alcoholic drink, is a home-brewed plum gin. Especially in the countryside in Wallachia, ţuică is very popular and palinka, a strong form of ţuică, is more popular in northern Romania.

Wine and beer are also widely consumed by the Romanians. Their wine is a white wine. Each region has its own wine or beer type.

Going out

stay overnight

A backpacker gets by with 20 euros (incl. overnight stay) per day. (count on 10 euros for an overnight stay in (the many) hostels / 5 euros for a campsite).

To learn

To work

Safety

In Romania, the terrorist threat is no greater than elsewhere in Europe. There are no major tensions in the country. The general condition is stable and calm.

Crime

As in many European cities, there is petty crime in the city centres. Pickpockets hang around stations and public places.

It is advisable to take photocopies of identity documents with you, not to have too much cash in your pocket and to be careful with credit cards.

Although declining, the corruption of some police officers is a problem. Travelers are also sometimes harassed by fake police officers.

When changing money on the local market you can sometimes be fooled with clever exchange tricks.

Traffic

As mentioned before, people in Romania drive very recklessly and unpredictably through traffic. In the interior, on the - often miserable - roads, you will find many pedestrians, unlit agriculturally tense and stray pets and (small) livestock. If one is involved in an accident involving injured persons, one is not allowed to leave the country until the police investigation and sometimes even the trial has ended.

An RO-vignette ('Rovigneta') is compulsory as a tax to drive on national roads, outside the cities. This yellow vignette can be purchased at PETROM petrol stations and post offices.

Insurance with liability towards third parties is mandatory. In addition to the original documents (grey card, driver's license and insurance documents), it is best to bring a set of photocopies.

There is zero tolerance for alcohol consumption.

Natural Disasters

Given the numerous floods that Romania experienced during the summer of 2005, travelers should be aware that sustained rainfall could paralyze large parts of the country.

Since Romania is in a seismic zone, there is a danger of earthquakes. In October 2004, one already occurred at Vrancea with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale. A major earthquake occurs every 30 years. (The last major earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, dates back to 1977, when entire neighborhoods in Bucharest were destroyed.

In the event of a natural disaster, aid will be coordinated by the Inspecturatul general pentru situatii de urgenta, which depends on the Ministry of the Interior (strada Banu Dumitrache nr 46, sector 2, Bucuresti and Strada Ceasornicului nr.19, sector 1, tel. 00.40.21.208.61.50 and 232.26.40, general number tel. 021/242.09.84).

Should a disaster or unforeseen event occur during their stay abroad, travelers are expected to inform their family members or close friends in the Netherlands or Belgium of their situation as soon as possible. If communication with foreign countries is impossible, they can contact the nearest Embassy or Consulate of the Netherlands or Belgium.

Health

The quality of medical assistance is not bad, but repatriation is recommended for serious accidents or illnesses. An additional insurance "medical care and repatriation" is therefore recommended.

respect

Romanians are very hospitable. You are easily invited to people's homes. On such visits you will almost never get around to accepting one or more glasses of spirits.

As a visitor to a country, you are, like the residents themselves, subject to the laws of the host country.

In Romania there is a zero tolerance for alcohol while driving. The fewest milligrams of alcohol in the blood risk severe penalties, even imprisonment, after a traffic accident.

drugs

Possession and consumption of drugs are strictly prohibited.

Manners and Habits

Prostitution is illegal and punishable.

Contact

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