I already got to meet some Hungarians in Romania, but since my arrival in Debrecen yesterday ? it`s now Hungary for real. A country of 10 million people that, just like its neighbours, has been overrun by foreign invaders several times during its history. Celts, Romans, Ottomans, Habsburgs, Austrians and most recently, Soviets. Here`s a… » read more

Très chers blogueurs, Nous tenons aujourd’hui à vous faire part d’une avancée notable dans le développement de Blogactiv, à savoir la création de notre Netvibes Universe. Le principal avantage est de cet outil Web 2.0 est d’avoir un synopsis dynamique et interactif à la fois de Blogactiv et d’EurActiv. Ci-dessous un copie d’écran de notre… » read more

A new peer-reviewed study has just been published on the possible link between the onset of Parkinson’s disease and the use of pesticides during one’s lifetime. Not surprisingly, the story has been picked up by the press globally and if you only have time to read the headlines then it’s a foregone conclusion that pesticides… » read more

A new peer-reviewed study has just been published on the possible link between the onset of Parkinson’s disease and the use of pesticides during one’s lifetime. Not surprisingly, the story has been picked up by the press globally and if you only have time to read the headlines then it’s a foregone conclusion that pesticides… » read more

Another month gone by! It`s number 8 and there will be four more to go. I think that`s still quite a lot but if I look at how quickly the previous ones have gone by, it seems like the whole adventure will be over soon. Anyway, many people have been asking me about what kind… » read more

As I learnt during previous days, Romanian boys and girls are expected to behave in a similar way until they reach the age of 11 or 12, with the exception that the girls have earrings. Gender roles are only starting to sink in during the early teenage years. From then on, boys are raised to… » read more

Most reactions to the Us European project are quite positive. Some are not. As it has been made clear to me, the tone I have so far used in describing Romania is degrading, too harsh and too Western. Since today is my last day in Romania, I will try to make up for any emotional… » read more

L’inconcevable est arrivé en ce tout début d’avril. José Manuel Barroso, le Président de la Commission européenne, a remis sa démission hier soir. La raison apparente serait son désaccord avec le futur « pacte européen » de Nicolas Sarkozy concernant l’immigration. Dans son communiqué de presse, il s’en prend au chefs d’Etats sur la question… » read more

It is quite clear to us but not to the “old world” etymologists that the word Albion derives from or is equivalent with the hypothetical *Arbion and that this gave rise to the word European, Alba > Arba > Europa. Old Irish arbe meant “field” so that Europe in our opinion was named for the… » read more

Romanians are very social and talkative people. They like to spend time in company and they are fond of having conversations. Beside their love for philosophy and conspiracy theories, they also have a taste for humour. But beware, make sure you are not the subject of their jokes, because they are usually not very flattering.… » read more

Transylvania was neither invented by Dracula`s spiritual father Bram Stoker, nor was the region`s name born out of his creativity. Transylvania has existed for many centuries before the Dracula myth came into existence. Throughout all those years, Transylvania has almost incessantly changed ownership. Before being added to Romanian territory in the wake of WWI, it… » read more

Every country has its favourite scapegoat and for Romanians it`s the Gypsies. Romanians stealing abroad? ?Gypsies. People begging in the streets? ?Gypsies. Rapists, robbers, car thieves, abandoned children? ?All Gypsies. Fortunately, some Romanians have opinions that are a little more open-minded, especially when they are directly confronted with the question: `what do you think of… » read more

Le Monde, The Guardian, The Herald Tribune, The Times and a range of British and German boulevard papers ? most big European cities and tourist centres sell international newspapers. In Romania, they are very hard to find. I remember seeing one copy of Die Zeit in Sibiu and that`s about all. Even Romanian newspapers do… » read more

International traveling is a relatively new hobby in Romania. Escaping the country was almost impossible during the 1980s. The economic crisis of the 1990s made it quite unlikely that Romanians would leave their own country for reasons other than finding a job. After the beginning of the new millennium, conditions started getting more favourable. Now… » read more

We shall draw a bead on the Europe of the past, the present and the future, from looking in at what the Venerable Bede wrote about Europe so many yesterdays ago, to viewing Venerable Europe in its development today, to peering mightily into the coming tomorrows of the European idea. Original post by drawingabede