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Romania gets such a bad public image

wrencep

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The Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has defended his country after a wave of negative reporting about it in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Why does it have a bad public image?
When you come to Romania you first see cue stock footage of Gypsy horse and carts. Then the scandal about horsemeat which left Romania labelled as anything other than horsemeat.
Students and young professionals from Romania living and working in the UK don't plan to return home.
Headlines such as "The Mafia bosses who can't wait to flood Britain with beggars", "We want to get into your country before someone locks the door" and "An immigration calamity looms" have incensed Romanians living in the UK.
IASI-Ungheni pipeline with Moldova which will financialy benefit Basescu.
Corruption in the government.

What else should I mention to totally damage country's image?

IASI-UNGHENI_zps75670aad.jpg
 
Only thing I know about Romania is their evil coaches have produced a lot of very good female gymnasts who never smile or show emotion because it has been beaten out of them.

How'd I do?


i
 
Anyone optimistic that Romania's image will get better?
 
The Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has defended his country after a wave of negative reporting about it in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Why does it have a bad public image?
When you come to Romania you first see cue stock footage of Gypsy horse and carts. Then the scandal about horsemeat which left Romania labelled as anything other than horsemeat.
Students and young professionals from Romania living and working in the UK don't plan to return home.
Headlines such as "The Mafia bosses who can't wait to flood Britain with beggars", "We want to get into your country before someone locks the door" and "An immigration calamity looms" have incensed Romanians living in the UK.
IASI-Ungheni pipeline with Moldova which will financialy benefit Basescu.
Corruption in the government.

What else should I mention to totally damage country's image?

View attachment 67153719

Well I'm a Romanian and I wish you stop posting stupid headlines if you're not going to write a proper thread on the whole affair.

The Iasi-Ungheni natural gas pipeline is part of an effort by the EU to make Moldavia less under the influence of Moscow. the pipeline is able to fully supply Moldavia's needs for natural gas and there's room for expansion. So that's a good thing.

The horsemeat scandal was wrongly pinned on Romania because the whole affair was in Belgium.

Romanians who go abroad are in 3 broad groups
-ethnic gypsies who have romanian nationality who are indeed ruining the image of the country.

-ethnic romanians who act like thugs because they are Romanians in name only, and have no cultural or other affiliation to the country. They aren't really the pride an joy of the romanian educational system, they're the ones who flunk out of it. And they do go in other countries and behave like they would behave normally. Loudmouth, arrogant assholes who think too highly of themselves. And they are ruining the image of the country and the people.

-ethnic romanians who are well educated and culturedand who are scouted and desired by companies all over the world. Only because these educated Romanians don't go in a country and yell:" I'm a Romanian bitches" and puts on a "i'm better than you" attitude, but instead, they adapt and integrate in those countries, as immigrants should, they don't make it to the colored headlines even though they are in the millions. Instead, they make it in the headlines as developers and engineers and scientists. Only such things aren't as appealing as the other 2 kinds.

And yes, there is corruption in the government. You want to know the biggest source of corruption? the current ruling party, the socialist-liberal union of which the PM, mr Ponta, is part of. They haven't done a thing to benefit the country. They don't even know what the word governing means. I'm not saying the others before them were better, but during their time in power Romania's GDP did grow by 100bil euros since 2003.
 
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Only thing I know about Romania is their evil coaches have produced a lot of very good female gymnasts who never smile or show emotion because it has been beaten out of them.

How'd I do?


i

We also have very good feminine and masculine handball teams ;)
 
The Iasi-Ungheni natural gas pipeline is part of an effort by the EU to make Moldavia less under the influence of Moscow. the pipeline is able to fully supply Moldavia's needs for natural gas and there's room for expansion. So that's a good thing.

Agreed

The horsemeat scandal was wrongly pinned on Romania because the whole affair was in Belgium.

Actually that rumour started in the UK, and was heavily promoted by UK media since Romanians are seen by many in the UK as shifty and dishonest and a threat to the UK and an excuse to leave the EU. They had a problem when it came out a few days later that it was in fact horsemeat from a UK source that was the problem in many cases, and it was fraud coming out of the Benelux and British packing industries and not related to Romanian in any way, but the damage was done. It is a bit like the cucumber/vegetable death cases being pinned on Spain when it was in fact the Dutch and German's themselves that was the problem. It cost Spain billions.

Romanians who go abroad are in 3 broad groups
-ethnic gypsies who have romanian nationality who are indeed ruining the image of the country.

Agreed.. not all but a few. Same goes for Turks, Bulgarians and many others from Eastern Europe.. and of course Brits :) And most people tend to think that gypsies and Romanians are the same.. which aint true.

-ethnic romanians who act like thugs because they are Romanians in name only, and have no cultural or other affiliation to the country. They aren't really the pride an joy of the romanian educational system, they're the ones who flunk out of it. And they do go in other countries and behave like they would behave normally. Loudmouth, arrogant assholes who think too highly of themselves. And they are ruining the image of the country and the people.

Those types exist in all countries .. not unique to Romania. I hear the same complaints from my Turkish friends who say that Turks living in Western Europe are ruining it for all turks with their fraud and radicalization.

And yes, there is corruption in the government. You want to know the biggest source of corruption? the current ruling party, the socialist-liberal union of which the PM, mr Ponta, is part of. They haven't done a thing to benefit the country. They don't even know what the word governing means. I'm not saying the others before them were better, but during their time in power Romania's GDP did grow by 100bil euros since 2003.

Calm down!.. :)

The reason that Romania has a bad image is historical and that is something that is hard to get rid off. Romania and the eastern European countries around them have always in Western Europe been seen as backward, full of criminal gypsies and uncivilized. This goes back to the Romans and the Ottomans and Ceausescu. It is not something you can change overnight and requires massive investment in both PR but also changes to society in general.. which takes time... especially if the political system is rooted in the corrupt world of Ceausecu.

And no it does not help that the country has corruption issues and crime issues that spread across Europe.. as this only cements the stereotype of a typical Romanian/Bulgarian/Albanian and so on.
 
And no it does not help that the country has corruption issues and crime issues that spread across Europe.. as this only cements the stereotype of a typical Romanian/Bulgarian/Albanian and so on.

The whole horsemeat affair is a really complicated one... I stopped following it with interest after it was displayed on jon stewart.

I am not raging against the stereotype. To some degree, the stereotype is valid. I do really suggest that if you come in Romania, especially in crowded areas like airports and railway stations you mind your wallets and your valuables because they may get nicked. Thinking that the stereotype that there are a lot of thieves in Romania is just that and you don't want to appear racist runs the risk of you looking like a fool when your wallet goes missing. So better be safe than sorry. But then again, the rule to be mindful of your surroundings is universal.

So my argument isn't that the suspicions or prejudices aren't well deserved. To some extent they are. And my duty, when I go across the border, is to be mindful of those ones and try not to encourage them but instead, to provide grounds for the opposite. be the example of what an educated, mindful romanian, with strong cultural ties to his own country is all about.

And more-over, I am also angry at the OP because he isn't making any comment of substance, just came in, dropped some bombs, and is now fancying a wank I assume.


And good football players.

Our national football team is a joke in recent years. There are talented players but we had the same manager that produced no results for 2 world cups now.
 
And yes, there is corruption in the government. You want to know the biggest source of corruption? the current ruling party, the socialist-liberal union of which the PM, mr Ponta, is part of. They haven't done a thing to benefit the country. They don't even know what the word governing means. I'm not saying the others before them were better, but during their time in power Romania's GDP did grow by 100bil euros since 2003.

I agree. I mentioned this issue but you explained it more thoroughly, thanks. Actually Ponta and Basescu will take all benefit from the pipeline construction. They won't produce anything that will support people and industry. Tourism rate has reduced. Everything is getting poorer. And the EU does nothing to help the country. Do you want me to praise Romanian government and tell everybody about its sights and great culture - I am sorry we are talking about politics here.
 
I agree. I mentioned this issue but you explained it more thoroughly, thanks. Actually Ponta and Basescu will take all benefit from the pipeline construction. They won't produce anything that will support people and industry. Tourism rate has reduced. Everything is getting poorer. And the EU does nothing to help the country. Do you want me to praise Romanian government and tell everybody about its sights and great culture - I am sorry we are talking about politics here.

True, we are discussing politics here.

it's not the EU's job to help the country. We are not a charity case mind you. The EU has set up a list of things Romania must achieve by 1st of january 2013 if it is to get out of the recession and start growth. Because of the political squabble of the socialist-liberal union and their referendum and all that crap, the deadline for accomplishing those tasks was set in the summer. When the commission came to evaluate us, they told us that we failed more than half of the objectives. And by "we" I mean the socialist-liberals who run the government. They don't know how to govern a country. We also still have EU funds from the development program coming in the country.

So what we the people need to do is remind them of their duties towards us, their sovereign. We the people are sovereign. Currently, it would be a major victory for us if we make the government back off the whole Rosia Montana affair. Not let the gold company start it's cyanide mining and destroy a whole mountain. That would be a win for us the people and probably the first decent thing this administration would do since it took power in summer last year.
 
The Iasi-Ungheni natural gas pipeline is part of an effort by the EU to make Moldavia less under the influence of Moscow. the pipeline is able to fully supply Moldavia's needs for natural gas and there's room for expansion. So that's a good thing.

Surely the pipeline made Moldavia independent from Russian gas. I bother about the other thing, benefit from the gas supply to Moldova, which Basescu will take to his own. According to news he will sold Moldavia natural gas cheaper that it is sold by Russians.
If it is done nothing to the country development, just imagine, in what Basescu is going to invest the profit from the gas, In his villas or offshore deposits?

Ungheni-Iasi gas pipeline, operational as of 2014
 
Surely the pipeline made Moldavia independent from Russian gas. I bother about the other thing, benefit from the gas supply to Moldova, which Basescu will take to his own. According to news he will sold Moldavia natural gas cheaper that it is sold by Russians.
If it is done nothing to the country development, just imagine, in what Basescu is going to invest the profit from the gas, In his villas or offshore deposits?

Ungheni-Iasi gas pipeline, operational as of 2014

I don't understand your logic.
Of course we are selling gas to Moldavia at a cheaper price than the Russians are selling them because if we wouldn't, why would they want to buy from us? This is done to steadily but surely remove Moldavia from it's dependence on Moscow and thus, remove Moscows' influence in Moldavia.

As for the money generated by the sale of gas. Sure, some of it will be stolen. Maybe some will be stolen by Basescu and his cronies, but since the social-liberal unions is in power, and they hold the government, chances are it will be Ponta and his cronies that will pocket MOST of the stolen money. Not basescu.
 
The changing face of Romania | In English | EL PAÍS

This is an article that reinforces what I stated.

There are 200k Romanians in Madrid today and despite the fact that overwhelming majority of them are working in all manner of fields, from being people in cultural arts like members of an orchestra, to craftsmen and builders, the fact that there are Romanian Gypsies (or just gypsies from other countries, since they do exist in all countries, who are falsely associated with Romania), and a very small percentage of romanians are pimps and other members of the criminal fraterity, they speak more loudly through their actions than the 200k+ people who integrate seemlessly in society. Because they speak the language properly. They know the customs and they make an effort to integrate. Because that's what immigrants should do, if they are capable of doing this.

And of course the media is not interesting in such stories, except very rarely... a sort of an apology letter after they publish hundred of inflamatory stories they publish one that actually deals with the facts. And then publish another hundred inflamatory stories because that's what people want.
As the end of the article says:
"The problem is that sometimes a tree falling down makes more noise than an entire forest growing quietly."

You can tell by the pictures in the article that those are ethnic Romanians, not ethnic gypsies.
 
There seems to be some mistaken belief circulating here that people in countries where Romanians have migrated aren't able to distinguish between good and bad and, because the bad ones are those who get the publicity, we all assume all Romanians are shop-lifters, pimps, house-breakers etc. We don't. It's a bit insulting to think that we wouldn't be able to make the distinction.

There are plenty of Romanians in my region of Spain and although there are occasional examples of criminality, as there are within every section of society, the majority of Romanians here are seen as hard-working, intelligent (they usually learn to speak excellent Spanish far better than northern and western europeans) and well-integrated members of the community. I have 3 really good Romanian friends who would be an asset to any community they joined.

Don't go believing the hype of the tabloid newspapers who are only interested in bad behaviour rather than good. Don't make your assumptions about the image of Romanians abroad on the basis of the media but on the evidence of speaking to their neighbours and colleagues.
 
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