Latest news with #Romanians
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Press shift: how the right-wing media are pivoting to Reform
As the 2015 election hove into view, one of Nigel Farage's team was frustrated. Ukip, the party Farage then led, had only recently caused what was widely regarded as a political earthquake by winning the European parliament elections. The Daily Mail seemed to agree with everything Farage was saying, most notably his condemnation of the number of Romanians and Bulgarians coming to Britain. Why then, Farage's adviser asked a senior Daily Mail journalist, would the paper not endorse Ukip? With a nod to the paper's seemingly unshakeable bond to the Conservative arty, the journalist replied: 'Orders, dear boy, orders.' A decade on, Farage is once again leading in the polls, this time as head of Reform UK. There is no such frustration within his team, however. Recent media coverage has them believing those old bonds tying the traditionally Conservative-supporting press to the Tories are weakening. In the past week, the Mail published a striking front page: 'Britain is facing societal collapse, warns Farage.' It was accompanied by a leading article generally supportive of a speech he had made on crime. The previous day, the paper had run an article by Farage arguing that Britain 'needs Reform'. Meanwhile, a beaming Farage could be spotted on social media holding up a double-page spread from the Sun on Sunday. It showed another of his articles with the headline: 'Lawless Britain'. On Monday, the Telegraph's front page led with the Reform leader's promise to build more prisons. In both Reform and Conservative circles such coverage is being watched closely. All believe it is being driven by Reform's now consistent poll lead. 'Things are progressing quite nicely,' said a senior Reform source. Another said: 'We have demonstrated to editors that we aren't going away.' While this week marked a spate of glowing Reform coverage, a party insider said more important breakthroughs came in the spring. In April, the Sun ran the front page headline 'Britain is broken', Reform's local election slogan. 'That made Westminster sit up and take notice,' the Reform staffer said. In May, Farage's team were delighted when the Mail published his essay setting out the agenda for a future Reform government. The critical moments may have come even earlier, however. Farage's team are said to have held a series of meetings with senior figures from centre-right papers at the turn of the year. The talks were designed as a post-election reset. The Mail titles had backed the Tories and suspicion of them within Reform was significant. 'We've broken bread since then, of course, and things have got a lot better,' said one Reform figure. More recently, Farage attended a summer party held by News UK, owner of the Times, Sunday Times and the Sun. Tim Shipman, the former chief political commentator for the Sunday Times, disclosed this week that Farage had dined with Victoria Newton, the Sun's editor. Others believe that the positive coverage is simply part of a wider radicalisation on the British right, towards harder lines on immigration, culture and crime once seen as well beyond the mainstream. 'What we used to call the Tory press is not the Tory press any more,' said David Yelland, former editor of the Sun. 'They're embarrassed by the Conservative party. The agreed consensus of the Tory press has shifted right.' Some Conservatives fear their party has been complicit in improving Farage's standing with some papers, alleging a lack of activity by the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch. One former Conservative staffer blamed her for putting the party into 'cold storage' after the election, cutting off a brief poll rise it enjoyed last autumn. 'Fundamentally, [media outlets on the right] obviously are going to be anti-Labour,' they said. 'There's so little coming out of the Tories that they just don't really have that much of a choice but to go with Reform stuff. It comes down to effort. They really want it.' Other Conservative critics blame Badenoch's poor relationship with reporters and editors. Some said she has been known to bypass newsrooms altogether and complain to media company executives when she disliked a story. These criticisms are strongly rejected by Badenoch's team, who say the party consistently secures front pages with its media strategy. Yet when it comes to the crunch, could any major newspaper groups back Reform at the next election? Such decisions are taken late in the day by editors and owners, but Conservatives that fear much damage could be done by then. As a member of Rishi Sunak's team pointed out to Telegraph journalists after it endorsed him before last year's election: 'You've been kicking the shit out of us and giving these guys oxygen for the past 18 months. This is all a little bit late in the day.' Yelland warned that papers risk 'boxing themselves in' by fanning Reform's flames now. 'Editors will have to back Farage or be forced to pull off 'a Washington Post' and endorse nobody at all,' he said. One senior Conservative HQ source said a closer look at some of Farage's policies, such as nationalising some of the water industry, should raise obvious questions for the Telegraph and Mail. 'His policies are not conservative,' they said. 'That's tricky for them.' Ultimately, several Reform and Conservative figures said it would come down to whether Reform's poll lead endures. 'I really cannot see anything changing,' said Gawain Towler, Reform's former head of press. 'If that's the case, everybody wants to back a winner. The Tories are not a winner.' For now, senior figures inside the Mail and Telegraph do not believe that the odd glowing front page will translate into election support for Reform. However, Yelland warned that election endorsements were beside the point. 'It's the day-to-day coverage that matters,' he said. 'And there's no doubt that despite the fall in circulation, the Mail in particular influences broadcast media in this country immensely.'
Euronews
5 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Romanians are nostalgic for communist dictator Ceaușescu: who was he?
According to respondents to an INSCOP research survey, most Romanians believe Ceausescu's so-called "Golden Age" saw the country take better care of its citizens, and more cooperation between Romanians. Of those polled, 66.2% believed that Ceaușescu was a good leader, with only 24.1% voicing a negative view. Even the communist regime seems to fare well in the opinion poll: for 55.8% of the respondents it was rather a good thing for Romania, whereas only 34.5% disagreed. An overwhelming majority of respondents were fully aware of the lack of freedom under the communist era: 80% stated that there was none, while 9% believed that there was more back then. Data was collected using telephone interviews method on a sample of 1,505 people aged 18 years and over. Ceaușescu's repressive and iron fist communism was the only regime in Central Europe that ended in bloodshed in the late 1980s. The result looks shocking for a country that is a member of both the EU and NATO. Many in Romania believe that selective memory and nostalgia for simpler times, revived recently by Russian propaganda, are to blame Decline and fall Nicolae Ceaușescu was at the head of communist Romania from 1965 until December 1989 when his regime was overthrown by a ten-day revolution, only a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall. They were the last months of the Cold War. The communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe were drastically changing or falling peacefully one after the other, marking the end of the Yalta Order: Hungary, Poland, East Germany. On December 21st, following days of deadly repression in the western city of Timisoara, the dictator was supposed to address 100 thousand supporters that marched into central Bucharest; yet unexpectedly in a few minutes the cheering turned into booing as Romanians were fed up after years of misery and repression by the communist regime. The repression forces fired into the demonstrators and 24 hours later, Ceaușescu and his wife Elena had to flee Bucharest hastily. On the run from Bucharest, Ceaușescu and his wife Elena were captured and then executed by the army and the new revolutionary political leadership, in Târgoviște,** some 70 kilometers from the capital on 25 December 1989. Official reports say that a military court pronounced the death sentence after a one-hour summary judgement, while the orders were given by the National Salvation Front Council. This was an emergency executive body, whose creation was announced the 22 December, the day after beginning of the unrest in Bucharest and Ceasescu's escape from Palace Square, nowadays Revolution Square. Timișoara's mutiny, the spark that lit the flame On 16 December 1989 the Hungarian minority in the western city of Timisoara staged a small protest against the Ceaușescu's regime for the repressive measures adopted against the ethnic Hungarian protestant pastor László Tőkés for the criticisms he expressed on the Hungarian TV against the Communist political system. This was the seed of an uprising. The city's population joined the small protest galvanising it into a full blown anti-communist revolution. The demonstrators stormed the local headquarters of the Communist party and destroyed Ceaușescu's personality cult symbols. The army and the feared political police Securitate fired into the demonstrators on December 17 causing dozens of fatalities, while the whole city rose up against the communist regime. On December 20th, after 3 days of violent repression, the army withdrew and the city became free of communism. The echoes of Timișoara's uprising spread to the entire country and to Bucharest paving the way to the epilogue of the regime. The root causes of economic turmoil The causes that led to the fall of Ceasescu's regime were determined by both external and internal factors, such as the sunset of the Cold War and the unbearable weight of the communist autocracy imposed by the Ceaușescu family and its power circle. By the end of the 1980s, the Romanian people were exhausted by a decade of economic restrictions and increasing repression of fundamental freedoms by a regime based on the cult of personality. The propaganda called Ceaușescu the 'Genius of the Carpathians' or simply the 'Conducator', the leader the same title used by Ion Antonescu the head of the Romanian fascist regime during WW2 Nicolae Ceasescu took advantage of the 1977 destructive earthquake to start building a new Romania inspired by the principles of two communist leaders such as China's Mao Zedong and North Korea's Kim Il Sung, grandfather of Kim Jong Un. It was the so-called Systematisation. This was a rather dystopic infrastructural urban and farm planning that was meant to pave the way to the full collectivisation of the Romanian society. Old towns and villages were demolished (Bucharest, the Banat and the and Transylvania regions' urbanism were put upside down) entire populations were forcibly displaced to create new rural and industrial centres based on production models inspired by Mao's China. Ceaușescu's grand design was economically unsustainable for an impoverished population (with Central European traditions) and a country burdened by a heavy foreign debt. Consequence: popular dissatisfaction grew, and the regime thought to solve the problem by increasing repression against any form of dissent or simple criticism. The underground opposition called him 'the Danube of the Thought' to mock his irrational political, social and economic policies. Harsh repression and dystopia The regime established a strict control of the society through the Department of the State Security (the Securitate, a Stalinist political police structure) that had a vast and extensive network of informants. Any communication was intercepted and controlled, while all the typewriter machines of the country were registered by the security services. The Securitate had complete freedom to torture and eliminate opponents, even abroad. Artists and intellectuals were systematically persecuted as well as the ethnic minorities. The regime banned contraception (even condoms) and abortion, not with religious or moral motivations, just to increase demography and the future workforce. Pregnant women were strictly controlled by the authorities. Multifaced dictator Nevertheless, Nicolae Ceaușescu enjoyed political respect on the international scene until the start of the 1980s. The West saw him as an autonomous voice (vis-à-vis Moscow) within the Warsaw Pact. Ceasescu's Romania was the only country in the socialist military alliance that did not send troops to Czechoslovakia to suppress the Prague Spring. From the late 1960s onwards, Romania developed a foreign policy that was often detached from the broad lines dictated by the Soviet Union to the socialist countries. This allowed Nicolae Ceaușescu to establish political relations both with the West and with Mao's China, a communist country but opposed to Moscow. It was precisely the Romanian dictator who contributed to the preliminary steps that led to the great rapprochement between the China of Mao and Zou En Lai and the USA of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. This world policy enabled Romania to obtain foreign credits from western banks, to the point of being one of the few socialist countries to become a member of the IMF in early 1970s. Romania in 1974 was the only socialist country to sign a preferential tariff treaty with the European Community, what later became the EU. The 1972 oil shock gave Romania relative power on international markets. The country was in fact a small producer of crude and had preferential agreements with Iran and Iraq. The price of oil brought great benefits to Ceaușescu's policies. Because in the 1970s it allowed the regime to conduct expansive policies with relative benefits for the population that had access for the first time in its history to mass consumption and a fairly generous welfare state. From the early 1980s, falling oil prices and misguided economic measures forced the country into severe austerity measures with the ambition of wiping out its foreign debt. The result was a drop in productivity and mass impoverishment, not a context of harsh political repression, an explosive mixture that led to the violent end of the regime in 1989.
Times
22-07-2025
- Times
Five Met officers in court over Christmas party brawl
Five Met Police officers appeared in court charged with affray after their Christmas party in London ended up in a fight with Romanians celebrating their national holiday. Kellsey Millar, 32, Jack Sparkes, 34, Max Michaels-Dubois, 33, Daniel Dean, 38, and Alex Fackerell, 31, all attached to the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group, had been drinking heavily before they boarded a river boat for their Christmas party on December 1, 2023. When it docked later that evening the group headed to the Southbank in central London. Alex Fackerell JACK TAYLOR FOR THE TIMES Daniel Dean JACK TAYLOR FOR THE TIMES Jack Sparkes JACK TAYLOR FOR THE TIMES Inner London crown court was told that Fackerell got into a fight with a group of Romanian men and had his 'head busted open' after being hit with a bottle, kicked and stamped on. While he was being treated at Las Iguanas restaurant a different group of Romanians walked past and asked if he was OK. His colleagues allegedly became 'aggressive' and began fighting with the group, the jury was told. CCTV showed some of the male defendants allegedly throwing punches and pushing a man, 'causing [him] to go backwards sharply'. The violent scenes lasted three-and-a-half minutes. Millar was blocked from entering the restaurant and allegedly grabbed Jheanelle Samuels, a female security guard, and 'kneed her in her left thigh'. Samuels punched the officer in the eye in self-defence to 'get her grip off me' in accordance with her training, she said. Millar, Sparkes, Michaels-Dubois, Dean and Fackerell deny affray. Millar has pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Samuels gave evidence on Tuesday and said her role was to 'keep everyone safe and make sure there are no intoxicated people coming inside'. She was aware it was 'Great Union Day', a Romanian national holiday, because several members of the public were draped in the country's flag. She spotted an injured Fackerell and allegedly overheard him say: 'I started on one of them and I didn't know there were more and they jumped in.' She said this 'gave me the assumption that's how he got his head injury'. Samuels ran to get a first aid kit and said three Romanians — two men and a woman — walked past and asked Fackerell if he was OK. Samuels said some of the officers had an 'aggressive reaction' and asked 'were you the ones who did it?' before punches were thrown. Samuels told the court: 'I saw the Romanians were outnumbered. I thought it was unfair for them to be beaten up so I tried to defuse the situation … I said: 'Stop — get off him. Leave him alone.'' But there were 'multiple fights' and 'one of them had a Romanian in a headlock', the security guard added. Millar allegedly grabbed Samuels and screamed: 'No.' Philip Stott, for the prosecution, asked Samuels what happened and she said Millar 'pushed me back and then she grabbed me and kneed me in my left thigh'. Michaels-Dubois allegedly barged through the group and asked 'What happened?' before he 'shoved' Samuels. She continued: 'I tried to walk away and he kept trying to follow me. [A] witness to the incident had to create a distance between me and him.' Stott asked the security guard how she felt. 'I was in serious pain. I was limping and had to retreat,' she said. 'At that point I saw they were beginning to scatter. I believe they had heard the police had been called.' Samuels, who is 5ft 2in tall, had martial arts training when she was younger but said she no longer uses it. She is an accredited guard by the Security Industry Authority, the court was told. Kevin Molloy, the barrister representing Sparkes, asked during cross-examination: 'Were you taught to punch people in the face as part of your training?' Samuels replied: 'We are told we can self-defend if necessary.' The trial continues.
Euronews
22-07-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Popular Romanian Black Sea resort sees sharp decline in tourists
According to the latest Eurostat data, only 26.6 per cent of Romanians could afford a one-week holiday last year, whether in the country or abroad. In Europe, only Bulgaria came close to this number, while other continental neighbours in western and northern Europe had vastly higher figures. On average, some 85 per cent of citizens of Sweden, Luxembourg and the Netherlands could afford a one-week annual holiday. This has translated to a sharp decline in tourism in Romania, like in the once bustling Black Sea Mamaia resort, which now looks like a skeleton of its former self, with hundreds of sunbeds lying vacant. 'You can see clearly, you don't have to be an expert to figure it out. You check how much you earned last year, the same day and how much you earned this year the same day, it's a decrease of about 30-35 per cent,' says Răzvan Chițan, a beach manager at a Mamaia hotel. Why are fewer people visiting Romania's Black Sea Mamaia resort? The decline in holidaymakers is a result of multiple factors, from the war in Ukraine to economic concerns. One main reason, however, is Bucharest's decision to slash the value of the popular holiday voucher scheme, to the tune of 50 per cent. These vouchers can be used to pay for hotel accommodation, food and drink and entertainment events within participating venues inside Romania, and aim to beef up local tourism, as well as attract foreign travellers. Travel agents say that in May of 2024, roughly €95 million worth of holiday vouchers were sold, but this year, only €9 million worth were sold. Hoteliers in the area say the decline has been severe, placing a serious strain on their businesses. 'Bookings are made for no more than two, three days, because tourists are fewer,' said Felicia Simion, a hotelier in Mamaia. 'In our unit, a room with breakfast is 350-400 Leu (€69-79) in July, with breakfast and sunbeds included. And the all-inclusive package varies from 700-850 Leu (€138-168) per night, all inclusive, sunbeds, drinks all day,' said Sebastian Puznava, also a hotelier. Prices have skyrocketed The decline in tourists mostly affects two and three-star hotels, where a majority of stays are paid for using the holiday vouchers. But tourists also say that prices have skyrocketed as of late, also contributing to the downturn in bookings. 'Very expensive, so very expensive compared to previous years,' said Cătălin Ciobanu. 'Absolutely everything [increased in price], from a water bottle to the famous beer pint.' 'I haven't calculated, let's say around 800-1,000 Leu (€158-197) maximum,' said Virgil Nohai, a tourist. Last month, most bookings in seaside resorts were made for the weekends, whereas in previous years, people often stayed for a week or more. Most tourists this year have also chosen last-minute offers to maximise on savings and value.
The Guardian
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘The place is empty, a lot have left': Ballymena weighs up impact of anti-migrant riots
Since Ballymena erupted in three nights of anti-migrant riots last month, tranquility has returned to the County Antrim town. The rioters, after all, got what they wanted. They won. Dozens of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma families that fled have not returned and those that remain keep a low profile – they do not linger on the streets and are scarcely visible. The mobs who smashed windows, burned houses and battled police in order to expel Roma – and some other foreigners – from this corner of Northern Ireland see it as a victory. 'That's them away back home. Everybody is relieved,' said Leanne Williamson, 42, who witnessed, and endorsed, the unrest. 'It was madness but it was long overdue. The Romanians were ignorant and cheeky. Everyone now is at peace.' In the main flashpoint – Clonavon Terrace and adjoining streets – houses that were torched remain gutted and boarded up. Of the Roma families who inhabited them there is no sign. There are no official figures but one informed source with ties to the community estimated that of the approximate pre-riot population of 1,200, two-thirds are gone – or, to use a loaded term, ethnically cleansed. 'The place is empty, a lot have left,' said Kirsty, 35, a Clonavon Road resident who withheld her surname. She did not miss her former neighbours, or what she said had been a transient flux. 'You didn't know who was coming and going. Now it's a lot calmer. You can let your weans [children] out on the street a bit further.' Did the riots achieve their goal? 'Yes.' Another local person, who did not want his name published and did not endorse the riots, said the aftermath was striking. 'Ballymena was like a whole new town, there was an amazing atmosphere. It was like something out of a movie where the bad gang has been kicked out and people come out to celebrate.' The sentiment this week felt closer to quiet satisfaction, not jubilation, but it was still a counterpoint to the condemnation last month – from Keir Starmer and politicians across Northern Ireland – of mayhem that left dozens of police officers injured. The Police Federation likened the outbreak to an attempted pogrom. Violence abated as quickly as it started and apart from reports of prosecutions the story disappeared from headlines. Plenty in Ballymena, a largely working-class Protestant town 25 miles north of Belfast, feel shame at what happened. 'They were wrecking places and causing harm to people,' said Padraig, a teenager. 'It was racist,' said his friend Robert. 'I don't think it was the right thing to do.' Their reluctance to be fully identified reflected the fact that for others in Ballymena, it was mission accomplished. Filipinos and people from central and eastern Europe, drawn by factory work, have increased in number in the past decade, mostly without incident, but the Roma people were singled out for allegations of antisocial behaviour and criminality. An alleged sexual assault on a teenage girl by two 14-year-old boys, who appeared in court with a Romanian interpreter, triggered the riots. A third suspect fled to Romania. 'Where are the foreigners?' the mob shouted during a free-for-all against anyone deemed non-local – a scene that echoed anti-immigrant riots in Belfast and England last summer, and fuelled warnings that the UK is a 'powder keg' of social tension. However, rioters and sympathisers later apologised to non-Roma families who were 'accidentally' targeted. Posters that declared 'Filipino lives here', and loyalist bunting, sprouted on doors and windows to deflect attack. In a sign of reduced tension the stickers have gone and Filipinos said they felt safe. 'We are staying, we are OK. Our dreams will not stop with the trauma,' said Karen Estrella, 35, a care home worker. Posters that declare 'Locals live here' have also dwindled. Fero, a 45-year-old from Slovakia, said he liked Ballymena and blamed the riots on misbehaviour by Roma and Bulgarians. 'I'm happy with what happened. Now they're gone.' Authorities are unable to say how many people fled or have since returned, and appear reluctant to comment on the riots' aftermath. Ballymena's mayor, deputy mayor, constituency MP and several other public representatives declined or did not respond to interview requests. The Department for Communities referred questions about the vanished Roma to the Housing Executive, which said it did not hold such information but that 74 households – not necessarily Roma – sought assistance during the disorder. Of these households, 21 were placed in temporary accommodation and others made their own arrangements, said a spokesperson. Critics have accused unionist parties of turning a blind eye to racism – such as a loyalist bonfire in County Tyrone that burned an effigy of migrants – to avoid losing votes. In Ballymena reticence extends to some civic society organisations that declined to be interviewed or quoted. A paradox underpins the vigilantism. Some local people accuse the Roma of peddling cannabis and vapes, and credit paramilitaries with leading the expulsions, yet they acknowledge that paramilitaries sell drugs. 'Aye,' said one, with a shrug. 'That's it.' During the Guardian's visit this week, the only visible Roma presence was a family at a fast-food restaurant. It was raining yet they sat at an outside bench, getting wet, rather than inside.
