One year ago people in Republic Moldova were protesting in Chisinau and demanding respect for their rights of having free and correct elections.
The international community was interested and people from all-over the world showed their support:
http://www.facebook.com/support.moldova
Now it's one year later... We should remember and continue our support for Moldova.
Apr 7, 2010
Mar 3, 2010
Mediation – The Future of Solving Commercial Disputes?
Labels:
Business,
Networking
A friend asked me to announce this event that will take place in Iasi.
Tired of losing money in court?
Invest two hours of your time to find out more about mediation, thus possibly saving 2 years of litigation.
*Networking Coffee* on
“Mediation – The Future of Solving Commercial Disputes?”
The event is scheduled for Tuesday, the 09th March, from 5pm – 7pm in the comfortable No. 8 Cafe (Strada T. Burada nr. 8) right in the center of Iasi.
In an open discussion, we would like to share our experiences and knowledge in mediation. The focus of the meeting is on “Solving Business Disputes”, (e.g. in Banking and Trade), where mediation, as a modern alternative to litigation, offers immense opportunities to save time and money. Furthermore, Commercial Mediation is a risk-management tool with high potentials, especially during this crisis!
Get in touch with us at the “Networking Coffee”. We would like to find out about your experiences of dealing with business disputes and where mediation can be helpful. Network with fellow Businessmen&-women, mediators and trainers in the non-committal atmosphere of “No. 8 Cafe”.
RFNC is a Non-Governmental-Organization, offering services, trainings and projects with an experience of over ten years in the conflict management field. Find out more on www.rfnc.ro
Please have a look at our poster for more details.
Are you interested in attending the *Networking Coffee* or do you have any questions?
We kindly ask to confirm your participation by e-mail Matthias@rfnc.ro or by phone +40 232 254502
Jan 23, 2010
Nationalism sucks! Why the 24th January Unification should not be celebrated in Iasi.
Alexander John Cuza (or Alexandru Ioan Cuza) was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who was the first ruler of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1859 and 1866.
On 24th January 1859 Cuza became ruler of Wallachia after he was elected earlied as the ruler of Moldavia. This way Cuza achieved a de facto union of the two principalities. This is known as the "small" unification in Romanian culture. The "big" unification is the one from 1st December 1918 when Transylvania joined the Romanian Kingdom.
Every year in 24th January there are big festivities in Iasi. But there is no reason to celebrate. 1859 represents the beginning of a sad period for Iasi.
Few people know that in Wallachia most of the people wanted the unification, but in Moldavia a lot of people were opposing this unification (Nicolae Istrate, Gheorghe Asachi, Costache Negruzzi etc.). Their most important fears were confirmed by later events. They warned that Iasi might lose its importance as an effect of moving the capital of the newly formed country to Bucharest. They also feared that the entire region of Moldova would be less favored than the Southern part.
Before the events in 1859 Iasi was in many ways more developed than Bucharest. But since then most of the resources were directed towards Bucharest and this city also attracted most of the talents. Over the last 150 years Bucharest had a much faster development and Iasi was neglected.
Nationalism is a notion that can be very attractive at first sight, but most of the times it is deceiving and can lead people to do stupid things. It leads to unnecessary "unifications" and also to other ugly things like wars and ethnic conflicts (see the example of former Yugoslavia).
I would like to think that in 150 years the Romanian society evolved, but I'm sad to see that no big change has happened. Romanian people are still superficial. They are very sensitive to emotions that can manipulate and remain untouched by facts and reason.
There are still people who are willing to "sacrifice their lives" for their country... willing to fight stupid wars out of "nationalism" and "patriotism". There are enough people willing to do stupid things and hurt other humans, just because they believe in the "beautiful lies" of one doctrine or another. After all, Nazism, also known as National Socialism, had at its core nationalistic ideas.
On 24th January 1859 Cuza became ruler of Wallachia after he was elected earlied as the ruler of Moldavia. This way Cuza achieved a de facto union of the two principalities. This is known as the "small" unification in Romanian culture. The "big" unification is the one from 1st December 1918 when Transylvania joined the Romanian Kingdom.
Every year in 24th January there are big festivities in Iasi. But there is no reason to celebrate. 1859 represents the beginning of a sad period for Iasi.
Few people know that in Wallachia most of the people wanted the unification, but in Moldavia a lot of people were opposing this unification (Nicolae Istrate, Gheorghe Asachi, Costache Negruzzi etc.). Their most important fears were confirmed by later events. They warned that Iasi might lose its importance as an effect of moving the capital of the newly formed country to Bucharest. They also feared that the entire region of Moldova would be less favored than the Southern part.
Before the events in 1859 Iasi was in many ways more developed than Bucharest. But since then most of the resources were directed towards Bucharest and this city also attracted most of the talents. Over the last 150 years Bucharest had a much faster development and Iasi was neglected.
Nationalism is a notion that can be very attractive at first sight, but most of the times it is deceiving and can lead people to do stupid things. It leads to unnecessary "unifications" and also to other ugly things like wars and ethnic conflicts (see the example of former Yugoslavia).
I would like to think that in 150 years the Romanian society evolved, but I'm sad to see that no big change has happened. Romanian people are still superficial. They are very sensitive to emotions that can manipulate and remain untouched by facts and reason.
There are still people who are willing to "sacrifice their lives" for their country... willing to fight stupid wars out of "nationalism" and "patriotism". There are enough people willing to do stupid things and hurt other humans, just because they believe in the "beautiful lies" of one doctrine or another. After all, Nazism, also known as National Socialism, had at its core nationalistic ideas.
Jan 20, 2010
Network suspected of smuggling women to Western Europe was smashed by police
Labels:
International,
Politic,
Social
Reuters writes about the arrest of 30 people from the group known as Cordunenilor Gang, located mainly in Iasi, Romania
This is a network suspected of smuggling women to western Europe. They were operating in Italy, Spain, Germany, Britain and Ireland.
The group's victims were sexually exploited, obliged to become beggars or forced into pickpocket gangs in major European cities.
Romania aims to join the EU's Schengen zone of passport-free travel in 2011. Strengthening the fight against cross-border crime is one of the conditions for joining the area.
This is a network suspected of smuggling women to western Europe. They were operating in Italy, Spain, Germany, Britain and Ireland.
The group's victims were sexually exploited, obliged to become beggars or forced into pickpocket gangs in major European cities.
Romania aims to join the EU's Schengen zone of passport-free travel in 2011. Strengthening the fight against cross-border crime is one of the conditions for joining the area.
Jan 18, 2010
Election in Ukraine - first round is undecided. There will be a second round
Labels:
International,
Politic
According to official results released on Monday, with 82 percent of the ballots counted, Viktor Yanukovich had 35.7 %, and Yulia Tymoshenko had 24.8 %.
The other candidates were far behind. Third place went to businessman Sergiy Tigipko with 13 % of the vote
The official turnout was 66.7 percent.
On Sunday night, both Yanukovich and Tymoshenko reached out to losing candidates for endorsements. A looming question is whether those more ideologically aligned with Yulia Tymoshenko will support her.
Despite warnings of large-scale election fraud in the days leading up to Sunday's vote, officials and election observers said the ballot seemed fair and orderly.
The other candidates were far behind. Third place went to businessman Sergiy Tigipko with 13 % of the vote
The official turnout was 66.7 percent.
On Sunday night, both Yanukovich and Tymoshenko reached out to losing candidates for endorsements. A looming question is whether those more ideologically aligned with Yulia Tymoshenko will support her.
Despite warnings of large-scale election fraud in the days leading up to Sunday's vote, officials and election observers said the ballot seemed fair and orderly.
Jan 16, 2010
Elections in Ukraine - first round tomorrow 17 January
Labels:
International,
Politic
Opinion polls and analysts say there will be no outright winner on Sunday. The candidate with the most chances seems to be Viktor Yanukovich, a former Prime Minister, and the candidate that lost the elections 5 years ago after the Orange Revolution. The second candidate seems to be Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
There are voices that say that Ukrainians need to choose between EU/NATO and Russia. But some other annalists say that no matter who wins Ukraine will continue to be somewhere in the middle because the citizens of this large country are very divided. In the Western and central regions of Ukraine there is strong support for stronger ties with EU and for no relations at all with Russia. People in the Eastern regions are more oriented towards Russia and they reject any possibility that Ukraine joins NATO or EU.
It is also my opinion that no matter who will win, this will not change the situation. Ukraine will not be able to make a clear decision towards any of the sides. This is a situation similar to the one in Moldova. With one exception: Ukraine already tried to get closer to the EU but this proved to be a failure. So I don't think that Ukraine will be ready any time soon to reject the ties with Russia and to try to get closer to Europe. Too many people are still suffering after the previous experiment. Let's just hope that Moldova's European experiment will prove to be more succesful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)