Nevada Daily Mail

Romanian prince comes to Cottey College

http://www.nevadadailymail.com/story/1203674.html

Thursday, May 10, 2007

By Steve Reed

Special to the Daily Mail

With the arrival of His Serene Highness Prince Radu of Hohenzollern-Veringen (Romania) as the honored speaker at Cottey College’s 123rd Commencement, we felt it was important to share a little information about this country and Prince Radu. HSH Prince Radu’s visit is part of his Friendship Tour in Missouri, and his stop at Cottey College is due to the efforts of Sam Foursha, former economic development director for the city of Nevada and Honorary Consul of Romania to the state of Missouri.

Most of us would have trouble locating Romania on a map of Europe, even though we’re all familiar with the name of the country. To say that Romania borders Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south probably doesn’t help much either. For those who have a bit more familiarity with European geography, find Greece and Turkey and start going north. Bulgaria is the country to the north of Greece with access to the Black Sea, and Romania is directly north of Bulgaria, and also has shoreline on the Black Sea as well.

The modern country of Romania was formed by the merging of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 and Transylvania in 1918. The capital of Romania is Bucharest, and it is the sixth largest city in the European Union. Romania became a member of NATO in 2004 and joined the European Union on Jan. 1, 2007.

The history

Romania is probably best remembered as a former Soviet satellite, particularly in the years following World War II. However, Romania’s part in the war, and its subsequent history are a bit more complicated than that. Under the leadership of General Ion Antonescu, Romania did first align itself with the Axis powers. In fact, Romania participated in the Axis invasion of Russia, which allowed it to reclaim some territories previously lost.

In 1944, however, General Antonescu was toppled by King Michael I. Romania then changed sides and fought with the Allies. After the end of the war, with the Red Army still stationed in the country, the Communists were able to exert undue influence on the elections and established themselves as the dominant party.

Following the negotiated removal of Soviet troops in 1958, Romania began to pursue a political course independent of its “big brother.” In fact, Romania was the only Warsaw-pact nation not to take part in the 1958 invasion of Czechoslovakia and even condemned that action. Romania was also the only member of the Warsaw pact to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six Day War.

The overthrow of President Nicolae Ceausescu’s government in the 1989 Romanian Revolution led to the modern government of today’s Romania.

The government of Romania is a semi-presidential democratic republic where power is shared between the president and prime minister. The president is elected by popular vote, and the prime minister is appointed by the party holding more than 50 percent of the seats in parliament. Parliament is composed of two houses — similar to the United States — the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Members of both houses hold four-year terms.

The economy

Romania is considered a middle- to upper-income economy. According to Wikipedia.org, since 2000, Romania has experienced “high growth, low unemployment, and declining inflation.”

Romania’s main exports are clothing and textiles, industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metallurgic products, raw materials, cars, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers). Trade is mostly centered on the member states of the European Union, with Germany and Italy being the country’s single largest trading partners.

The people

Romania’s official language is Romanian, which is a Latin-based language like French, Spanish, and Italian. Other languages spoken include Hungarian and Romani. At one point there were a number of German-speaking Saxons in the Transylvania area, but many of them have emigrated back to Germany. English and French are the foreign languages most often taught in school, and English-speaking Romanians outnumber French-speaking natives, especially among the younger generations.

Romania has no state religion, but about 80 percent of the population claims membership in the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter are celebrated. Other recognized holidays include New Year’s Day, Labor Day (May 1), and the National Day of Romania (Dec. 1).

Prince Radu

Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Foursha, HSH Prince Radu has graciously accepted Cottey College’s offer to speak at Commencement on Sunday, May 13, at 10 a.m. This visit coincides with HSH Prince Radu’s tour of Missouri in which he hopes to encourage, promote, and support Romanian partnerships in fields such as economy, culture, and education.

According to the prince’s official Web site, www.princeradu.ro, he graduated from the University of Drama and Film in Bucharest, 1984; is a graduate from the National College of Defence in Romania, class of 2002; attended the George C. Marshall College in Garmisch, Germany, 2003; participated in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2004 Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security; was named a Romanian Army Colonel in 2005; and holds a Ph.D. in Military Science (2006).

Prince Radu played a major role in the official visits undertaken by His Majesty King Michael I in 1997 and 2002 for the integration of Romania in NATO. The King visited the United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Luxembourg and The Netherlands, meeting with heads of state and government.

Since 1997, Prince Radu has regularly accompanied The King on his visits and created the concept of the King’s “Millennium Tour” in his country for the year 2000. In the company of his wife, Crown Princess Margarita, the prince represents the Royal Family of Romania on various occasions.