Andrei Neculau

Flag of Georgia

I remember seeing pictures from the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, just a few years ago on EuroNews.. it looked so European, so open, so cultural, so.. normal! A very very different view from what the whole region spread as its aura in the last few decades..

From that moment on the whole region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea didn’t have a strong connection with the former Soviet Union or Turkey. I was all “Go Georgia!” Things may not be perfect. Perfection is nothing to be found on this planet in terms of rights, policy, etc. Therefore I don’t expect perfection!

Georgia, although I met just a couple of Georgians so far, is in my head the great hope for that region. I’m not anti-Russian, since I have Russian friends. But I am anti-Soviet Union, and through the invasion of Georgia by Russia, the Soviet Union is back. Transnistria is another example, but at least the mood in Moldavia is definitely much more neutral when it comes to West and East!

In Georgia, things were quite simple.

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* update 2008-05-31: added more videos (clips)

The transition from Communism to Capitalism is always going to give birth to some monsters.

And there will always be a majority that gains nothing in the short-term out of this transition. Needless to say, some will loose. Well-being is something that is mostly transferable and only rarely created.

The majority will always look for quick end to their injustice. Kill the monsters! At that moment, they don’t care about religion, about laws, about morality, and above all.. about their own pure existence!

To cut this short, in a transition you will always have the extremists. Those who promise you a clean bold line between good and evil! And that there will be no exceptions!

And in Romania, we have Greater Romania Party which is actually a one-man show (no, not party) in the name of Corneliu Vadim Tudor (or simply Vadim). Of course, we are not cheap and we have others.

And this is how Vadim “works” when the Romanian Presidency reads an act condemning communism and its practices:

Yesterday somebody took a stand. In a talk-show focusing on the main contenders to the position of Mayor of Bucharest’s Municipality, after Vadim started babbling like always about how great he is, about how unjust the talk-show was, and all of that in 10 minutes of his 1 allowed minute.. Dragoș Bucurenci, a young person who actually made a difference in terms of Romanian NGOs, bursted with a harsh, yet not demeaning phrase:

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*updated 2008-05-30: added videos

June 1st, 2008 will be the 5th time when Romanians will go to vote to choose their county mayorship after the ‘90 Revolution. Explanation for Romanian Mayorship: the Mayor and the General Council will share their duties in the most horrible way.

So here we are, 18 years away from the communist regime.

The present time finds us with a peculiar situation, to say the least, regarding the candidates for Mayorship of Bucharest Municipality. We have these as the main contenders:

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