Romania does not regularly command much international attention. The 20 million-strong east European nation accounts for just under 5 per cent of the European Union's total population.
Dirt poor during the late 1980s when communism collapsed throughout Europe, Romania made substantial economic strides in recent years. But unlike Hungary – its smaller neighbour which has made a name for itself by being the awkward member in the EU and Nato – the Romanians progressed by going along with whatever was the European consensus.
Keeping out of the limelight is a strategy that paid off. In terms of national wealth per capita, Romania is about to overtake Hungary, once Eastern Europe's wealthiest state. And soon, Romania will host Nato's most significant airbase and the continent's first US-run ballistic missile defence system.
Yet at their recently held national election, Romanians stunned all of Europe by voting in large numbers for a completely unknown far-right conspiracy-obsessed extremist politician opposed to both the EU and Nato as their country's potential future president.
Mr Calin Georgescu, a 62-year-old engineer with no political experience, emerged from nowhere to win 23 per cent of the ballots in the first round of the presidential vote on Nov 24.
ANTI-VAXXER WHO TALKS TO ALIENS
And unless Romania's established political class manages to block his advances by convincing enough voters to turn away from him, Mr Georgescu could well become Romania's head of state in the decisive second round of the ballots on Dec 8, putting a man who claims to be conversing regularly with the inhabitants of other planets in charge of the country's foreign and military policies.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 04, 2024 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 04, 2024 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
CALLIGRAPHY IS BIG WITH ARTIST
The boulders hiding in the alcove of Tong Yang-tze's (right) Taipei apartment testify to this Taiwanese calligrapher's daunting perfectionism. They are paper - remnants of discarded artworks, crumpled together like used tissues and soaked into inky wads of pulp. Hundreds of old drafts of writing, including many of her efforts to draw Chinese poetry at a monumental scale, have been recycled into these rocks over the years, most recently as she worked on her commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which debuted on Nov 21.
Mattel sued over Wicked dolls with porn website link
LOS ANGELES - Mattel was sued on Dec 3 by a South Carolina mother for mistakenly putting a link to a pornographic website on packaging for dolls tied to the blockbuster movie Wicked.
Taiwanese musician-director Liu Chia-chang a composer of hit songs
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Actress Kristal Tin reveals lung cancer diagnosis
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South Korean entertainment schedules up in the air
SEOUL - Schedules of performances and interviews in South Korea have been thrown into a state of uncertainty by a sudden martial law declaration that was lifted only a few hours later.
Host Dasmond Koh surprised by martial law edict while in Seoul for work
Upheaval in Seoul, South Korea
Squid Game returns to end 2024 with a bang
In this monthly column, The Straits Times' streaming picks for December include the long-awaited second season of the survivalist hit Squid Game (2021 to present) and its non-lethal equivalent.
Flow speaks Volumes, The Room Next Door a thin melodrama
In the wake of a devastating flood, a cat finds refuge with motley stranded animals on a tattered sailboat.
Funeral rites come alive in The Last Dance
The Hong Kong drama offers fascinating glimpses into the city's funeral traditions
Tolkien and anime work well together, says Japanese director
NEW YORK - It has been a decade since the work of fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien last appeared on the big screen.