Romania: castles, bears, floods, US bases, extreme poverty

Romania has castles, medieval towns, horse-drawn carts, half of Europe's bear population and lots of wolves.

Images: http://web.mit.edu/romania/www/Romania/Photogallery/Places/

Romania also has US bases. The US military has access to Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in south-east Romania, just inland from the Black Sea. Romania has troops in Iraq. Romania has been mentioned as a country hosting CIA detention centres.

Romania has seen much change since the 1989 revolution. There is much severe poverty.

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May 04 2006: according to the Kyiv post, http://www.kyivpost.com/bn/24406/ :

Floods hit villages in southern Romania in recent weeks. Half the homes in the village of Manastire were wiped out. Many houses were made of mud and straw bricks. 13,000 Romanians were evacuated from their homes.

The Danube had been fed by melting snow and rainfall in central Europe.

Parts of neighboring Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine were also affected.

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Crime gangs from Romania are heavily involved in people smuggling for the sex trade.

Organized groups of thieves and pickpockets operate in train stations and on trains, subways, and buses in major cities. Tourists changing money can be targeted by crooks who are sometimes posing as plainclothes policemen.

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Western “market led” reforms by the likes of the World Bank have left most of the population 8 times poorer than 10 years ago. Why help romania - Relief Fund charity

44% of Romanians are now reportedly living in poverty. http://www.relieffundforromania.co.uk/why_help_romania.html

95% of Romanian households in some parts of the north east have no running water, 10% cannot afford to connect to the electricity supply and there are no social services.

Sometimes parents have to give gifts to teachers in order to make sure their children are well treated.

Sometimes people have to pay a bribe for a driver's license, decent hospital treatment or a seat on a crowded airliner.

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aangirfan: Romania - corrupt American colony?

aangirfan: ROMANIA


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