Mirel Bran
Mirel Bran is Romanian correspondent for several French periodicals, including Le Monde, Le Nouvel Observateur and L'Européen. He is the author of Bucarest : Le Dégel (Bucharest – The Thaw).
Updated: 14 July 2009
Sources and authors
By Mirel Bran
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Humour in Europe (5/10) : Romanian jokes that got around the censor
24 August 201220716 Le Monde Paris -
Romania: Justice — at the heart of the power struggle
19 July 20129714 Le Monde Paris -
Romania: A fertile land of opportunity
30 April 20124201 Le Monde Paris -
Romania: Nuclear waste, an explosive subject
8 September 20111401 Le Monde Paris -
Roma: Where are the millions in European aid going?
13 August 20103072 Le Monde Paris -
Moldova: A Romanian passport : the golden ticket
10 August 20093 Le Monde Paris
During the reign of Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanians told jokes to exorcise the brutality of the dictatorship. In this fifth installment of its series on humour, Le Monde says that in Bucharest, today they laugh capitalism. 
Behind Victor Ponta’s latest political offensive, which led to the dismissal of President Traian Băsescu, hides a will to control the recently reformed judicial system. All this amidst a slew of corruption scandals. 
Attracted by the low cost of agricultural land, Farmers from elsewhere in the EU are taking the plunge to set up in Romania. In so doing they are contributing to a renewal of local agriculture which is increasingly oriented towards organic produce. 
Romania’s only nuclear power station has been operating here, close to the Black Sea, since 1996. Now the construction of a nearby facility to store radioactive waste has added to the concerns of local people, who are worried about the consequences of a possible nuclear disaster. 
In light of the absence of progress on the issue of Roma integration, host countries and the countries of origin are continuing to bounce accusations and blame back and forth. Brussels, meanwhile, is exasperated by the fact that the projects it is financing are either advancing too slowly, or not at all. 
Since becoming part of the European Union, Romania has become host to tens of thousands of young Moldovans have gone there to study. Once enrolled, they can apply for passports which they see as their ticket to the EU.