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Construction of the Danube-Bucharest Canal, the implementation of a high-speed rail between Budapest-Bucharest-Constanta, Danube ports modernization and the construction of two new road bridges over the Danube to Bulgaria represent some of the projects of the Action plan of Romania for the the Danube region strategy, whose priority areas were presented on Thursday, February 3, in a press conference, by Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi, together with Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anca Boagiu and Minister of Regional Development and Tourism Elena Udrea.

‘There are concrete things, it’s not new money, we still have on the actual exercise of the EU budget by 2013 about 45 billion euros available, and we hope that, if by 2013 the projects included in the Action plan are launched and funded, we would be able to continue in the following multi-annual EU financial exercise, so that the already engaged projects reach finalization stage and, at the same time, we would also have a second generation of projects included in the Danube Strategy’, Minister Baconschi stated.

Among other projects mentioned by him was to ensure navigability throughout the Danube navigable waterways and throughout the year, generalization of broadband Internet in urban areas, creation of an international institute for the Danube Delta and the Black Sea, development of a system for monitoring of ecosystems, improvement of water quality by constructing purification stations in most ports along the Danube.

Also, ministers Boagiu and Udrea presented extensively the projects afferent to the Danube Region Strategy which the ministries concerned will coordinate in the future , focusing mainly on the Danube-Bucharest Canal project.

The press conference organized on Thursday, at the MAE headquarters, took place after, the same day, in Budapest, the European Commissioner for regional policy, Johannes Hahn, announced the 11 areas of priority action of the Danube strategy, as well as the countries which will coordinate the implementation of projects covering these areas. The 11 areas are transport – river, land and air – energy, tourism and culture, water quality, risk management, biodiversity, research and education, competitiveness, human resources, administrative capacity and security of the citizen.

‘Every state in the region can coordinate up to maximum three priority areas and an area can be coordinated by maximum two states. Each has subsumed several actions that will be implemented through the projects’, stressed Minister Baconschi, pointing out that Romania will be involved in coordination of three areas – river transport (together with Austria), tourism and culture (together with Bulgaria), managing risks of extreme events (together with Hungary). MAE is the national coordinator of the implementation of Danube strategy projects, and it is going to form an inter-ministerial coordination structure.

‘We see the strategy of the Danube as a green, sustainable strategy – that is oriented to environmental protection, based on new technologies and innovation, set to increase the quality of Romanian citizens’s life, who live on the Romanian Danube river bank’, said Minister Baconschi.

According to him, the fact that the Danube River was inert in recent decades has triggered development problems for the entire region south of Romania, but this disparity is to be alleviated in 10-15 years with the achievement of the highest part of the planned projects, and towns as Sulina and Braila (east) will regain their cosmopolitan character that they had 100 years ago.

The countries participating in the EU strategy for the Danube region are Germany (Länder Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania – EU Member States – plus Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, Agerpres informs.

Romania launched its tourism brand in Munich last week and has signed the agreement with Air Berlin, which will run flights from Nuremberg to Constanta next year, according to Romania’s Tourism Ministry. The ministry has also started negotiations with tour operator TUI Nordic to return to Romania in 2012.

German tour operator Rewe said it will include the Danube Delta in its offer for German tourists, while Frosch Touristik International (FTI) will include the country among its tourists destinations. Germany is one of Romania’s priority market in terms of tourists sources, with more than 300,000 German tourists to the country in the first nine months of this year, according to the ministry.

Romania launched its new tourism brand in the summer of 2010, after analyzing on the main tourist source markets. Romania’s new tourism slogan is ‘Explore the Carpathian Garden’.

While much of the civilized world celebrate ancient Christmas traditions, it wasn’t always so in Romania, a country once shackled to the now-defunct Soviet Union. Prior to the country’s break from the communist-led Soviet bloc, Romanian residents were forced to abandon – or at least submerge – many of their Christmas traditions.

It has been 15 years since Romania regained its independence, and its citizens are once again filling the Christmas season with joyous celebrations. Young adults are now experiencing the Yuletide traditions they previously heard their parents and grandparents discuss. Christmas – called ‘Craciun’ in Romania – is once again alive and well.

Unlike many Americans, Romanians do not open gifts on Christmas morning. Instead, gift exchanges take place on Christmas Eve. Therefore, Romanian children do not leave milk and cookies out for Santa Claus – ‘Mos Craciun’ – to consume on the night of December 24. And while children in the U.S. typically ask for video games and electronics, those in Romania live with a harsher economic reality.

Romania is a tale of two classes. The urban population is typically much more affluent than the rural population. In the cities, some children will receive expensive gifts and money. In the villages, however, kids often receive sweets, fruit, nuts, and pastries as Christmas gifts. A common and popular gift is knot-shaped bread, which, in Romania, symbolizes an abundant harvest.

The sacrifice of a family’s pig is customary in rural villages. Often grown to around 300 pounds, the pig’s throat is cut in the back yard and the pork’s hair is burned. After this, a small portion of meat is immediately fried. That meat is then shared with friends and neighbors, along with plum brandy. This ceremony may seem barbaric in the U.S., but it is performed to ensure the soul of the pig – which will provide the family with nourishment – receives ample gratitude.

All the women in a family cook for three days leading up to Craciun. On Christmas Eve fir trees are decorated. Groups go door-to-door singing carols and churches present concerts. Carolers are abundant. School children make large stars out of glossy paper and light them from within. They carry the illuminated star with them from house to house, singing carols such as Steaua (‘The Star’), Trei Pastori (‘The Three Shepherds’) and Mos Craciun (‘Santa Claus’). Young children begin the singing, then the caroling is taken over by adolescents and then, finally (often after midnight), the adults join in. At each house, carolers are given apples, nuts, traditional cakes (‘cozonaci’) and sometimes even money as a reward for their efforts.

Christmas dinner is a rich, multi-course meal. Several types of pork sausages are tabled, and plum brandy, along with home made pickles, are requisite. ‘Sarmale’ then follows. This dish consists of pickled cabbage leaves stuffed with a combination of pork and beef, along with rice, pepper, thyme and other spices. It is boiled slowly for hours and is paired with polenta. That dish is followed by roasted pork and turkey with red wine. The wine is consumed to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The meal ends with cozonaci, which is a cake with nuts and raisins. The entire extended family – children, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins – gather around the table to enjoy the feast together.

Though Romanian Craciun differs from a traditional American Christmas, it’s easy to see the similarities as well: it’s a magical time filled with celebrations, family and generosity.