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Opinii +2

Sibiu's "Faust": a production that doesn't fade

Silviu Purcărete's staging at Sibiu's National Theatre keeps moving new audiences decades on. Why do some shows stay alive for so long?

  • Purcărete's Sibiu staging remains a landmark of contemporary Romanian theatre.
  • Intense emotional responses from audiences repeat with every revival or tour.
  • "Faust" works as a dissection of human compromise, not a straightforward retelling of the classic text.

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Opinii +2

The EU at a crossroads: eastward enlargement and the test of strategic autonomy

Moldova and Ukraine have opened accession talks, but the EU lacks internal consensus on how to manage this unprecedented expansion.

  • Moldova and Ukraine opened accession negotiations in 2026, four years after applying.
  • EU member states have no consensus on the framework or pace of these negotiations.
  • The concept of strategic autonomy is invoked with different, sometimes contradictory meanings.

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Opinii -1

Nicușor Dan, Romania's first procrastinator-in-chief

After Băsescu the gambler and Iohannis the tourist, a new label is taking shape around Romania's head of state.

  • Nicușor Dan earns the "procrastinator" label, after Băsescu the gambler and Iohannis the tourist.
  • Romania has no invested government; negotiations remain deadlocked as of 30 June 2026.
  • The PNRR deadline — 31 August 2026 — looms while Cotroceni keeps calling for dialogue.

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Opinii +2

A concrete building and the duty to remember

A discreet space tucked behind Bucharest City Hall raises an uncomfortable question: how do we build memory of atrocities without trivialising them?

  • A raw-concrete building in central Bucharest houses a discreet memorial space.
  • The intentionally harsh aesthetic — metal, rust — is a deliberate moral and artistic choice.
  • Romania remains ambiguous about institutionalised memory of state violence.

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Opinii +1

The invoice with a sonnet: unexpected lessons for entrepreneurs

A small detail — a Shakespeare sonnet on the back of an invoice — can say more about customer relationships than any business manual.

  • A sonnet on the back of an invoice turned a mundane transaction into a lasting memory.
  • Early entrepreneurs often overlook small details that build genuine customer loyalty.
  • Unexpected, zero-cost gestures communicate more effectively than paid marketing budgets.

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Opinii -1

Baccalaureate exam: eight lines of Bacovia, four hundred words required

A commentator flags a structural mismatch in this year's Romanian language exam: students had to produce a 400-word analysis of a two-stanza poem.

  • This year's Romanian bac exam asked students to write 400 words on just eight lines of poetry.
  • The requirement is seen as particularly demanding for students in science and technical streams.
  • Critics point to a structural flaw in the marking criteria, not the literary quality of Bacovia's poem.

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Opinii 0

The psychologist who forgets to look inward

The professionals who teach others to manage stress are often the last ones to heed their own warning signs.

  • Psychologists and therapists are clinically vulnerable to compassion fatigue, a well-documented condition.
  • Professional expertise can generate a false sense of immunity to burnout, making the risk worse.
  • Self-care is a functional necessity, not a privilege — including for those who prescribe it to others.

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Opinii -3

Ten years, six ministers, 445% rise in energy prices

A decade of self-congratulatory ministerial mandates has left Romanian consumers paying nearly five times more for energy than in 2016.

  • Energy prices have risen 445% over the past decade, according to the source analysis.
  • Six consecutive ministers oversaw the sector; none halted the price increase.
  • Market liberalisation transferred costs to consumers without creating real competition.

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Opinii +1

When "must" poisons even success

Ambitious people who reach their goals sometimes remain unhappy. The problem is not failure — it's how they framed the goal in the first place.

  • "Must" introduces pressure and obligation; "want" introduces choice and meaning.
  • Ambitious people can achieve great goals and still remain unhappy.
  • Healthy ambition comes from genuine desire, not from fear of failure.

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Opinii +1

What the 2026 National Exam Taught Us

Three uncomfortable lessons for teachers, parents and the ministry — including one about our capacity to own our mistakes.

  • The 2026 National Exam exposes system-wide failures, not just individual student shortcomings.
  • Responsibility for poor results is routinely passed on, never genuinely owned.
  • Real change starts with acknowledging one's own failures, not criticising others.

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