The Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta recently said that things at the country’s Cultural Institute (ICR) “aren't going well” and asked the Minister of Culture, Daniel Barbu, to analyze the institute’s activity.

“When it comes to culture, minister, I ask you to carry out an analysis, together with the competent committee from the Senate and with the Foreign Minister. Unfortunately, the situation at ICR is not going as we would like it to and I want you to propose, to the Senate too, all the necessary measures for the ICR, even political measures, and even if it’s not subordinated to the Government, but collaborates with the Ministry of Culture and the Foreign Ministry, to once again become an institution that helps us promote our culture abroad,” said Victor Ponta at the start of the Government meeting on Wednesday (June 12).

Moreover, according to some sources, Andrei Marga (in picture), who was voted head of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in September last year, is about to be dismissed, according to local publication pesurse.ro.

Marga replaced Romanian writer Horia Roman Patapievici, who resigned in August last year, after the ICR budget was reduced by a third, also saying he “cannot fight anymore against the government’s will to transform the Romanian Cultural Institute into a propaganda tool.”

In mid -June 2012, PM Victor Ponta’s government brought the Romanian Cultural Institute under the Senate’s control via an emergency ordinance. The Institute was previously under presidential auspices, and the move cause great debate, as it was perceive as an attempt to politically control how Romania's culture is represented abroad.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com