The frequent street protests, the official visits of European statesmen, and a royal funeral were among the events making headlines in Romania and about Romania this year.

The year 2017 has largely been one of street protests across the country. It all started in January, with protests against the Government’s initiative to pardon thousands of convicts and to change the criminal laws by weakening the anticorruption rules. The protests lasted for a month, and eventually the controversial emergency ordinance 13 (OUG 13) which aimed to change the criminal code was terminated. Still, the protests made international headlines for their massive attendance and creativity.

The talks of changes being made to the justice laws and the criminal code continued throughout the year, culminating with the Parliament passing several amendments to the justice laws this December. In addition to the street protests, the end of the year saw protests from judges, prosecutors and law students. Again, the unconventional forms of showing dissent brought further attention to the changes that are seen as weakening the independence of the justice system and largely block the activity of the Anticorruption Directorate (DNA). The draft laws concerning the judiciary in Romania will be evaluated by the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).

The Romanian citizens had this year the opportunity to attend debates on the future of the European Union, after the European Commission presented the five scenarios for the way the EU could evolve by 2025. Both Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, and Frans Timmermans, first vice president of the same body, came to Bucharest this year to attend public debates on the future of the EU. The meetings were part of the Citizens’ Dialogues series of events, taking place across the union.

French president Emmanuel Macron and of the Prince of Wales were among the top foreign officials who visited Romania in 2017.

During his 8-hour visit to Bucharest, the French president tackled a range of political and economic issues, including the economic ties between the two countries, Romania’s accession to the Schengen area and the justice reform. Macron also said he would return for the Romania – France Cultural Season.

Although he visits Romania often, Prince Charles came this year to the country for only his second official visit since 1989. The prince visited several sites in the country, met with Romanian officials and members of the Romanian royal family, and in Bucharest he stopped by the Village Museum, where he joined the traditional dance hora.

Prince Charles returned to Bucharest in December to attend the funeral ceremonies of King Michael, who died on December 5. A host of European and international royals came at the event, including the Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his wife, Queen Silvia of Sweden, and Queen Doña Sofía of Spain and Juan Carlos I of Spain. Thousands queued in Bucharest to say goodbye to Romania's last sovereign, and millions watched the funeral on TV.

Among the sport events, a highlight of 2017 was the 7th European Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships, hosted in the western Romania city of Cluj-Napoca. More than 270 gymnasts came to Cluj-Napoca for the event. Bucharest had hoped to host the championships, but the event moved to Cluj, after Romania’s capital failed to start the project of the new polyvalent hall that could have hosted the event.

At the same time, the Bucharest Marathon reached its tenth edition this year and gathered over 16,000 runners from Romania and from abroad. It is the biggest running event in the country, and a large community of runners formed around it.

Some of the cultural events take place regularly in Romania also registered landmark editions this year. Electronic music festival Untold, the biggest such event in the country, gathered 300,000 people, from both Romania and abroad. For its 2018 edition, it already sold the first 15,000 passes within minutes of making them available. Likewise, the 2017 edition of the George Enescu Festival saw many sold out concerts. The largest film festival in Romania, Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), brought this year to Cluj-Napoca legendary French actor Alain Delon, among others, while the Sibiu International Theater Festival gathered 3,200 artists and guests to the central Romania city. In eastern Romania, the Iasi International Festival of Literature and Translation (FILIT) gave the public the opportunity to meet authors such as Jonathan Coe or Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian.

editor@romania-insider.com