This site uses cookies.
Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site,
while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used.
For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
This person has a SecurePRO™ card. Because this person is not a ProZ.com Plus subscriber, to view his or her SecurePRO™ card you must be a ProZ.com Business member or Plus subscriber.
Affiliations
This person is not affiliated with any business or Blue Board record at ProZ.com.
Italian to English: Zucchero - From Cafebabel.com Detailed field: Government / Politics
Source text - Italian Zucchero, addio protezionismo
Marco Riciputi - Ravenna - 30.6.2006
Il primo luglio entrerà in vigore la tanto discussa riforma dello zucchero approvata il 20 febbraio scorso dal Consiglio Europeo a maggioranza qualificata con i voti contrari di Polonia, Lettonia e Grecia. Quali le conseguenze?
Chi può produrre più zucchero? ( J. Blarer) L’Ue è il secondo produttore mondiale di zucchero dopo il Brasile grazie alla lavorazione dalla bietola. La singolare radice ha colonizzato i campi europei grazie alla scoperta del chimico prussiano Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, il primo ad estrarre lo zucchero dalla bietola. E fu Napoleone, durante il blocco navale inglese, ad incentivarne la coltivazione per sfuggire alla penuria di zucchero di canna.
Si sblocca la riforma
Bando alle suggestioni e torniamo ai giorni nostri. La riforma dell’Organizzazione del mercato comune (Ocm) dello zucchero ha creato malumori, ma è considerata inevitabile dagli stessi Paesi membri.
Già dalla metà degli anni Novanta gli obiettivi di Agenda 2000 fissavano la necessità di riformare la Politica agricola comune in concomitanza dell’allargamento ad Est per evitare un’ulteriore crescita delle eccedenze agricole (che avrebbero causato un aumento delle spese di bilancio). Nel comparto saccarifero ai 135 zuccherifici presenti nell’UE-15 se ne sono aggiunti circa altri 100 situati nei nuovi Paesi membri, 76 dalla sola Polonia. Inoltre la superficie dell’Unione coltivata a bietola è aumentata del 30%, mentre la produzione di zucchero è salita del 15%.
A queste dinamiche interne si aggiungono fattori esterni legati ai negoziati nel quadro dell’Organizzazione mondiale del commercio che sostiene, senza particolari resistenze da parte dei Paesi dell’Unione, l’apertura del mercato europeo alla concorrenza mondiale.
Nel giugno 2005 Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissario Europeo per l’Agricoltura, annunciava in Parlamento Europeo la riforma del settore saccarifero come inevitabile per salvare l’industria nel lungo periodo, anche a costo di dolorose conseguenze per molte regioni europee. La riforma si orienta ai principi del mercato, punta a ridurre le eccedenze e introduce una serie di incentivi per dismettere o riconvertire gli impianti non competitivi. L’effetto ottenuto concentrerà la produzione nelle aree più vocate, situate prevalentemente in Francia e Germania.
La riforma raggiunge la gente
Calata nella vita quotidiana la riforma desta la preoccupazione per le conseguenze a livello sociale. Un esempio? Il caso della chiusura dello zuccherificio di Russi, piccola città italiana, è emblematico. «È stata una crisi inaspettata, un colpo improvviso», riassume il sindaco Pietro Vanicelli, «la crisi sarà ancora più evidente, quando nei prossimi mesi gli stagionali si renderanno conto che non c’è più lavoro». L’attività dello stabilimento, attivo fin dal 1963, sarà interrotta e farà parte dei 13 stabilimenti su 19 destinati a chiudere in Italia. Mauro Ricci, capofabbrica dello stabilimento afferma che: «si sapeva della crisi e che il prezzo italiano dello zucchero non era concorrenziale» ma aggiunge «in fabbrica non c’era la certezza della chiusura». Eppure, Giuliana Laschi, esperta di politiche agricole e docente alla Facoltà di Scienze politiche di Forlì, ritiene che il tempo per prepararsi alla riforma non sia mancato ma: «agricoltori e lavoratori non sono stati informati sul processo decisionale e rischiano di essere mandati a casa in malo modo. Questa cattivissima informazione attorno all’UE impedisce una piena cittadinanza». Nonostante questo la riforma non è dilazionabile perché: «limitarsi ad usare i fondi europei per scaricare le proprie inefficienze sull’Europa è un comportamento miope».
Dubbi dall'Est
Tra i nuoni arrivati Lituania, Lettonia e Polonia esprimono forti preocuppazioni. A febbraio, la delegazione polacca al Consiglio Europeo sull’agricoltura ha contestato la riforma su tutta la linea accusandola di non poter raggiungere gli obiettivi di competitività e sostenibilità prefissati nel lungo periodo. Denuncia inoltre il mancato equilibrio per quanto riguarda i produttori dei diversi Stati membri. Nei verbali della seduta si legge che la riforma: “Non tiene conto del processo di ristrutturazione cui sono soggette le imprese dell’Est in seguito all’ingresso nell’Ue, ed accorda aiuti a bieticoltori dove già esiste un sistema competitivo”. Secondo un rapporto del Foreign Agricultural Service statunitense, la produzione polacca si concentrerà nelle raffinerie più efficienti senza che i produttori rinuncino alle proprie quote. Il basso costo del lavoro rappresenta un incentivo in tal senso. Anche il Governo di Varsavia è intervenuto con aiuti diretti a sostegno dei redditi degli agricoltori sfruttando la possibilità concessa dalla legislazione Ue.
Piaccia o meno il protezionismo fa un passo indietro.
Un ringraziamento a Inga Pietrusinska, Varsavia
Translation - English Sugar, with added protectionism
Marco Riciputi - Ravenna - 29.6.2006
Translation: Louise Bongiovanni
The much discussed sugar reform approved last 20 February by the European Council will be put into action on 1 July, despite the votes against it from Poland, Latvia and Greece. What will the consequences be?
Can Europe sweeten the deal? (J. Blarer) The EU is the second biggest producer of sugar after Brazil, thanks to its processing of beet. This singular root has colonised European fields thanks to the discovery of the Prussian chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf in the 18th century, who became first person to extract sugar from beet. It was then Napoleon who popularised the beet, encouraging its cultivation during the English naval blockade to combat the shortage of cane sugar.
The reform blockade is raised
Such small beginnings must seem very far away from the headaches of today. Present EU reforms are considered a painful but necessary treatment. Since the middle of the 90’s the EU has been aware of the need to reform the Common Agricultural Policy so as to avoid the eastward EU expansion bringing with it an increase in agricultural surplus. Regardless, since the expansion another 100 sugar refineries have been added to the 135 already present in the EU-15, with 76 of these new refineries based in Poland. With this rise, production of sugar has risen correspondingly (15%) and the cultivated area has risen by 30%. To this dynamic of expansion we must also link the greater pressures caused by the WTO calling for the EU to open its internal market to global competition.
In the European Parliament in June 2005, Mariann Fischer Boel, the European Commissioner for agriculture, said that the reform of the sugar industry was a bitter pill necessary to swallow to save the industry in the long term. The intended reforms aim to reduce excess production and limit production in non-competitive areas. The resulting effect will be to concentrate production in the more regions most suitable for growth, situated predominantly in France and Germany.
The reform reaches the people
Transferred to everyday life, the reform is creating worries about the consequences on a social level. The case of the closure of the sugar refinery in the small Italian town of Russi is emblematic. "It was an unexpected crisis, a sudden blow," recalls the mayor Pietro Vanicelli, "the crisis will be even more evident when in the coming months the seasonal workers realise that there isn’t work anymore." The activity of the factory, in use since 1963, will be stopped and will become one of the 13 factories out of 19 destined to be closed down in Italy. Mauro Ricci, the manager of the factory, confirms that "the crisis and the fact that the price of sugar in Italy wasn’t competitive were known about," but he adds, "It wasn’t certain that the factory would close." Yet Giuliana Laschi, an expert on agricultural politics and a lecturer in the Faculty of Political Science in Forli, maintains that there was plenty of time for people to prepare themselves for the reform, but "farmers and workers were not informed of the decision-making process and now risk being shown the door in a very unpleasant way. The terrible communication of the EU is impeding complete citizenship." Despite this, the reform is not deferrable because "limiting oneselves to using European funds to unload our own inefficiency onto Europe is short-sighted behaviour."
Doubts from the East
Of the new arrivals, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland have expressed grave concerns. At the European Council in February, the Polish delegation for agriculture contested the reform in its entirety, accusing it of not being able to reach objectives of competitiveness and sustainability in the long-term. They also complained about the lack of balance between the producers of different member states given by the legislation. The delegation noted that the legislation: "Doesn't take any notice of the restructuring process which Eastern European companies are subject to following their entrance into the EU, and it provides help to those beet growers who already have a competitive system in place." According to a report by the US's Foreign Agricultural Service, Polish production will be concentrated in more efficient refineries without the producers lowering their own quotas. The low labour costs present an incentive in such cases. The government in Warsaw has also intervened with direct help in the form of income support of farmers by exploiting the possibilities offered by EU legislation.
Like it or not, protectionism has taken a step backwards.
With thanks to Inga Pietrusinska, Warsaw
German to English: Cafe Babel article - Stille Nacht Detailed field: Government / Politics
Source text - German
Nicht immer 'Stille Nacht'
Srebrina Bognar - Köln - 12.12.2005
Heiligabend feierten die Christen im Ostblock in der Familie. Die Kirchen blieben dagegen aufgrund des Drucks der Staatsmacht of leer.
Weihnachten in Bulgarien 1974 mit Väterchen Frost und der Snegurochka (café babel) Wenn es um die Unterdrückung der Religion ging, waren Kommunisten durchaus erfinderisch: In den 1920er Jahren wollte Stalin den Christen in seinem Herrschaftsgebiet den frommen Nikolaus austreiben. Deshalb erfanden die Apparatschiks den grimmigen Ded Moroz, das Väterchen Frost. Das Weihnachtsfest wurde in ein Neujahrsfest umgewandelt. Ded Moroz kam von nun an immer am 31. Dezember in Begleitung der jungen Snegurochka, dem Schneeflöckchen, und brachte Geschenke für die Kinder.
Jeder Bürger des ehemaligen Ostblocks durfte laut der Verfassung seines sozialistischen Landes seine Religion frei ausleben. Die Realität sah aber anders aus: Den Religionsunterricht hatten die Kommunisten schon in den 1950-er Jahren aus den Schulplänen gestrichen. Religion sei "das Opium des Volkes", lehrte der Marxismus-Leninismus. Die totalitären Regimes in allen Ländern des Realsozialismus übten einen enormen Druck auf die Kirche aus. Offiziell war der Kirchgang nicht verboten, aber viele Christen wollten ihren Kindern die Zukunft nicht verbauen und lebten ihren Glauben nicht öffentlich.
Mehr Zellulose als Saft
Das hinterließ Spuren. Dana Schieck betreibt zwei Webportale über die Geschichte der DDR. Sie erzählt, wie sie Weihnachten in der DDR erlebt hat: "Die Weihnachtsmärkte ohne Christkind und Engel erinnerten an gewöhnliche Rummelplätze." Die Versorgung mit Haushaltswaren war auch katastrophal: Kerzen, Spielzeug und Feinkost gab es kaum. Glücklich hätten sich DDR-Bürger schätzen können, die Päckchen mit Bohnenkaffee und Milchschokolade von ihrer Verwandtschaft im Westen erhielten. "Der Nachmittag des 24. Dezember war arbeitsfrei", sagt Schieck. "Es gab meistens Würstchen mit Kartoffelsalat. Wir sangen traditionelle Lieder wie ‘O, du fröhliche’, und ‘Stille Nacht’.
Die Werke der Hofkomponisten von Walter Ulbricht kamen in der Bevölkerung dagegen überhaupt nicht
an." Dana Schieck erinnert sich auch an die Zitrusfrüchte, die nur vor Weihnachten zu
kaufen waren, an die Bananen, von denen sich jede Familie ein Kilogramm zugelegt hatte und an die gelben kubanischen Orangen, die mehr Zellulose als Saft enthielten. Und die Geschenke? "Kinder bekamen meistens Puppen, selbst gebautes Spielzeug oder India-
nerzubehör geschenkt", so die Historikerin. "Es war ein sehr besinnliches und frohes Fest."
Auch in Bulgarien bewahrten die Menschen ihre Weihnachtsbräuche. Vater Stojan, der 72-jährige
Priester in der orthodoxen Kirche "Der Heilige Georgi" in Dobritch, erinnert sich: "Bulgaren
arbeiteten an Weihnachten, abends versammelten sie sich zuhause. Wie Russen, Georgier, Serben
und Rumänen, die allerdings nach dem Julianischen Kalender, also 13 Tage später feiern, essen Bulgaren
sieben kleine, fleischlose Speisen an Heiligabend und singen Weihnachtslieder. So
feierten sie auch im Sozialismus, still und in der Familie."
Unruhen in der "stillen Nacht"
Doch nicht immer war den Menschen im Ostblock ein friedliches Weihnachtsfest vergönnt. Be-
sonders bitter war Weihnachten 1981 in Polen. Die Wirtschaftskrise dauerte an, die Läden stan-
den leer. Die Sowjetunion übte zunehmend Druck auf den Staatschef Wojciech Jaruzelski aus,
der am 13. Dezember 1981 das Kriegsrecht erklärte. Die Gewerkschaften wurden wieder verbo-
ten, zahlreiche Aktivisten, darunter Lech Walensa, verhaftet. Generalstabsmäßig organisierten die Länder aus dem Ostblock Weihnachtspäckchen für die polnischen Kinder und Lebensmittel-Lieferungen für Polen.
Regelmäßig versuchte die Ordnungsmacht im ehemaligen Ostblock zu verhindern, dass Weih-
nachten in der Kirche gefeiert wurde. "Zur Weihnachtsmesse kamen ältere Frauen, nicht viele", erzählt Vater Stojan. "Zur Heiligen Messe an Ostern allerdings sammelten sich umso mehr Menschen, und dann schritt die Volksmiliz ein." Das bestätigt Nikola Vassilev, der in der bulgarischen Volksmiliz arbeitete. Er war Abschnittsbevollmächtigter in einem Stadtviertel von Veliko Tarnovo: "Kurz vor Weinachten bekamen wir Anweisungen, dass wir Koledari, also Leute, die nach
slawischer Tradition von Haus zu Haus ziehen und alte Weihnachtslieder singen, in einen Dienst-
LKW einsammeln." Die Koledari wurden aber nicht unmässig bestraft, so Vassilev: "Sie verbrachten eine Stunde in U-Haft, um 'nachzudenken', und durften dann nach Hause gehen."
In Rumänien kam es Weihnachten 1989 sogar zum Aufstand. Arbeiter, aber auch die gebildete Schicht wagten es, in Temeswar und später in Bukarest gegen das Regime zu demonstrieren. Der Diktator Nicolae Ceausescu schickte seine Gardisten, die auch auf Frauen und Kinder schossen. Doch die Armee schlug sich auf die Seite der Protestierenden. Sie eroberten das Gebäude des Staatsfernsehens und übertrugen den Aufstand ein paar Tage lang live im rumänischen und bulgarischen Fernsehen. Der Diktator und seine Frau wurden von einem rumänischen Sondertribunal verurteilt und hingerichtet – am ersten Weihnachtstag 1989.
Translation - English Not always a ‘Silent Night’
Srebrina Bognar - Köln - 5.1.2006
Translation: Louise Bongiovanni
Under communism, churches in the Eastern Bloc were empty at Christmas time. However, this did not prevent people from celebrating at home, where many traditions were kept up.
Christmas in Bulgaria, 1974, with Father Frost and Snegurochka (café babel) When it came to suppressing religion, the communists were highly inventive. Stalin wanted to banish the Christian figure of St. Nicholas from his dominium, so the Apparatchiks resurrected Russia’s 19th century answer to the Catholic St Nicholas, Ded Moroz (Father Frost). Christmas celebrations were pushed back to New Year’s Eve, when Ded Moroz, accompanied by the young Snegurochka (little snowflake), would bring presents for every child.
Citizens of the former Eastern bloc countries were supposedly free to practise their own religions according to the constitution of the socialist country in which they lived. The reality however, was a little different. Religious Studies had already been taken out of the Curriculum in the 1950s and religion was the ‘opium of the masses’ according to Marxists and Leninists. The totalitarian regimes in all socialist states put an enormous amount of pressure on the Church and, although Church attendance was not officially banned, many Christians did not want to endanger their children’s futures and so did not openly display their beliefs.
More pith than juice
Oppression left its mark. Diana Schieck, a historian of East Germany (GDR), tells stories of her Christmas experiences in East Germany. “Christmas markets without Baby Jesus or angels just seemed like ordinary fairgrounds.” The supply of household goods was also vastly lacking: candles, toys and luxury foods were seldom available. GDR citizens with relatives in the West could count themselves lucky as they were able to receive parcels of coffee beans and milk chocolate. “The afternoon of 24 December was a holiday” says Schieck. “On this day, there were usually little sausages with potato salad. We sang traditional songs such as O, du fröhliche (Oh, Glorious Christmas time), and Stille Nacht (Silent Night); the works of the state-commissioned composers under Walter Ulbricht didn’t reach the population at all. Diana Schieck also remembers the fruit that could only be bought around Christmas time: bananas, a kilogram of which each family obtained, and the yellow Cuban oranges which had more pith than juice. And the presents? “Children usually received dolls, handmade toys or Red Indian costumes”, recalls the historian. “It was a very traditional and happy celebration.”
In Bulgaria, people also held onto their Christmas customs. Father Stojan, the 72-year-old priest of the orthodox church The Holy Georgi in Dobrich, remembers, “Bulgarians worked on Christmas Eve and then everyone met up at home in the evening. Like Russians, Serbs and Romanians, who celebrate 13 days later according to the Julian calendar, Bulgarians eat seven small meatless dishes on Christmas Eve and sing Christmas songs. They celebrated like this in socialist times too, tacitly and in the family only.”
Disturbances during the ‘silent night’
Eastern Bloc citizens, however, were not always granted a peaceful Christmas celebration. The Christmas of 1981 in Poland was particularly grim. The recession remained in force and the shops were empty. The Soviet Union exercised increasing pressure on the head of state, Wojciech Jaruzelski, who on 13 December enforced Martial Law. Trade unions were banned again and many activists under Lech Walesa, the Solidarity trade union movement’s leader, were put in prison. Other Eastern bloc countries organised Christmas parcels for Polish children and food deliveries for the Poles with military precision.
The dominant powers in the former Eastern bloc regularly tried to stop Christmas from being celebrated in church. “Only old women, and not many of them, came to the Christmas service” tells Father Stojan. “More people, however, would come to the Easter service and then the Volksmiliz [police] would come in”, confirms Nikola Vassilev, who served in the Bulgarian Volksmiliz. He was an officer in charge of part of the town Veliko Tarnovo. “Just before Christmas we were given the order to round up in a lorry all Koledari [people who, according to the Slav tradition, went from house to house singing ancient Christmas carols].” The Koledari were not punished excessively. According to Vassilev, “they spent an hour remanded in custody to ‘think about what they had done’ and were then free to go home.”
Things began to change in 1989, when communism began collapsing. In Romania, just before Christmas 1989, there was an uprising where workers and even the educated sectors dared to demonstrate against the government, first in Temesvar and later in Bucharest. The dictator Nicolae Ceausescu sent his guardsmen, who shot at women and children as well as the men. However, the army struck out on the side of the protestors. They took the buildings of the state television by assault and televised the uprising live over a couple of days on Romanian and Bulgarian television. The dictator and his wife were tried by a Romanian special tribunal and put to death – on Christmas day, 1989.
German to English: Romania - Café Babel Detailed field: Government / Politics
Source text - German Rumänien: Es läuft wie geschmiert
Dennis Maschmann - Moskau - 9.10.2006
Rumänien darf am 1. Januar 2007 in die EU – wenn das Land die Korruption in den Griff bekommt. Doch davon ist man in Rumänien noch weit entfernt.
Sibiu, Rumänien (Foto: camilg/ flickr) „Nuda spaga!“ – „Gib kein Schmiergeld!“ Das Plakat, das ein Fenster der Bahnhofshalle von Schässburg (Sighişoara) ziert, ist schon vergilbt. An diesem Nachmittag sieht man alte Frauen mit Kopftüchern auf den Bahnhofs-Bänken der siebenbürgischen Kleinstadt sitzen, die ihre Füße vom Gehen in abgewetzten Plastiksandalen erholen. Ein fliegender Händler mit Bohrmaschinen im Arm steht rauchend auf dem Bahnsteig. Bittend streckt eine Roma zwei blassen Rucksacktouristen ihre leere Hand entgegen.
Das Plakat an der Bahnhofshalle beachtet keiner. Es ist Bestandteil der Anti-Korruptions-Kampagne der rumänischen Regierung und soll ein Wahlversprechen einlösen: 2004 gewann Traian Băsescu von der Demokratischen Partei (PD) das Rennen um die Präsidentschaft mit einer „nationalen Strategie“ gegen die Schmiergeldkultur. Die Korruption in Rumänien ist auch ein zentraler Kritikpunkt der EU-Kommission in ihrem abschließenden Fortschrittsbericht vom 26. September. Zwar stellt die EU dem Land in Aussicht, am 1. Januar 2007 beitreten zu können. Doch die Regierung soll nachlegen im Kampf gegen das alltägliche Bakschisch.
Bezahlung unter der Hand
Von ein paar Plakaten lassen sich die Rumänen jedoch nicht belehren. Sie haben andere Sorgen. Die meisten schlagen sich mit nichts oder wenig durchs Leben: mit ein paar Hektar Land und einer Kuh oder mit Gelegenheitsgeschäften, die Ärmsten nur mit Betteln.
Ein Zug fährt in den Bahnhof Schässburg ein. Die alten Frauen schleppen ihre Plastiktaschen zum Gleis, der Händler seine Bohrmaschinen. Irgendwie müssen sie die Fahrt bezahlen – und wollen dabei sparen. Die eine oder der andere ohne Fahrkarte schiebt dem Schaffner unter der Hand Geld zu. Selbst wenn sie weniger als den offiziellen Fahrpreis bezahlen, der Eisenbahner kann dadurch sein mageres Gehalt aufbessern.
42 Prozent der Rumänen haben einem Bericht der Weltbank im Jahr 2000 zufolge Staatsangestellte bestochen. Glaubt man der NGO Transparency International hat sich daran bis heute trotz der Bemühungen der Regierung nichts geändert. „Von uns durchgeführte Umfragen beweisen, dass die Rumänen heute genau so viel Schmiergeld zahlen wie vor der Kampagne“, bestätigt Victor Alistari, Chef der rumänischen Transparency-Abteilung.
Karies und Korruption
Jeder Zweite, so der Weltbank-Bericht, zahlt in Rumänien extra. Und jeder Dritte Offizielle gibt zu, korrupt zu sein. Als wir im siebenbürgischen Dörfchen Bîrghiş nach einem Schlafplatz suchen, werden wir von einem jungen Mann mit nacktem Oberkörper und einem Goldkettchen um den Hals vom Ortsrand aufgelesen. Normalerweise rumpeln Pferdewagen über die staubige Dorfstraße mit Schlaglöchern, doch unser Chauffeur lädt unser Gepäck in einen silbern glänzenden Mercedes-Jeep. Auf unsere verwunderte Frage, wo er den denn herhabe, antwortet er beiläufig: „Der Wagen ist nicht neu. Ist schon zwei Jahre alt.“
Später erfahren wir, wie er seine Luxus-Karosse bezahlen konnte: Er ist der Bruder des Zahnarztes. Jeder zweite Rumäne zahlt beim Zahnarzt Schmiergeld, für eine bessere, schnellere, überhaupt eine Behandlung. Und sei es nur, um sich schwarze Zähne ziehen zu lassen. Auch in den Krankenhäusern fault die Korruption. Für Operationen muss man mehrere hundert Euro zusätzlich aus der Privatkasse investieren. Die schlecht bezahlten Schwestern sind den Patienten täglich zwei, drei Euro „Trinkgeld“ wert. Und das kürzlich erschienene satirische „Korruptionshandbuch“ Manual de Spaga bemerkt sarkastisch : „Schwangerschaft ist jener Zustand des weiblichen Körpers, der zumindest in der Phase vor der Entbindung hohe Schmiergeldzahlungen erforderlich macht.“
Plackerei oder Korruption
Die Ärmsten trifft die Korruption am härtesten. Wie die Karies ihre Zähne faulen lässt, frisst die Korruption tiefe Löcher in die Haushaltskasse, nimmt ihnen über zehn Prozent des Einkommens. Nur naive Fantasten träumen in Rumänien davon, vom Tellerwäscher zum Millionär zu werden. Emöke und Sari aus Bîrghiş zählen sicher nicht dazu. Die Schwestern, die zur ungarischen Minderheit in Siebenbürgen gehören, haben den Glauben an die soziale Gerechtigkeit in Rumänien längst verloren. Noch unter Ceauşescus Diktatur legte ihr Vater Monat für Monat Geld für ein eigenes Auto zur Seite. Nach dem Umbruch vom Dezember 1989 kam die Wirtschaftskrise. Die Ersparnisse des Vaters schmolzen in der Inflation dahin. Und mit ihnen der Traum vom Auto.
Heute sind Emöke und Sari überzeugt: Wer in Rumänien von Höhenflügen träumt, sollte sich nicht auf die Kraft der eigenen Flügel verlassen – oder ins Ausland gehen. Die Schwestern sagen, es gebe im Land genau zwei Wege, zu Geld zu kommen. Der erste führt über die Plackerei auf den Weinfeldern Italiens, in ostdeutschen Gurkenfabriken, auf Baustellen in Spanien. Der einfachere Weg ist die Korruption, der jedoch nur für Schaffner, Ärzte, Lehrer, Zöllner und Polizisten gehbar ist.
Geld von Tante Tamara
Viele Rumänen sind immer noch überzeugt davon, dass auch die Politiker grundsätzlich korrupt seien. Kein Wunder also, dass Traian Băsescu mit seiner Anti-Korruptions-Kampagne die Wähler von sich überzeugte. Dank des Drucks aus Brüssel sind mittlerweile bescheidene Fortschritte erkennbar. Justizministerin Monica Macovei hat ein Gesetz durchgesetzt, wonach alle öffentlichen Bediensteten ihre Einkünfte offen legen müssen. Inzwischen sitzt sogar Ex-Premier Adrian Nastase wegen ungeklärter Millioneneinnahmen auf der Anklagebank. Ihn habe, so seine abenteuerliche Verteidigung, seine Tante Tamara beerbt, die in einem Bukarester Plattenbau lebt.
Über eine Tante Tamara würden sich viele arme Rumänen sicher freuen. Zwar boomt die Wirtschaft, doch das liegt vor allem an den unglaublich niedrigen Löhnen. Wird der EU-Beitritt Rumänien von der Korruption befreien? Zweifel sind angebracht. Ist das Land erst einmal in der Union, wird der Reformdruck aus Brüssel nachlassen.
Translation - English Romania rife with low-level corruption
Dennis Maschmann - Bucarest - 9.10.2006
Translation: Louise Bongiovanni
The European Commission wants to integrate Romania into the EU on 1 January 2007 – if the country can keep its corruption under control. A feature from Siebenbürgen.
Sibiu in Romania (camilg/flickr) "Nuda spaga!" – "Don’t pay bribes!" The poster, which adorns a window of the station hall of Sighişoara, is already yellowed. This afternoon old women with head cloths sitting and rest their worn feet at the station at Sighişoara. A peddler with drills in his arms stands smoking on the platform. A gypsy stretches her hand out to two pale backpackers.
Nobody takes any notice of the poster in the station hall. It illustrates the anti- corruption campaign of the Romanian government and is a promise that yet needs to be honoured. In 2004 Traian Băsescu of the Democratic Party (PD) won the race for the presidency with "a national strategy" against the culture of bribery. Romania’s corruption is one of the main criticisms raised by the European Commission in their final progress report of 26 September. The EU says that there is a very good chance that the country will be able to join on 1 January 2007. But the government must carry on the fight against everyday bribery.
Underhand payments
A few posters won’t change much. Romanians have other concerns. Most survive with little or nothing, with a couple of hectares of land and a cow or with casual work, and the poorest turn to begging.
A train pulls into Sighişoara station. The old women drag their plastic bags to the platform and the peddler heaves his drills. They have to pay for the trip somehow - and want to save money. One of them doesn’t have a ticket and presses money into the guard’s hand. Even if they pay less than the official ticket price, the train guard rounds off his lean salary this way.
42 percent of Romanians have bribed state employees according to a report by the World Bank in 2000. The NGO Transparency International believes that up until today the governments have changed very little "Our inquiries prove that Romanians pay as much in bribes today as they did before the campaign", Victor Alistari, head of the Romanian branch of Transparency confirms.
Rotten teeth and corruption
Every second person in Romania, according to the World Bank report, pays extra. And every third official admits to being corrupt. When we look for somewhere to stay the night in the little Siebenbürgen village of Bîrghiş, we are picked up at the edge of the village by a young man with a naked torso and a thin gold chain around his neck. Horse-drawn carts rumble along the dusty village track full of holes, but our driver loads our luggage into a shiny silver Mercedes-Jeep. When we ask surprised, where he got it from, he casually answers: "Oh the car is not new. It is already two years’ old."
We find out later how he could afford his luxury car: He is the dentist’s brother. Each second Romanian bribes his dentist, for a better, quicker treatment, or simply to get treated. And this is just to have ones’ rotten teeth pulled out. Corruption rots the hospitals too. To have an operation an individual must invest several hundred euros from his own pocket. The badly paid nurses need two or three euro "tips". The recently published satirical "Corruption Handbook" Manual de Spaga sarcastically notes: "Pregnancy is a condition of the female body, which makes high bribes payable in the phase before giving birth at the very least."
Plaque or corruption
Corruption hits the poorest people hardest. As their teeth rot, corruption makes deep holes in the household bank accounts, draining over ten per cent of their incomes. Only naive optimists dream of rising from rags to riches. Emöke and Sari from Bîrghiş have given up. The sisters, who belong to the Hungarian minority in Sighişoara, have lost faith in the social justice in Romania long ago. While still under Ceauşescus dictatorship, their father put money aside month after month to purchase a car. After the radical change of December 1989 came the economic crisis. Their father’s savings melted away with inflation. And with them their dreamt car.
Today Emöke and Sari are convinced: Those who dream of rising above the trials of daily life shouldn’t rely on the strength of their own wings, or should go to a foreign country. The sisters say that there are only two ways making money in their country. First they can work hard in the Italian vineyards, the East German cucumber factories, or on building sites in Spain. The easier route is via corruption, an open option for train guards, doctors, teachers, customs officers and policemen.
Money from Aunt Tamara
Many Romanians still believe that politicians are in principle corrupt. No wonder therefore that Traian Băsescu convinced the voters with his anti-corruption campaign. Thanks to pressure from Brussels, modest progress can be seen. The Minister for Justice, Monica Macovei has implemented a law, by which all civil servants must make their incomes public. In the meantime the former Prime Minister, Adrian Nastase, is sitting in the dock justifying his million-plus-undeclared income. According to his adventurous defence, he inherited it from his aunt Tamara, who lives in a block of flats in Bucharest.
Many poor Romanians would be probably be glad to have an aunt Tamara. The economy is booming thanks to unbelievably low wages. Will accession to the EU release Romania from corruption? This is doubtful. Once the country joins the union, the pressure from Brussels will diminish.
Possibly, the booming economy will enable the state to pay sisters, policemen and guards higher salaries. They would not be able to rely on bribes any more and the poor will profit from growth. They would then be able to afford their train tickets. But even socially fair growth does not guarantee success. Ultimately this will come from a change in mentality – and for this more is required than the pale posters in the station.
More
Less
Translation education
Master's degree - University of Bath, UK
Experience
Years of experience: 24. Registered at ProZ.com: Jan 2006.
Italian to English (University of Bath.) German to English (University of Bath.) French to English (University of Bath.)
Memberships
N/A
Software
Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Trados Studio, Wordfast
Bio
I am a translator and interpreter of Italian, French, German and Portuguese with around 10 years experience. I have an MA in Interpreting and Translating from the University of Bath. I offer interpreting in simultaneous, consecutive and liaison in all 4 languages to English. I am hard working, efficient, fast and accurate and am looking forward to working with you!
Expertise