in the news: Romania

As part of my job is to help Americans better understand the country I’m currently living in, I figured I’d do a quick round-up on Romania in the recent news media.

Back in July, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu’s bodies were exhumed for DNA testing at the request of surviving family.  The BBC reported on the exhumation.  It will be awhile before the results are in.

This month, a tragedy on an infant ICU unit at a Bucharest hospital points to the dire need for better healthcare.  The AP provides a report of the incident as well as startling statistics about healthcare in Eastern Europe.

Roma, an ethnic group with a large population in Romania, have also been in the news.  This month, with elections upcoming, the French government is expelling Roma from France with a few euro in their pockets and sending them back to Romania and Bulgaria.  There has been a lot of coverage of this, but here are few reports: NY Times article; one of many CNN articles; slideshow at the Wall Street Journal