On this very day, January 30, 2012, Romania commemorates 160 years since the birth of Ion Luca Caragiale. The Google-Doodle presents a graphic picture of him with an envelope in one corner - an innuendo to one of his most famous plays, The lost letter...

(Photo source: DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images) Romania's president incumbent, Traian Basescu, spoke on national television last night for the first time since protests began almost two weeks ago, in defense of his government's tough austerity measures....

Following a comment on yesterday's blogpost, Corina Grigorica answers the question: "Why is it seen as shameful to make an alliance with PSD but not with a party that included Virgil Magreanu (PD)?" Immediately after the revolution, the Romanian Communist...