Former travel writer now head of insight and analysis at @reinvantage. No longer actively posting, but occasionally replying. 🟢
Bucharest
Joined March 2009
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Viktor Orban’s attempt to ban Budapest Pride is going really well. Record turnout.
Módosult a Budapest Pride útvonala, a Mi Hazánk által elfoglalt Szabadság híd helyett az Erzsébet hídon vonult át a tömeg. Fotó: Németh Dániel/ 444 444.hu/2025/06/28/gyulekezne…
Craig Turp-Balazs retweeted
“Europe was promised a new golden age of the night train. Why are we still waiting?”
A shot of reality from Jon Worth.
Key quote: “Time for the EU to provide financial guarantees for acquisitions of new night-train carriages.” theguardian.com/commentisfre…
Risen up? Not in Romania they didn’t, where you lost the election by nearly one million votes. Still taking it hard I see. Maybe see a psychologist to help you come to terms with it.
‼️ The decline and fall of the globalist empire.
This is what we are witnessing today.
Peoples have risen up✌️!
#MakeEuropeGreatAgain
Former Romanian health minister gets three and a half years in pokey for taking bribes. More of this please! hotnews.ro/sorina-pintea-con…
Craig Turp-Balazs retweeted
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan have qualified for a World Cup for the first time in their history & will compete in North America next summer!
They are the first double-landlocked nation to qualify for a finals tournament (though minnows Liechtenstein are the only other nation in this category)!
In fiecare seara imi spun, gata, maine nu o sa pierd o ora provocand suveranistii pe X. Dar sunt o tinta atat de usoara; ca niste jucarii cu ceas, le dai drumul si stai sa te uiti cum merg...
Craig Turp-Balazs retweeted
Moldova faces hybrid threats ahead of its elections.
Russia is likely to use cash, content and coercion to meddle.
Let there be no doubt: only the people of Moldova should decide their future – free from interference.
Extract of my press conference with @DorinRecean ↓
Craig Turp-Balazs retweeted
"Cum le explic copiilor când văd 2 bărbați care se țin de mână pe stradă?"
Cum dracu le explici că femeile sunt omorâte pe stradă în plină zi⁉️
These terms are far more than reasonable. Therefore, I expect Russia to refuse.
Reuters is publishing Ukraine's list of conditions to be presented at negotiations in Istanbul:
- 30-day complete ceasefire.
- All-for-all prisoner exchange.
- Meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.
- No restrictions on Ukrainian forces.
- No recognition of Russian territorial gains.
- Russian reparations payments.
- Current location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory.
Serious flooding has hit parts of Romania this week, the worst of it in the region populated primarily by Hungarians. According to supporters of @georgesimion (and members of his party), the flooding is a direct consequence of Simion losing the presidential election on May 18 to Nicusor Dan. If Simion had won, they say, the flooding could have been prevented. (Not that these people are too concerned: Dan’s voters deserve nothing but seven plagues. Such Christian spirit!)
I notice that @daily_romania has now deleted the original post. Calling him out on his lies appears to work. I shall do it more often.
Sorry Russia, sorry MAGA, but Romania’s highest court has just rejected the far-right’s appeal to cancel the results of the country’s presidential election. We have a president: the quiet, hard-working, intelligent, no-nonsense, pragmatic conservative, @NicusorDanRO.
Why do I call Nicusor a 'pragmatic conservative'?
1. He's broadly progressive on cultural issues but certainly not a culture warrior. (For example, he supports same-sex civil partnerships but admits Romanian society isn't ready for a debate about marriage yet).
2. He has a proven track record of being prepared to work cross-party to pursue his agenda.
3. He's fiscally conservative, but no fan of austerity.
4. He's a bit NIMBY (no bad thing in a country where planning rules have been ignored or simply absent for three decades).
5. Big fan of public transport.
In the UK, his natural home would have been the Tories (what they used to call a 'one nation Tory'), but these days he'd be on the right of the Lib Dems. In the US I think the appropriate term is purple.