Before the 1989 Revolution which attempted to put the country back on the democratic track it had been taken off by the Soviet Union, two things were known about Romania by almost anyone abroad: girls’ gymnastics and communism.
More than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, here’s a strange rendition of the moment the West united with Russia to decide spheres of influence over that country :-)
When Romania’s girls’ fencing team won the gold in the European Championships in Sheffield, everything seemed to go smoothly. Medals were hung around their necks, little souvenirs handed over... then, at minute 4:35 of this video, the whole team leaves the podium in the middle of the ceremony! Only to be replaced, moments later, by smiling Russian and French girls, silver and bronze medallists. The Russians went as far as to sit on the podium while the Romanians were nowhere to be seen.
How rude of the Romanians to leave this way, many people are likely to say. But maybe if they knew that the old, communist anthem of Romania was played during the ceremony instead of the one chosen by the country when it got rid of the communist dictatorship at the price of more than 1,000 lives, they’d be more sympathetic.
