So here we are inside the European Union. Many, maybe the majority of the inhabitants rejoice. And this is normal. But there are some who don't. One of them is the wolf. I mean the wild beast living in the forest. The forest that is abused, destroyed, burned, commercialized, cleared legally or illegally, just not taken care of. And now that we are part of the large European family maybe we'll manage to stop many of the abuses against the forests, but our heated economy will demand more and more resources and so the forests will be targeted again. And once the forests would disappear, so would the wolf, which has been playing a pivotal role in our folklore for millennia.

We have to avoid the mistakes of the West. We are not allowed to destroy the perennial resources, like the forest, in the name of the economic development - temporary and ephemeral.

Instead of repeating these mistakes, with permanent and devastating effects, we'd better contribute to the wealth of the European Union with our priceless natural treasures: the last virgin forests in Europe and many of large carnivores on the continent.

I travel around, I see the forest being destroyed and I wonder: will we still have forests within 5 years ? What about 10 ?

Our peasants used to lead their lives based on ancient traditions, inherited from their ancestors and preserved with a sense of holiness. Some of them still do. Some of them still dance the "Calus", this wonderful tradition with pre-Christian roots, charged with a unique symbolism. But as the villages are depopulated by the youth looking for better jobs in the cities and as many traditions - once considered holy - are now forgotten, trivialized and commercialized, the Calus is becoming a simple tourist attraction.

We have to avoid the mistakes of the West. We are not allowed to forget our traditions or, even worse, to transform them in profit for the mass tourism, all in the name of progress. We'd better join the EU with vivid, authentic, well preserved traditions. We'd better contribute to the EU budget with this priceless treasure and preserve it for the next generations.

I travel around and I notice abandoned villages, forgotten traditions or senselessly commercialized and I wonder: will we still have genuine traditions within 5 years ? What about 10 ?

During any trip throughout the country one can't miss the picturesque haystacks, still handmade, as always. In the West, they disappeared long ago - now they are all made with special machines which produce cubical or cylindrical hay packages, completely "soulless".

I travel around and I still notice handmade haystacks, but I wonder: will we still have them within 5 years ? What about 10 ?

Some of you might ask: so what ? You'll tell me that it's not so important to have wolves, haystacks or traditions. Well, I think they are not just symbols of our cultural uniqueness, but its very supporting poles. And a nation that looses its culture, looses itself, it ceases to exist.

To avoid the dissolution into an amorphous mass of people, one thing is crucial: knowing to join the European Union as our ancestors would have done it, proud and dignified. And together with the wolf, the Calus and the haystack.


Sorin-Alexandru Cristescu, January 2007

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