Romanians cast their ballots in the first round of the presidential election on November 24. Voters speaking to RFE/RL in the capital, Bucharest, seemed united in their wish for a more attractive future that could decrease the drain of talents to Western Europe.
With insufficient state funding and a lack of trained staff, most Romanians spend their final days in the ICU or on regular hospital wards. And with an aging population and increasing rates of chronic diseases, the need for high-quality palliative care in Romania has never been more urgent.
Work is under way to expand Romania's Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base into one of the largest bases in Europe that hosts NATO troops. The facility is located about 400 kilometers from Russian-occupied Crimea and 100 kilometers from Romania's border with Ukraine.
