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The paper investigates processes and consequences of 'philanthropic kinning', that is the use of kinship and family idioms in constructing and maintaining personal relations between donors and recipients in philanthropy. Usual studies collapse the occurrence of kinship metaphors in philanthropy either as evidence of 'prosociality' (e.g. trust, care or love) or more frequently as evidence of 'paternalism' (power and domination of donors over recipients, and their objectification). This paper claims that introducing kinship and parenting studies into researching philanthropy would greatly refine our understanding of donor–recipient relations. In the framework of a qualitative case study of a philanthropic 'godparenthood' programme organised in Hungary supporting ethnic Hungarian communities in Romania, this paper looks at the roles, responsibilities and obligations various forms of philanthropic kinship offer for the participants; and relations of power unfolding in helping interactions. With such concerns, this paper complements earlier research on hybridisation of philanthropy, through its sectoral entanglements with kinship and family. Also, it contributes to research on inequalities in philanthropy, by showing how philanthropic kinning may recreate, modify or reshape donor–recipient power relations in diverse ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sum of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological characteristics of water determine the water quality evolution in water courses. Animal husbandry is one of the main causes of water courses pollution, especially if it does not have a wastewater treatment plant and they are discharged directly into the water course. The water quality determine the treatment technology and costs of water treatment to meet the quality requirements of the users in downstream, and the measures necessary for the protection / improvement of the water quality. An important aspect of the activity of water specialists is to monitor, analyze and forecast the evolution of water quality, especially in sectors where there are significant sources of pollution. In this paper is realized the modeling of the evolution of the water quality of the Crasna River, situated in the north-west part of Romania, using the MIKEbyDHI software, an advanced hydroinformatic tool. The evolution of Crasna River water quality is important because it is a cross-border river and is subject to the Romania - Hungary bilateral conventions and EU directives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first lockdown, conferred upon us by the COVID‐19 outbreak in March 2020, created a unique, 3‐month‐long, laboratory‐like situation that made gender relations and women's work especially relevant for social research. Full‐time employed parents who switched to working from home were in a unique position to renegotiate the division of housework, childcare, or the management of school‐related tasks. This paper explores what happened to the gendered division of unpaid work and what factors explain the (failed) renegotiation between full‐time working parents. To explore this issue, we interviewed 52 Hungarian‐speaking mothers in two countries, Hungary and Romania, who were living in heterosexual dual‐earner families with children under the age of 14, and who were working full‐time. Results show that, despite the unusual situation, the usual pattern of the division of unpaid work was sustained by most parents. Even though they were unhappy and sometimes overwhelmed with their workload, most mothers did not mind the division of care duties. Research findings deliver evidence that mothers' lack of willingness and ability to renegotiate the division of unpaid labor in the household was determined both from "inside" and "outside" households. The gendered nature of care work and intensive parenting and mothers' position in the labor market, including the flexibility of their employment, are two sets of mutually interwoven factors that contributed to women's lack of willingness to challenge the unequal division of reproductive work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the Ukraine-Russia war in 2022 led to fear, worry and anxiety among individuals, mostly in the immediate neighboring countries of Ukraine. The purpose of the present study was to develop the fear of war scale (FOWARS), aiming to fill the gap in the literature that currently is scarce in valid assessment tools for measuring the fear of war. The sample of the study consisted of N = 1131 participants (n = 670 for group A, for EFA and n = 461 for group B, for CFA). Hungarian speaking participants, mainly from Romania and Hungary. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) evinced a two-factor model of the newly developed scale, and the final version fulfilled the criteria of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The 13-items FOWARS has robust psychometric properties and proves to be appropriate for a fear of war assessment in the general population. The phenomenon is measured by two factors, namely experiential and physiological dimensions of fear. The scale is available in the present paper in two languages: English and Hungarian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the creation of a historical reference map of the mid-southern region of Transylvania (nowadays in central Romania) in 1848. This area was shaped by the presence of the Transylvanian Saxons, the ethnic German descendants of the settlers invited here by the kings of Hungary during the High Middle Ages. Transylvania became part of the Habsburg Empire at the end of the seventeenth century and was elevated to the status of a Grand Principality in 1765. The map is primarily based on historical cartographic documents and written publications, but also integrates digital geo-spatial datasets. It was produced at a scale of 1:400 000 and includes the hydrography, the administrative boundaries, the main roads, the postal stations and all the settlements attested in the Transylvanian Saxon administrative subdivisions before the mid-nineteenth century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to test the mechanism of autocratic populism (term which will be used as a synonym for illiberal democracy) in Hungary and Romania. A mechanism could help to better explain the phenomenon of populism across different spatiotemporal settings in which it occurs, therefore it is suitable for a common understanding of populism. I am going to use a minimal definition of liberal democracy as well as authoritarian populism and compare Romania and Hungary along three major components of the mechanism: constitutionalism (division of powers), the cultural construction of "the people" and the different conditions of the emergence of a charismatic personality. Investigating political processes will show why authoritarian populism or illiberal democracy has gained prominence in Hungary but has failed in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of pottery brought many changes in the way people in the past designed, cooked, stored, transported and gave meaning to their social worlds. Yet, the widespread use of these materials also brought challenges, such as how to contend with their brittleness. One of the many creative responses to this challenge, was pottery repair. At the start of the Neolithic period in central and south-east Europe, we find traces of repair activities even among the oldest pottery assemblages, which commonly consist of perforations placed alongside cracks used to bind the damaged vessels. Obtaining measurements and microscopically examining perforations can prove to be challenging, due to the accessibility constraints of most used measuring instruments. Attempting to overcome this limitation, our paper provides a method for identifying ancient drilling procedures (techniques and gestures) by integrating photogrammetric recording techniques into archaeological drilling experiments on low-fired ceramic specimens. Through this method we shed light on the unique characteristics of Early Neolithic pottery repair in the Upper Tisza/Tisa Basin (NE Hungary, NW Romania and SW Ukraine). Our experimental results using lithic borers show clear differences between two drilling techniques, i.e. thumb- and rod-drilling, according to the rotational striations produced, and the variation in the aspect ratio and centroid of perforations at different depths. Furthermore, our analysis of repair holes in Early Neolithic pottery demonstrates the consistent use of mixed drilling techniques for the purposes of repair, and the exclusive use of rod-drilling for the manufacture of sherd spindle whorls. The reconstruction of the sequences of repair also suggests that deviation from these consistent drilling procedures was likely due to the adaptation of the craftsperson to the specific damage condition of the vessels. Thus, repair work cannot be described as following a strict recipe, but as an ongoing creative process of evaluation. • Photogrammetric techniques detected diagnostic traces of drilling procedures. • Mixed use of drilling techniques for pottery repair observed at Méhtelek-Nádas. • Preference for repairing small or medium-sized open vessels unveils a regime of value. • Evidence of technical adaptation to vessels' damage state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents comparatively the aspirations of the eugenicists to transform eugenics into a true religion, the interaction of eugenics with religion, but also the way in which various churches from Romania and Hungary perceived Galton's science and how they reacted to the eugenics movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings of a pilot research study that focused on a selected area of e-government – digitalization of core government services to citizens (G2C) in selected Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries – namely in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. Taking into account the literature available to date, it is a first attempt of its kind, even if mainly a qualitative study. The findings clearly indicate that the level of digitalization of the administrative services for citizens is rather low. All three countries are roughly at the same level of electronic government development (with the Czech Republic slightly ahead), despite vastly different strategies and levels of centralization. This could change in the future, after the results of their respective national strategies become visible, and we are also interested in applying our method to other CEE countries, with the clear aim of refining it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the culinary aspect the term 'fusion' defines dishes which combine traditional national recipes tested and perfected, and interpreted in a non-standard and avant-garde way. Fusion dishes synthesize the culinary traditions of the West and the East, classics and improvisation, tradition and exoticism. It is the purpose of this paper to present the specifics of the fusion influences on the cuisine and culinary culture of the Banat Bulgarians. The text discusses the prerequisites for the appearance of 'fusion' culinary influences among the Bulgarian diaspora in Hungary, Romania and Serbia. It studies the traditions and customs, differences, similarities and co-relations in the production of foodstuffs and food intake; meal patterns and techniques, influenced by the social and economic development; trade routes, ethnic diversity, etc. Emblematic dishes and ingredients have been presented, such that mark the main points of culinary navigation in the region of the Banat Bulgarians and determine their contribution to the development of culinary tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses a current and growing phenomenon in the context of higher education massification, namely student employment in the Hungarian-Romanian crossborder area. Previous studies seek to reveal the negative but also positive effects of reducing the time required for learning activities at the expense of time spent at work. If we consider the decision to get a job during college from the perspective of students? need to cover the financial costs, then the analysis of working students brings forward the issue of horizontal inequalities in higher education, with consequences also on inequalities in the labor market insertion. Our study aims to emphasize the characteristics of students? options to work during their studies, describing their social and academic profile. From the perspective of the correlation between time assigned for study and the time assigned for work, we analyze the relationship between academic engagement and the employment status of students. Our study is based on data from the survey carried out within the HURO/0901/253/2.2.2 - HERD project among students from Hungary and Romania. Our results show that there are significant differences between the two countries in terms of the dimensions and structure of students? employment. However, variables referring to country and universities (from Romania and Hungary) don't have a significant impact in the regression model for employment status. Students from this region who are working while they study are those from the Master programs, those who need to pay their tuition, those with low household incomes and who had to work also during their high-school studies. Our data suggest that the main reason for working is the financial one. Interesting results were found regarding academic engagement. In our study, working students have a higher level of academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes phenotypically the eastern black wooled sheep breeds, in order to eventually establish a possible kinship, and last but not least to contribute to the Romanian black wooled Tsigai origins elucidation. A common characteristic of the screened breeds consists in their rusticity, and production capacity under harsh environmental conditions. From the studied breeds (Gissar, Red Karaman, Karakul, Karnobat, Racka) the Karnobat seems to be the most similar with our black wooled Tsigai in both phenotypic and genotypic terms. While in other countries (e.g. Bulgaria, Hungary) conservation programs were developed and financed by the government, in Romania the authorities have not yet acknowledged the importance of supporting and maintaining the national old genetic heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions in many parts of Europe are in a changing stratus. First due to their inability to respond quickly to the rapid changes in society, generated by globalization and the fourth industrial revolution. Other causes that most universities face are acute lack of funding, problems with maintaining the quality of research and education, changing generations of teachers and researchers. In such circumstances, the need to identify alternative sources for financing education and research becomes more and more prominent, which gives the university a new function, that of "bridge" between the global flows of knowledge, science and technology, on the one hand and the local needs of economic development, on the other hand. The case study presented in this paper start by looking at data from specialized literature, in order to establish the theoretical framework on the evolution of the role played by universities in the global context created by the four industrial revolutions. Next, we shall identify the role and degree of involvement of the University of Oradea in the development of crossborder cooperation between Romania and Hungary, one of the mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bearing in mind the fact that in the Middle ages the region of present-day Romania was in many ways tied to the region where Serbian people lived, the aim of this paper is to present a short overview of the relations between the two countries in the Middle Ages until the Ottoman Conquest, highlighting the connections, influences and cohabitation between the two people. The ties between Serbia and Wallachia began at the end of the rule of the Nemanjić dynasty. In addition, just like the Serbs influenced the Romanian church and literacy, the Moldovan and Wallachian influences could be seen on Serbian churches and monasteries at Fruška Gora. Besides, after the final conquest of Hungary, in the Ottoman defters, evidence of cohabitation of people bearing typical Serbian and Romanian names could be found. That indicates that the examined region, mostly present-day Banat, was a region with a mixed population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is dealing from an interdisciplinary point of view with the complex and complicated issue of Romanian geopolitical thinking. The text is very synthetic and dealing with various subjects, having in common the geopolitical potential, risks and possibilities of Romania as a nation state and as a member of various international organisations like Nato or the European Union. It is based on the works of Romanian and foreign authors and applies a critical approach. Major issues are Romanian-Hungarian relations, neighbourhood policies, the Black Sea Strategy and the growing role of Romania in structures of collective defense. The study also highlights geo-economic aspects. Methodologically the article is following the line of discourse analysis, while some constructively critical original ideas are also formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accounting for patients' perspective has become increasingly important. Based on the Consumer Quality Index method (founded on Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) a questionnaire was recently developed for Dutch cancer patients. As a next step, this study aimed to adapt and pilot this questionnaire for international comparison of cancer patients experience and satisfaction with care in six European countries.Method: The Consumer Quality Index was translated into the local language at the participating pilot sites using cross-translation. A minimum of 100 patients per site were surveyed through convenience sampling. Data from seven pilot sites in six countries was collected through an online and paper-based survey. Internal consistency was tested by calculating Cronbach's alpha and validity by means of cognitive interviews. Demographic factors were compared as possible influencing factors.Results: A total of 698 patients from six European countries filled the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha was good or satisfactory in 8 out of 10 categories. Patient satisfaction significantly differed between the countries. We observed no difference in patient satisfaction for age, gender, education, and tumor type, but satisfaction was significantly higher in patients with a higher level of activation.Conclusion: This European Cancer Consumer Quality Index(ECCQI) showed promising scores on internal consistency (reliability) and a good internal validity. The ECCQI is to our knowledge the first to measure and compare experiences and satisfaction of cancer patients on an international level, it may enable healthcare providers to improve the quality of cancer care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at pointing out the evolution in real and financial plans in order to adhere to the EMU, using a comparative approach, on the example of Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. The main results of the study are the following: the four countries have made notable progress in the years preceding the current crisis; however, considerable efforts are still needed in order to comply with the euro zone, in terms of living standards, economic structure, degree of openness of the economy, etc.; refer the financial convergence, directions are needed to increase the financial intermediation and financial depth in Romania and Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary recording slightly more favourable indicators. On the other hand, central banks, except the Polish one, should significantly improve the transmission mechanism of monetary policy upon the financial and real sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of borders among the member states of the European Union, including Hungary and Romania, has considerably changed in recent years. Euroregional institutions, such as euroregions and eurometropolises, have successfully transformed dividing borders into connective borders. Cross-border cooperation has become one of the major goals of neighbouring borderlands. One of the most important cross-border activities, shopping tourism, can serve as a significant driving force behind the cooperation of regions or cities. Using an empirical case study approach, this paper introduces the significance of cross-border shopping tourism in creating the eurometropolis of two neighbouring cities, Debrecen and Oradea, along the Hungarian-Romanian border. The paper concludes that the majority of foreign customers in Debrecen and Oradea come from neighbouring areas, so the cooperation of the two cities should be deepened further, in order to better exploit the mutual benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period between the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century is one that witnessed the rise and spread of anti-Semitism throughout Europe. This paper attempts a historical analysis of the development of anti-Semitism in Romania and a comparison with the case of Hungary in the period between 1866 and 1913. Such a comparison is interesting as the process of Jewish emancipation in the two countries could not have been more different: while in the Romanian principalities Jews were almost completely excluded from political life and faced important restrictions in all areas of activity, in Hungary they enjoyed full civil and political rights. As a result, anti-Semitism in these countries took different forms as well. In Hungary, anti-Semitism is usually viewed as a reaction to emancipation, while in Romania it accompanies the official policy of discrimination and exclusion. This paper follows the development of legislation dealing with the Jewish populations in the two countries and tries to challenge the common perception of anti-Semitism as a phenomenon appearing as a reaction of the majority population to Jewish emancipation. This comparative discussion is carried out taking into account the different historical contexts of the two neighbouring lands and their impact on the situation of the Jews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first part of the paper the stages of our researches, the objectives and the methodology are presented. The paper focus on creating an evaluation system in order to compare the water taxation systems in the following countries: Holland, Hungary and Romania. This evaluation system is important if one takes in consideration the particularities of these systems. More than that, the comparison must take in consideration two very different systems: a centralized one in Holland and a decentralized one in Hungary and Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main contribution of the paper to the field of legislative studies consists in redefining the concept of legislative institutionalisation so that it can account for the impact of EU institutions and policies on the parliaments of post-communist EU member states and candidate countries. The paper analyses legislative institutionalisation in the Hungarian and Romanian parliaments by focusing on six dimensions: EU policies and institutions, constitutional frameworks and the consolidation of party systems (all part of the external environment shaping legislative institutionalisation); the existence of a core group of experienced MPs, party cohesion and discipline and committee structures (grouped together as the internal characteristics of legislatures). The paper concludes that, despite differences on three of these dimensions, both countries' parliaments have reached a relatively high degree of institutionalisation since the first free and fair elections of 1990. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, results from rivers of different sizes in Romania, Hungary and Austria are presented. The paper shows the dynamics of extreme events and their contribution to the total P and suspended solids transported in these rivers. Special attention is paid to the influence of the size of the catchment and the event probability on the relative contribution of a single event to the total loads transported in the river. Further, the development of phosphorus loads along the Danube River at a flood event is shown. From the results it can be concluded that there is no immediate influence of high flow and flood events in upstream parts of the Basin on the transport of phosphorus from the catchment to the receiving Sea. Particle-bound phosphorus is mobilised from the catchment (through erosion) and the river bottom to a high extent at high flow events and transported at peak discharges to downstream, where retention by sedimentation of particles takes place. On the one hand this retention is a transport to flooded areas. In this case it can be considered as more or less long term retention. On the other hand sedimentation takes place in the riverbed, in case the tractive effort of the river is reduced. In this second case the P-pool in the sediments of the sedimentation area will be increased. If anaerobic conditions in the sediment appear, part of the phosphorus will be transformed to soluble ortho-phosphate and will continuously contribute to the phosphorus transport to the receiving sea. Part of the P-retained in the river sediment will be mobilised by resuspension at the next biggest high flow event. Altogether, these alternating processes of suspension, transport, export to flooded areas or sedimentation in the river bed with partly solution and partly resuspension at the next event decrease the share of the phosphorus transport during high flow events on the total loads transported in the more downstream parts of a catchments as compared to the more upstream parts. In the year of occurrence of an extreme flood event the P-transport of this year is dominated by the flood event. As an average over many years the contribution of high flow events to the total P-transport still may be between 7 and 20% in smaller catchments (around 1,000 km²). In a big catchment (e.g. river Danube) much smaller contributions of flood events on the total P-transport can be expected as an average over many years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging Economies from Central and Eastern Europe take steps to ensure growth through tourism. Although they do not have the cultural, historical and artistic potential of the most famous tourist destinations, these economies promote forms of tourism for which they have suitable conditions. For example, Hungary is famous for health tourism, Bulgaria has made progress in terms of coastal tourism and Romania tries to make known the rural area although it has all conditions for practicing a wide diversified range of tourism forms. In this paper we present statistics showing how the tourism industry looks for three Central and Eastern European countries and we do a brief comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the cross-border police cooperation between Romania and Hungary in the field of road traffic through the so called „actions in the mirror" and joint summer patrols. We perceive the Romanian-Hungarian bilateral cooperation, especially the cooperation between the traffic police inspectorates of Bihor and Hajdú-Bihar counties an example of good practice of cross-border police cooperation. We'll try to validate this hypothesis by examining the concrete forms of police cooperation in the field of road traffic between the two counties, namely: actions in the mirror, joint summer patrols and collaboration on reducing the number of accidents and deaths caused by road accidents. The work is confined to analyze the existing cooperation between the traffic police departments of Bihor County and of the neighboring Hajdú-Bihar, not involving the other Romanian counties (Timiş, Arad and Satu-Mare) bordering Hungarian counties, such as (Csongrád, Békés, Szabolcs-Szatmár). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the linkage between establishing cross-border relations and tourism development by focusing on ten tourism projects implemented under Hungary-Romania Cross-Border Co-operation Programme (2007-2013). The study area comprises the two neighbouring counties of Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, the border connecting two areas characterised by social and economic similarities. Building on a solid foundation, as the first Hungarian-Romanian cross-border initiatives were launched nearly two decades ago, the two counties work together towards the shared aim of developing business infrastructure, cross-border trade, culture and tourism. The present study examines the relevance of cross-border projects viewed from the perspective of sustainable tourism development in two peripheral counties featuring similar resources. Moreover, the investigation is based on consultation of project documents, reports and promotional materials, against the theoretical framework of cross-border cooperation and regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), as utilized by European citizens, represents a variety of different medical systems and therapies based on the knowledge, skills and practices derived from theories, philosophies and experiences used to maintain and improve health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, relieve or treat physical and mental illnesses. The purpose of the present paper was to apply a modified version of the Wahner-Roedler questionnaire and to evaluate differences in CAM use by family medicine physicians in Romania and Hungary. Material and method: The study included 117 Romanian and 107 Hungarian physicians, in order to compare the CAM therapies used. The data was collected from seven CAM practices in Romania and from eleven CAM practices in Hungary. All physicians completed the revised Wahner-Roedler questionnaire once, in their personal country's language. We used the above-mentioned questionnaire having the permission of the authors of Wahner-Roedler DL et al study. Because praying for health is considered to be a very used CAM therapy in Romania and Hungary, we introduced it in the second section of the questionnaire. Results: The percentage of physicians who talk with their patients regarding possible benefits of using CAM therapies was significantly increased in Hungary as compared to Romania (14% vs 1.7%, p=0.002). The modified Wahner-Roedler Questionnaire indicated that Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Homeopathy, Phytotherapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Yoga are the most important methods with limited familiarity for Romanian comparative to Hungarian physicians. The percentage of Hungarian physicians that understand proposed medicinal use and feel comfortable counseling patients regarding Bowen therapy is significantly increased comparative to Romanian physicians (25.2% vs 9.4%, p=0.002). The analysis revealed that Chiropractic is less familiar for Romanian than Hungarian physicians, and for those who understand it, is less comfortable (p=0.024). 24.8% of Romanian physicians understand proposed medicinal use of Aromatherapy, but feel uncomfortable counseling patients as compared to 13.1% of Hungarian physicians (p=0.027). A higher percentage of Romanian physicians have limited familiarity in using Homeopathy, as compared to Hungarian physicians (45.3% vs 23.4%, p<0.001). 40.2% of Hungarian physicians understand proposed medicinal use of Osteopathy and feel comfortable counseling patients versus 24.8% Romanian physicians (p=0.014). Conclusions: The tendency to refer a patient to a CAM practitioner for treatment documented significant differences, being extremely likely in Hungarian physicians as compared to Romanian physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Csangos are an ethnic/religious minority from Moldavia, Eastern Romania. They are defined as legitimate subjects by two antagonistically nationalizing projects: the Hungarian and the Romanian one. I am not trying to discover some “authentic” or “hybrid” identity that would explain away the ambiguities connected with this ethno-religious group. The Csangos appear, in this paper, as mutating historical forms and figures, made up through fateful events and part of “historical ontologies”. Because of their specific position inside opposed nationalisms, they can provide theoretical insights into the constituting of nationalizing narratives, ethnography and social sciences in East and Central Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the challenges of reforming the child welfare and protection systems in Hungary and Romania --two countries in transition from socialism to capitalism-- and the impact on children, young people, families, and professionals. Brief overviews of the social, political, and economic characteristics of the two countries and of the evolution of their child welfare systems set the context of discussion. The focus is on the efforts made to deinstitutionalise children from large institutions, develop local prevention services, and develop alternatives to institutional care. The two countries had different starting points in transforming the child protection system: Romania started only after 1989 under political and economic pressures with little internal initiative, whilst Hungary begun in the mid 1980s, being more advanced than other transition countries in developing alternative services. Whilst statistical data show a decline in the care population and a shift between institutionalisation and foster care, demonstrating progress and change, the slow implementation of the reforms generate wide gaps between the UNCRC-based legislation and national plans and the quality of life and wellbeing of children. Among the factors causing this discrepancy are: insufficient financial investment, lack of professionalization and accountability, and underuse of research and evaluation to clarify the link between services and needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing mainly on the Hungarian-Romanian border as an example, this paper attempts to prove how the nature of borders have changed from hard, close and exclusive to soft, open, inclusive frontier. The article introduces the Hungarian and Romanian authors' scientific contributions, with a special emphasis on the members of the Institute for Euroregional Studies (Debrecen-Oradea) "Jean Monnet" European Centre of Excellence (IERS), and the jointly developed projects. These contributions have created a certain level of expertise and experience in the development of cross-border cooperation and borders evolutions that could be transferred as good practice for the benefit of other situations with similar conditions such as the EU's eastern frontier along the Slovak-Hungarian-Ukrainian-Romanian-Moldavian borders or in the West-Balkan region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a conference on the connection between sports and nationalism in historical perspective, held in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 28-30, 2012. Papers and discussions revolved around the political aspects of sports, exemplified with such case studies as soccer in Denmark during the German occupation in World War II, the participation of the Soviet Union in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, and international soccer matches between Hungary and Romania from 1936-2009.

Recent research points to the extreme importance of contextual and cultural factors in the process of motivation and cognition (Pintrich, 2003), thus indicating that individuals' motivational profile, as well as the functional relations of motivational constructs to other important outcomes like performance, achievement, might depend on their culture and ethnicity. Academic motivation research including participants from Romania, especially focusing on the Hungarian ethnic minority living in Romania is very scarce. The present paper proposed a contribution to this topic, by making an attempt to identify the specific motivational profile of ethnic Hungarian college students living in Romania, by comparing them with students from Hungary and Germany. The results show that there may be cultural differences in academic motivation components as well motivational regulation strategies between these groups. Directions for future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a demographic comparative study of two neighboring regions along the southern part of the Romanian-Hungarian border region, which serves as a fundament for further analyses concerning the verification of cohesion between the two parts of the border. We have concluded our study with the statement that in spite of its traditionally low population increase, the Romanian Timiş and Arad counties have a more advantageous demographical condition than the neighboring Hungarian Békés and Csongrád counties, which can be described as having a generalized demographical decline. Though in Romania the Banat region for many decades is classified as a crisis-zone from a demographical point of view, it can show off an impressive attractiveness in terms of inner-migration in contrast to its Hungarian neighbors. In contrast with the northern part of the Romanian-Hungarian border, in this region the border strip does not overlap with a socio-economic periphery, because this phenomenon is more scattered in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the purchasing power parity influence on exchange rate determination for 4 CEE countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. In order to achieve our goal, we applied Johansen cointegration procedure to find out a long-run equilibrium relationship between nominal exchange rate and price indices. Also, considering the fact, that results of other studies are mixed, we find as being necessarily to use three different price indices: consumer price index, consumer price index without regulated prices and industrial producer price index. The monthly data cover the 2001 M 01-2011 M 09 period. The empirical analysis provided mixed results depending on the country and used price index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a survey with 1824 subjects from four counties at the Romanian-Hungarian border, this paper focuses on levels of personal subjective well-being and the relationship that this has with satisfaction with neighbourhood, locality, region, country and EU. We found that Hungarians in Hungary are the most satisfied with their lives, and also with their places of residence. Romanian majority and Hungarian minority in Romania display similar levels of personal well-being, and are equally satisfied with their neighbourhoods and localities. However, the Hungarian minority is less satisfied with Romania, but also with EU. Satisfaction with neighbourhood, locality and region predicts the best personal well-being of the citizens from both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors focus on the cross-border elements of education in the Hungarian-Romanian border region. The levels of primary and secondary as well as of the higher education are studied. The complexity of the topic may be approached from various aspects whose most important factors include the institutional, integrational and territorial co-operations (research centres, euroregional working committees, school alliances, etc.). The formal communication between the various levels and the great variety of institutions are determined by the communication between the nation states and territorial co-operations. The informal forms of communication are more likely to be met on the level of the actors and participants (teachers, students, etc.). The analysis of the number and ratio of students from the areas outside the borders of Hungary (concentrating on Romania) allows for conclusions depending on the nature of the potentials to communicate (starting with the opening of borders up to the common EU membership). The changes in the migration patterns with educational purposes after the millennium also reflect the changes in communication. In addition to taking account of the cross-border institutions serving educational purposes, the paper also intends to give an insight into the formal and informal types of communication in the higher education (concentrating on the University of Debrecen and the University of Oradea). This includes the analysis of the data of the two universities about the co-operations provided by the freemover and Erasmus students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with Christian names of Hungarian origin from Maramures county, namely Seini area with its adherent villages: Sabisa, ViileApei, Cicarlau, Ilba, Bargau and Ilba Handal and Tautii Magheraus made up of the following villages: BozantaMare, Busag,Merisor, Baita, Ulmoasa and Nistru. There is no unity in the field of anthroponymy in any of these villages this fact could very well be the result of multiculturalism and bilingualism that is typical for this Central European area,where several languages are used simultaneously. This fact is reflected at the level of proper names, too. Sharing the inhabited area with the Hungarians, especially here in Transylvania left a strong imprint in the area of the Romanian anthroponymy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we make three interrelated points. First, while much of the recent literature on new forms of citizenship has focused on the diversity of large cities and new forms of migration, we seek to establish rural sites as important arenas for negotiating citizenship. We stress that far from being homogeneous, villages in their struggles over belonging are affected by long-standing diversity as well as global discourses. Second, we seek to complicate the interpretation of the demise of socialism as a radical break manifested in a diminished role of the state. We show that if the central state retreats, local state actors may gain in importance for local negotiations of citizenship. Third, we explore how the local state actors sometimes use their new powers over social rights to recreate boundaries of belonging through public performances tied to the administration of these rights. We go on to explore the normative basis for these performances and indicate that membership is still based on a contribution of work to the common good. This can best be conceptualised as a shifting continuity rather than a sharp break after 1989. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instrumentalist arguments prioritize the actions of elites in ethnic mobilization, whereas social structure accounts examine why elite appeals might succeed. Each remains incomplete. In this paper, an account is presented of the interactions between elites and masses that drive bilateral ethnic mobilization processes. Event analysis and scaling are used to examine tense instances of Hungarian and Romanian ethnic mobilization in Romania in 1990 and 1992, one of which turned violent. Two forms of comparison are made possible: a comparison of action trajectories by intensity over time, and a comparison of transactions between actors at different points in time. These transaction patterns serve as the building blocks of contentious processes. The patterns identified here are mass-first mobilization, mass-elite tandem for minorities, and cross-group emulation in mobilization and demobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During its whole medieval existence, Hungary preserved its heterogeneous structure, in spite of the homogenizing policy promoted especially by the Angevins. In recent papers it is estimated that around A.D. 1500 Hungary had 4 million inhabitants, which we deem slightly exaggerated. But let us nevertheless admit that the number is real. At the time of their invasion Pannonia, the Hungarians must have amounted to about 100,000-120,000 people. If at the end of the Middle Ages the kingdom had 4 million inhabitants, of which more than 3 million were Magyars, as claimed of late, it means that the Magyar population grew about 30 times in about half a millennium, something happened nowhere in Europe at that time. It follows that both the demographic data (scarce as they are) and the ethno-confessional ones lead us to the conclusion that, without the possibility of specifying the exact number of inhabitants in absolute figures, the proportion of non-Magyars and non-Catholics in medieval Hungary constantly remained more important than that of Magyars and Catholics. Whole provinces, such as Slovakia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Sirmium, Voivodina, Transylvania, Banat, Crişana, Maramureş, the area inhabitded by the Cumans etc., are constantly presented in different sources such as Slavic, Romanian, "schismatic," or "heretical." The towns were, as we have seen, mostly German. It follows that the ethnic and confessional image of medieval Hungary, although modified by the Reformation and then by the Counter reformation, does not differ essentially from the one outlined before the First World War, when the "minorities" officially accounted for more than a half of the entire population. In other words, these "minorities" have always represented a majority, whence the lack of viability of the kingdom that inherited the tradition of the "holy crown" of Saint Stephen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is an epidemiological study of eating disorders in Romania that analyses the prevalence of eating disorders in the Transylvanian high school population. We surveyed 2396 high school adolescents (1140 male, 1256 female), of which 1312 were Hungarian and 1084, Romanian. The prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN) was 0.6% in the Romanian female sample; no clinical cases of AN were found in the Hungarian female sample. The prevalence of subclinical AN was 0.4% in the Hungarian female sample and 1.9% in the Romanian sample. The prevalence of bulimia nervosa (BN) was 1% in the Hungarian and 1.3% in the Romanian female samples. The prevalence of subclinical BN was 0.8% in the Hungarian female sample and 0.7% in the Romanian female sample. We have not found clinical or subclinical AN in the male sample but the prevalence of BN was 0.2% in the Hungarian male sample. The prevalence of subclinical BN was 0.3% in the Hungarian male sample and 0.5% in the Romanian male sample. Our results draw attention to the presence of eating disorders in Romanian adolescents, possibly due to the internalization of Western values and beauty ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Hungarian-Romanian border as a solid example, this paper will attempt to prove how borders have changed from the hard, close, exclusive border to the soft, open, inclusive frontier. We have highlighted the Hungarian and Romanian authors' scientific contributions, with a special emphasis on the members of the Debrecen-Oradea Euroregional Studies Institute (IERS), the "Jean Monnet" European Centre of Excellence, as well as on the developed joint projects. These contributions have created a certain level of expertise in the development of cross-border cooperation that could be transferred for the benefit of similar situations, arisen with the EU enlargement eastwards, such as the EU's eastern frontier on the Slovak-Hungarian-Ukrainian-Romanian-Moldovan section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the issue of free access to public information in some of the new European Union member states from a comparative perspective and tries to highlight some of the best practices in this field that were incorporated or adapted by these countries. It is noted that very often the choice of policy of national governments was determined by past experiences and existing mentalities (see, for example, protection of business data). A sizable part of the analysis is dedicated to exceptions from the rule of free access to public documents. This aspect is important because some of the exclusions leave room for the abuse of public bodies already reluctant to disclose public data. Some considerations regarding the ways in which appeals against the refusal of access are organized were also presented as being relevant to the topic discussed. The last section of the paper focuses on an issue related to free access to public information—namely, the commercial reuse of public data. A distinction needs to be made between the two concepts, because they are usually governed by different regimes and regulations. The authors conclude that, although the jurisdictions examined have relatively progressive legislation regarding free access to public sector information, most challenges occur in practice with regard to implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the planform of the Crişul Repede (Sebes-Körös) River is analyzed. Downstream of Oradea, along the present Romanian-Hungarian border, a surprising feature is found on the pre-regulation maps. A part of the river has anastomosed pattern albeit the all other section on the Great Hungarian plain is meandering. The natural evolution of this river section is followed in the sheets of the First and the Second Military Surveys, between 1783 and 1859. Some changes on the maps are because of the errors of the surveys but surprisingly a lot of them can be verified even the modern maps. The river regulation was done between the Second and Third Surveys, so these latter sheets from the 1880s shows both the last natural and the planned regulated forms of the river. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout history, competition between towns has always been present, either for power (Which should be the bishop's residence?), or for economic advantages (Which town could enjoy the privilege of organising fairs?). This competition between the regioncenters of the EU still exists. This paper presents the results of research related to urban competition between Szeged and Timisoara. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, Romania and Hungary are two countries sharing the same wish: to become active and responsible members of the new great European family. Even if the start was slightly differentiated - Hungary acceded to the EU in 2004 and Romania in 2007 - the post-adhesion evolutions of the two countries are demonstrating the same effort towards the complete integration in the European Union, through the adhesion to the Euro Zone. This paper intends to reveal if the border between the two states plays the role of either connection or demarcation between the economic evolutions of these two member-states of the European Union. On this matter, we will analyze the economic conjuncture, the evolution of the economic indexes and the condition of the different fields of the neighboring economies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the emblems and rituals that help creating the symbolic space of a “home” or “fatherland” which transcends the borders of nation-states and generate cultural intimacy between people living in different countries and under different political regimes. After a glance at some symbolic condensations of Hungarian-ness, with special regard to the territorial marking and the dead, it focuses on the recent transformations of an annual pilgrimage in Transylvania into ritual staging of Hungarian “homeland” across borders and regardless of religious affiliations. Remaining for centuries the religious feast of the local Szekel population, a minority Magyar-speaking Catholic group, after 1989 the pilgrimage of Csiksomlyo/Sumuleu, in today's Romania, developed into a powerful manifestation of Hungarian patriotism. Set in a multi-linguistic and multi-religious area, this pilgrimage provides a sophisticated ritual framework and the symbolic tools to negotiate the various groups' belonging to, and their hierarchic ordering in, the cultural construct of “the fatherland”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The communist regime in Romania created a centralized media, characterized by the interlocking of censorship and propaganda, as well as an extensive economic control. After the regime change in Romania, free publicity displaced guided socialist publicity with no transition period. However, neither the new actors of political life, nor the media possessed the basic knowledge, rules, and norms for operating a democratic press. The assertion is based on the analysis of the issues of the Hungarian daily paper Romániai Magyar Szó (Hungarian Word of Romania) in the first half of 1990. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]