The Ratiu Democracy Centre

The winner of the Christopher Coker History Research Prize 2026 🔗https://ratiuforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/12-Final-Paper.pdf

🎶 Few forces shape identity quite like music — it evokes emotion, amplifies communication, and binds communities.

Lavinia-Georgiana Marcu has been named the winner of this year's Christopher Coker History Research Prize for her outstanding research paper, "Rewriting the Interwar Past: Neo-Legionary Symbolism and Memory in Romanian Underground Hip-Hop," in which she looks at how, in the Legionary Movement, music exceeded the function of mere instrument: it became the movement's identity, building bonds and recruiting followers.

The award was presented to her by Mr. Nicolae Ratiu during the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy 2026, held in Turda at the beginning of this month.

In celebrating Lavinia's achievement, we also celebrate the very purpose of the Dialogues: to think boldly, to remember critically, and to equip democracy for the challenges ahead.

You can access the winning paper published on the Ratiu Forum website (🔗 link in the first comment)

📣 Call for 2027 Applications - Open Now!
🗓 Application deadline - 15 October 2026

📣 Call for 2027 Applications - Open Now!

Are you an early-career journalist from Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, or Ukraine with a story worth telling?

For the past seven years, the Ratiu Forum Journalism Mentorship Programme has helped early-career journalists sharpen their reporting skills. Now it's back for 2027 - and we're looking for the next 20 finalists.

The Ratiu Forum is inviting 20 young journalists to develop original, ambitious work under the individual guidance of experienced European journalists and editors - from first pitch to final publication.

What the programme offers:
• Five months of one-on-one mentorship
• An in-person kick-off meeting at the Ratiu Conference Centre in Turda, where you'll discuss your story proposal with the full mentor panel and peers from across the region
• A chance to compete for a fully funded place at the News Associates Summer School in the United Kingdom

Who can apply: Early-career journalists aged 20 to 27, with no more than two years of full-time newsroom experience.

📅 Deadline for applications: 15 October 2026
📅 Finalists announced: 5 November 2026

Learn more about the application process, programme requirements, and what this opportunity offers at the link below. 👇

Celebrating Democracy today.
Protecting it everyday.

Happy International Day of Democracy!

International Day of Democracy - 15 September

"Democracy is not the game of names, numbers, or who among us has the majority. That is not democracy. Democracy means an understanding that the human being is at the centre of society and all institutions revolve around them."

Ion Rațiu made that statement in 1990 - at a moment when democracy across this part of Europe was young, fragile and newly won. His words have not lost their urgency. Democracy is not a count of votes or a contest of names; it is a commitment to place the human being at the centre of everything we build.

The United Nations established the International Day of Democracy in 2007, recognising democracy as both a universal value and a daily practice. It is a fitting tribute that Ion Rațiu's vision lives on in the work that bears his name.

For over three decades, the Ratiu Foundation for Democracy and the Ratiu Forum have built a reputation on delivering exceptional public and professional programmes that promote and strengthen regional democracy and democratic values.

🔗 www.ratiuforum.com

The Ratiu Report is the official newsletter of the Ratiu Forum's Journalism Mentorship Program, dedicated to early-career journalists from Romania and the region.

The most recently published article is Ana Pisarenco's analysis of the 2026 edition of the annual Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy conference.

For those who have not yet subscribed to the Ratiu Report, we are pleased to share the most recently published article, in which journalist Ana Pisarenco offers her analysis of the outcomes of the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy 2026.

If you were unable to attend the intensive deliberations held in Turda last weekend, we invite you to read the piece and to reflect upon what Pisarenco identifies as a significant risk within the contemporary European security architecture.

🔗 Link to the article in the first comment

👏Congratulations Ioana Moldoveanu!

RISE Project

🏆Journalist Ioana Moldoveanu is the winner of the 2026 edition of the Voices of Women Journalism Award, handed to her by Mr. Nicolae Rațiu during the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy Gala Dinner, organised in Turda last Saturday, in front of more than 90 international and Romanian diplomats, policy makers, military and security experts, think tanks and academia representatives gathered for the annual Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy conference.

Over the past five years, she has focused on investigative journalism at Snoop and Rise Project, and developed the project “Catedra de Abuz”, which monitors and exposes sexual harassment in Romania’s education system. Her investigations, recognised at the Superscrieri Awards, have uncovered systemic abuse in academia and prompted legislative changes.

“The recognition that these abuses are not isolated incidents, but part of a system that allows them to exist, was the most important shift. The investigations broke a culture of silence and created a space where victims are heard and believed. This generated public pressure, which led to a criminal investigation, legislative changes, amendments to ethics codes and, perhaps most difficult, a change in mindset: abuse in education is no longer tolerated or hidden, but exposed and sanctioned,” said Ioana Moldoveanu.

The Voices of Women Journalism Award is supported by the Petrichor Lane Endowment Fund, established by philanthropist Karen Renée Lane within the Ratiu Foundation in 2024, to recognise and support Romanian women journalists covering women’s rights and issues.

👏Congratulations to Moldoveanu, and to all the journalists who create a space for impactful women’s stories!

📣 Paid opportunity for journalists from around the world at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Details ⬇

Learn How to Apply The application is open for the Spring 2027 cohort. Deadline: September 20.

What an outstanding line-up of guests we were delighted to host this past weekend in Turda for the annual Dialogues on Democracy!

Premiul Rațiu pentru Diplomație lansat cu ocazia Reuniunii Anuale a Diplomației Române ediția 2026!

Looking forward to a weekend of interaction and debates with our honourable guests!

⏳ Three more days and we're off to a new edition of our annual Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy conference, taking place at the Ratiu Democracy Centre in Turda.

This year's main theme is "European Security in Challenging Times," and it will cover seven panels spread over two days of discussions with remarkable speakers and more than 90 distinguished guests.

🔗Details on the agenda and speakers are published on the event page: https://ratiuforum.com/ratiu-dialogues-2026/

Thank you to all our partners!

👏 Congratulations!

🏆 We are pleased to announce the winner of the Ratiu Forum Christopher Coker History Research Prize 2026!

Marcu Lavinia-Georgiana holds two bachelor’s degrees, in History and in International Relations and European Studies, from the Faculty of History and Political Sciences at Ovidius University of Constanța. In 2026, she graduated with a master’s degree in “International Relations in the 19th–21st Centuries: History and Diplomacy” from the same institution.

Since September 2023, she has been working as a history teacher at the International Computer High School of Constanța. Alongside her teaching activity, she pursues her academic interests through research focusing on the relationship between communism and fascism, the development of the Legionary Movement, manifestations of Legionary ideology in Dobruja, and contemporary forms of neo-Legionarism.