New South Wales (NSW) Parliament President Benjamin Cameron Franklin said on Wednesday, during a Romanian-Australian multicultural event organised by the Romanian Embassy to Australia on occasion of the visit to Sydney of journalist Charlie Ottley, producer of Wild Carpathia, Wild Danube and Flavours of Romania documentaries, that although Australia and Romania are in opposite regions of the world, they are connected by something deeper than geography, namely a belief in democracy, in the preservation of culture and in responsible environmental management for future generations, the embassy informs in a press release.

The event, held at the NSW State Library, one of Australia’s most iconic historic buildings, featured a screening of a selection of Charlie Ottley’s productions followed by a discussion with the audience. It also included the launch of the bilingual volume The Universal Within the Local – An Australian-Romanian Poetic Dialogue with Mihai Eminescu, produced by Poetry Sydney and The Australian-Romanian Academy for Culture, a joint initiative of Romanian and Australian poets.

More than 60 people attended the event, including representatives from political, business, media, cultural and local academic circles, members of the consular corps, as well as the Romanian community.

Charlie Ottley said he was delighted to be able to screen a selection of his documentaries about Romania in his mother’s home country. He recalled that he had spent many joyful months in Sydney and was happy to show Australians the beauty of Romania, his adoptive homeland. He added that the audience, including representatives from the local hospitality industry, had been enthusiastic about the potential to organise visits to Romania, which he described as the last undiscovered corner of Europe. He mentioned that the two cultures have much to share, particularly a love of nature and wild spaces, and expressed confidence that Romania’s rich and ancient cultural heritage would appeal to the adventurous spirit of Australians.

Romania’s Ambassador to Australia Radu Gabriel Safta said that the event symbolised a bridge between Romanian and Australian traditions and represented living proof of their shared socio-cultural values, which transcend the geographical distance between the two countries.

The Australian official thanked the Romanian ambassador for his ongoing efforts to strengthen ties between Australia and Romania in culture, education and shared values.

Ambassador Radu Gabriel Safta, accompanied by Charlie Ottley, met with Benjamin Cameron Franklin on Wednesday morning at the Sydney Parliament House. The embassy informed in its release that they discussed future agenda items in Romania-New South Wales relations, with a focus on economic, tourism, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. AGERPRES (RO – writing by: Mariana Ionescu; EN – writing by: Adina Panaitescu)