RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

Personality of the year 2018 on RRI

RRI has continued its traditional polling of listeners on shortwave, the Internet and social media, with a new challenge, asking you to designate the personality that you think left their imprint on the world, in a positive way, in 2018

Personality of the year 2018 on RRI
Personality of the year 2018 on RRI

, 31.12.2018, 12:00

The politicians nominated were Nobel Peace Prize winners Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, the US president Donald Trump, the Russian president Vladimir Putin, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, the Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, the Italy Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the former US President George H.W. Bush, who has died recently, aged 94, the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the South and North Korean leaders Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un respectively. Also, several RRI listeners nominated the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was brutally assassinated at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.



Proposals for ‘the Personality of the Year 2018 on RRI’ also included athletes, such as the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number one in the WTA rankings, the Serb tennis player Novak Djokovic, the great Romanian handballer Cristina Neagu, the French football player Antoine Griezmann and the former Romanian-born backstroke swimmer Roxana Maracineanu, who is the Minister of Health and Sports in France.




Other nominations made by you, our listeners, included the late US actors Burt Reynolds and David Ogden Stiers, the patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, the mysterious British urban artist Banksy, the young Spanish violinist Ines Issel Burzynska or the South Korean K-pop Bangtan Boys band.



So, based on the nominations made by the RRI audience, “The Personality of the Year 2018 on RRI” is the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.



“Ms. Merkel, as a European leader, has done a lot for Germany and for the world in general; and, most importantly, she understood on time that it was time for her to resign” reads the argument presented by Olexandr Kuzeminksi from Ukraine.”



We recall that Angela Merkel has been nominated before, for “The Personality of the Year 2015 on RRI”.

Listener’s Day on RRI
Forum Sunday, 02 November 2025

Listener’s Day on RRI

  Hello friends of RRI!   Every year, on November 1, Radio Romania celebrates Radio Day, marking the first broadcast of the Romanian Radio...

Listener’s Day on RRI
Listen to RRI in English
RRI Special Monday, 27 October 2025

RRI Special: Ukrainian MusicLab 2025

This past week saw the final act of the second Ukranian MusicLab, a programme that put in touch emerging Ukrainian musicians with 14 professionals in...

RRI Special: Ukrainian MusicLab 2025
Marija Hanževački EESC Vice-President for Communication (photo ©EU2025)
RRI Special Friday, 24 October 2025

Interview with Marija Hanževački, the new EESC Vice-President for Communication

At its inaugural plenary session on 22 October, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) elected Marija Hanževački,  Secretary General of...

Interview with Marija Hanževački, the new EESC Vice-President for Communication
Séamus Boland President of the European Economic and Social Committee (photo ©EU2025)
RRI Special Thursday, 23 October 2025

A new President of the European Economic and Social Committee

Ireland’s Séamus Boland has been elected President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) for the 2025–2028 term of office. A...

A new President of the European Economic and Social Committee
RRI Special Tuesday, 21 October 2025

Kottarashky and the Rain Dogs @ Taifas 2025

The Bulgarian musician Kottarashky (Nikola Gruev) and his band The Rain Dogs performed in Timișoara, on the stage of the TAIFAS 2025 Balkan Film and...

Kottarashky and the Rain Dogs @ Taifas 2025
RRI Special Monday, 20 October 2025

Interview with film director Tzvetan Dragnev

The Bulgarian film director Tzvetan Dragnev participated in the Taifas Balkan Film and Culture Festival in Timişoara with his observational...

Interview with film director Tzvetan Dragnev
RRI Special Thursday, 16 October 2025

On the Cohesion Policy and the 2025 State of the Regions and Cities Report with Vasco Alves Cordeiro

The 23rd European Week of Regions and Cities took place in Brussels early this week. The event was organised by the European Committee of the Regions...

On the Cohesion Policy and the 2025 State of the Regions and Cities Report with Vasco Alves Cordeiro
RRI Special Tuesday, 14 October 2025

The 2025 EU Annual Report on the State of Regions and Cities

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has published the sixth edition of the EU Annual Report on the State of Regions and Cities, which was...

The 2025 EU Annual Report on the State of Regions and Cities

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company