Britain's Prince Charles has launched a foundation to protect rural traditions in Romania.
Prince Charles
The 66-year-old royal - who arrived in the Eastern European country earlier this week - announced the setting up of the Prince Charles Romania Foundation yesterday (02.06.15) which aims to protect Romania's heritage and encourage sustainable development in rural areas.
Speaking at the launch close to his property in the village of Viscri, he said: "I love Romania. [The Foundation] is for training and education purposes and skills development."
The foundation is the second to be opened by the royal in Viscri after he launched the Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation 15 years ago.
The trust's vice-chair Caroline Fernolend told Agerpres: "We are proud and very happy that Prince Charles chose Viscri and his property here as the home of his new foundation. Viscri is a community that functions very well and I believe that was the main reason for his choosing of the village as the home of this foundation. People from all over the country will come here to attend various restoration courses and to train for various jobs, but also students from abroad. The Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation will remain independent and will have nothing to do with the new entity launched on Tuesday."
The heir apparent is a regular visitor to Romania and often keeps the nature of his trips private since visiting for the first time in 1998 when he described himself as "totally overwhelmed by its unique beauty and its extraordinarily rich heritage."
Charles - who owns a number of homes in Romania - was met by the country's President Klaus Iohannis in the capital Bucharest on Sunday (31.05.15) before making his way to his retreat in the rural village of Valea Zalanului.
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