A new group of pupils from Ungheni district arrived on Tuesday, 7 July, at a camp in Bucharest — at the “Arcul de Triumf” National Sports Complex. The arrival was announced publicly by the group’s chaperone, Corneliu Prepeliță, who also travelled with the previous batch of children from the district.
It is the second group of children from Ungheni district to leave this summer through the ARC camps, the programme by which the Romanian state brings them into the country, free of charge, for a holiday. At the end of June, about 100 children from the district set off for the camps at Padiș, in Cluj county, and Oglinzi, in Neamț county; this time, the destination is the Romanian capital.
What the ARC camps are
The ARC camps, now in their 17th edition, are organised by the Department for Romanians Everywhere. In 2026, the programme offers about 9,000 free places for children and young people from the diaspora and the historical communities — including from the Republic of Moldova — between 30 June and 1 September, in series of eight days each. Children aged 8 to 18 may take part, once, and enrolment is done through educational institutions; accommodation, meals, activities and transport are covered by the programme.
The “Arcul de Triumf” National Sports Complex in Bucharest — where the Ungheni group arrived — is one of this year’s centres.
Why it matters for Ungheni
For the district’s children, such camps are one of the concrete ways in which the bond between the two banks of the Prut reaches the youngest. A pupil from Ungheni who spends a week in Bucharest does not simply leave on a holiday that many families could not otherwise afford — they return with friends from other places and with the natural sense that Romania is not “abroad”. For a border town, about 21 kilometres from Iași, it is one more link in a relationship built from the age of the camp backpack.
The group’s arrival at “Arcul de Triumf” and the chaperone’s role come from the organiser’s public announcement on Facebook. The number of children, the school and the length of the stay have not been made public; the parameters of the ARC 2026 programme are those communicated by the Department for Romanians Everywhere.