Radio România Internațional

Tag: politics

  • October 17, 2021 UPDATE

    October 17, 2021 UPDATE


    Covid-19. Romania reported on Sunday over 11,500 new Covid infections in 41,000 people tested and 298 related fatalities, while 1,750 Covid patients are in intensive care. Romanias representative at the World Health Organisation Alexandru Rafila said the organisations experts requested a meeting with the National Public Health Institute to look into the causes of the epidemiological disaster in Romania, as well as to provide help with the vaccination campaign and assess the needs of the countrys hospitals.



    Aid. International aid continues to arrive in Romania to help with the management of the health crisis after the Romanian state requested European support to combat the consequences of an exponential rise in new Covid cases. 15 ventilators and 8 oxygen concentrators used in the treatment of Covid patients arrived on Saturday from Denmark. A number of Romanian patients are receiving hospital treatment in Hungary and a group of doctors and nurses from the neighbouring Republic of Moldova will arrive on Monday at the mobile unit in Leţcani, near Iaşi, in north-eastern Romania. Under the EU civil protection mechanism, The Netherlands has already delivered 200 oxygen concentrators and Poland 50, and Italy has sent 5,200 vials of monoclonal antibodies which are part of the standard treatment of Covid patients.



    List. An updated list of countries with high epidemiological risk came into force in Romania today. Ukraine and Gibraltar are now on the red list, following an increase in cases, while Albania and the Virgin Islands of the United States, which saw a drop in cases, were moved to the yellow list. The Netherlands, Gabon, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands, where cases have risen, are now also on the yellow list. Switzerland, Canada, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Andorra and Greenland are on the green list. Travellers from yellow and red list countries who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are not required to isolate on entering Romania.



    Politics. Prime minister designate Dacian Cioloş is planning to submit in Parliament the list of a minority Save Romania Union cabinet. The permanent bureaus will then establish the date of the investiture vote in Parliament, which has to take place within 15 days at most. Cioloş failed to rebuild the coalition with the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, who said they would not support him. Although Cioloş was willing to negotiate with the Liberals, Fridays meeting was cancelled after the Liberal leader, outgoing prime minister Florin Cîţu said Cioloş should form a government with the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, alongside which the Save Romania Union voted to bring down the government. The same message came from the leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, Kelemen Hunor, who said the prime minister designate did not manage to restore a minimum level of trust that would have allowed the recreation of the coalition.



    EU. Acting Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu is attending on Monday a meeting of EU foreign ministers hosted by Luxembourg. Talks are expected to focus on the EUs relations with the Gulf states and the future of the Eastern Partnership, as well as the situation in Afghanistan and Tunisia, the western Balkans, climate diplomacy and the situation in Belarus and Mali. (CM)




  • October 7, 2021 UPDATE

    October 7, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID-19. Romania recorded on Thursday almost
    14,500 new Covid cases from 66,000 tests and 263 deaths. More than 15,000 people
    are in intensive care, including 22 children. No ICU beds are available for
    Covid patients, with the exception of those who also have other medical
    conditions. In another move, the government extended the state of alert for a
    further 30 days from 10th October. Face masks are now mandatory outdoors
    in areas where the incidence rate passes 6 per thousand inhabitants.




    Politics. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that
    he will invite all parliamentary parties and groups for a first round of talks
    on Monday at noon to solve the government crisis. This comes after Florin Cîțu’s cabinet formed by the National Liberal Party and the Democratic
    Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania fell on Tuesday after a vote of
    no-confidence initiated by the Social Democrats in opposition. The motion also
    got the votes of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians and the
    Save Romania Union, itself in the government coalition until a month ago.




    Nuclear.
    Nuclearelectrica, the company operating the nuclear power plant in Cernavodă,
    in south-eastern Romania, so far supplied over 200 million MWh (megawatt-hour) to the national energy grid, according
    to a statement from the company. 25 years after the first nuclear reaction went
    into operation, the plant provides around 20% of consumption, accuonting for
    33% of Romania’s green energy production. In 25 years, it prevented over 170
    million tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. Nuclear energy
    provides jobs to 11,000 people in Romania and has a total turnover of around
    600 million euros. The Cernavodă plant has two reactors, each with an
    installed capacity of 700 MW. Both use the CANDU 6 technology developed in
    Canada which uses natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as a cooling agent.
    Energy minister Virgil Popescu said Romania is planning to build new nuclear
    facilities in Cernavodă together with American, Canadian and French partners.




    Nobel. Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah won the
    2021 Nobel literature prize. The Swedish Academy praised his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the
    effects of colonialism and the fate of
    the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents. Gurnah was born in
    1948 on Zanzibar island in the Indian Ocean and arrived in the UK as a refugee
    at the end of the 1960s. He began writing in English and published 10 novels
    and a series of short stories. The Nobel winners in physics, medicine and
    chemistry were also announced this week, with the peace prize to be announced
    on Friday and that for economics on 11th October. (CM)

  • October 6, 2021

    October 6, 2021

    Covid-19. Romania today recorded
    almost 15,000 new Covid infections and 331 related fatalities, while more than
    1,500 Covid patients are in intensive care. The incidence rate hit a new record
    high in the capital Bucharest, nearing 11 per 1,000 inhabitants from 6.33 last
    week. In incidence rate is over 10 in 10 cities around the country. The
    healthcare system is under unprecedented pressure, with hospitals struggling to
    find beds for new admissions.




    Economy. The World
    Bank improved its estimate on the evolution of the Romanian economy this year
    to 7.3%, 1.3% higher than previously estimated in June, according to its latest
    forecast for Europe and Central Asia. For next year, the World Bank is
    expecting a 4.8% growth rate, 4.3% more than previous estimates. In 2023, the
    World Bank is expecting Romania to grow by 3.9%. As for Europe and Central
    Asia, it says a surprisingly strong recovery in the first half of the year
    boosted economic activity on emerging markets and developing countries, with
    regional economy expected to grow more than estimated to reach 5.5% this year.








    Finance. The decision of the National Bank of
    Romania to increase the key interest rate to 1.5% per year, up from 1.25%, came
    into force today. The central bank is thus trying to keep in check the recent
    steep growth of the inflation rate, which has exceeded estimates. According to
    the National Bank, the situation is the result of price hikes, especially
    electricity and natural gas, and, while it cannot influence these developments,
    it can intervene in areas that it can control. The Bank forecasts that the
    price of energy products will continue to grow, with the inflation rate hitting
    significantly higher values than expected. Official data show that the annual
    inflation rate passed 5.2% in August.




    Politics. Romania’s minority government formed
    by the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
    Romania and led by the Liberal Florin Cîţu fell yesterday after a vote of
    no-confidence. 281 out of Parliament’s 318 MPs voted against the government.
    The motion was initiated by the Social Democrats in opposition and also got the
    votes of the Save Romania Union, until recently in the coalition government,
    and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians. In his first public reaction after
    the vote, president Klaus Iohannis said Romania was facing a health as well as
    a political crisis and invited political parties for consultations next week
    to nominate a new prime minister.






    Summit. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is
    attending the informal autumn summit of the European Council and the EU-Western
    Balkans summit hosted by Slovenia. EU leaders together with the six partners in
    the Western Balkans are discussing the reaffirmation of the European prospects
    of this region. Officials are discussing developing cooperation and social and economic
    recovery in the context of the pandemic and the implementation of an economic
    and investment plan that will generate more sustainable,
    environmentally-friendlier and more digital growth. They are also looking at
    ways to boost regional cooperation and collaboration on political and security
    matters.




    Anniversary. Last night in Paris, Romania celebrated
    65 years of UNESCO membership in the presence of its foreign minister Bogdan
    Aurescu and UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay. The latter congratulated
    Romania for its long-standing membership and spoke about future projects. The
    Romanian foreign minister said Romania benefitted enormously from cooperation
    with UNESCO, in education, culture and science. The anniversary was marked by
    an exhibition of documents and photographs from the archive of the Romanian
    foreign ministry and a concert given by Violoncellissimo ensemble led by Marin
    Cazacu. (CM)



  • Political crisis in Bucharest

    Political crisis in Bucharest

    In Romanian politics, centre-right coalitions have been known to work with difficulty or not at all. It hasn’t even been a year since the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania joined forces to form a majority, that they are already seeing their first major political crisis, one big enough to bring down the government. The ministers of the Save Romania Union and PLUS Alliance resigned from their government positions after previously filing a no-confidence motion against the government. Dan Barna, the co-president of the Alliance and until Tuesday a deputy prime minister in the cabinet led by the Liberal Florin Cîţu, explained the move:

    Things cannot go on as they have, nor will they go on like this, as far as USR PLUS is concerned, because this is about the difference we want to make in Romanian politics. Florin Cîţu has blown up this coalition knowingly and cynically. He can no longer be prime minister and for this reason the USR PLUS ministers are stepping down from his cabinet.

    It all started from the sudden dismissal of the Alliance’s justice minister Stelian Ion, whom the prime minister accused of blocking a large-scale investment project for local infrastructure, a project USR PLUS said it served the prime minister’s immediate interest in appeasing the local administrations controlled by the National Liberal Party and thus advance his chances of winning the battle for leadership of the party against the current leader Ludovic Orban. Stelian Ion is not the first USR PLUS minister to be dismissed by Cîţu. Last April, healthcare minister Vlad Voiculescu was sacked in the same way. The USR PLUS ministers who have resigned from the government are the minister for investments and European projects Cristian Ghinea, economy minister Claudiu Năsui, research minister Ciprian Teleman and health minister Ioana Mihăilă.

    USR PLUS are not, however, withdrawing from the coalition and say they are ready to return to government if Florin Cîţu makes a step back. Enjoying his party’s political support, Florin Cîţu shows no signs of doing so. Moreover, he has fought back exploiting USR PLUS’s inexplicable move to sign a no-confidence motion alongside the ultra-nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, whose leaders have so far only stood out for their tributes to some of the most sinister figures in Romanian history from the far right and for their opposition to wearing face masks and to vaccination. Florin Cîţu:

    The centre-right coalition is the only one that can govern, but it’s complicated when others on the right or whom we believed to be on the right are associating themselves with an extremist party and then also want the Socialists to join them. It looks like they weren’t on the right after all, we only thought they were. We want to be able to govern and must govern. This isn’t about reconciliation, it’s about the best interests of the Romanian people. And they behaved, in my opinion, like spoiled children.

    The latest political crisis couldn’t come at a worst time: hospitals are already struggling with the effects of the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic and, with the colder months ahead, people are worried about the alarming rise in electricity prices. (CM)

  • Political crisis in Bucharest

    Political crisis in Bucharest

    In Romanian politics, centre-right coalitions have been known to work with difficulty or not at all. It hasn’t even been a year since the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania joined forces to form a majority, that they are already seeing their first major political crisis, one big enough to bring down the government. The ministers of the Save Romania Union and PLUS Alliance resigned from their government positions after previously filing a no-confidence motion against the government. Dan Barna, the co-president of the Alliance and until Tuesday a deputy prime minister in the cabinet led by the Liberal Florin Cîţu, explained the move:

    Things cannot go on as they have, nor will they go on like this, as far as USR PLUS is concerned, because this is about the difference we want to make in Romanian politics. Florin Cîţu has blown up this coalition knowingly and cynically. He can no longer be prime minister and for this reason the USR PLUS ministers are stepping down from his cabinet.

    It all started from the sudden dismissal of the Alliance’s justice minister Stelian Ion, whom the prime minister accused of blocking a large-scale investment project for local infrastructure, a project USR PLUS said it served the prime minister’s immediate interest in appeasing the local administrations controlled by the National Liberal Party and thus advance his chances of winning the battle for leadership of the party against the current leader Ludovic Orban. Stelian Ion is not the first USR PLUS minister to be dismissed by Cîţu. Last April, healthcare minister Vlad Voiculescu was sacked in the same way. The USR PLUS ministers who have resigned from the government are the minister for investments and European projects Cristian Ghinea, economy minister Claudiu Năsui, research minister Ciprian Teleman and health minister Ioana Mihăilă.

    USR PLUS are not, however, withdrawing from the coalition and say they are ready to return to government if Florin Cîţu makes a step back. Enjoying his party’s political support, Florin Cîţu shows no signs of doing so. Moreover, he has fought back exploiting USR PLUS’s inexplicable move to sign a no-confidence motion alongside the ultra-nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, whose leaders have so far only stood out for their tributes to some of the most sinister figures in Romanian history from the far right and for their opposition to wearing face masks and to vaccination. Florin Cîţu:

    The centre-right coalition is the only one that can govern, but it’s complicated when others on the right or whom we believed to be on the right are associating themselves with an extremist party and then also want the Socialists to join them. It looks like they weren’t on the right after all, we only thought they were. We want to be able to govern and must govern. This isn’t about reconciliation, it’s about the best interests of the Romanian people. And they behaved, in my opinion, like spoiled children.

    The latest political crisis couldn’t come at a worst time: hospitals are already struggling with the effects of the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic and, with the colder months ahead, people are worried about the alarming rise in electricity prices. (CM)

  • Generational differences and modernisation in the 19th Century

    Generational differences and modernisation in the 19th Century

    The concept of modernisation emerged in a rather vague form in the Romanian society after the 1770s, in requests addressed by the local nobility to Russia and Austria, followed by a first implementation in 1822. That year, in the wake of the revolution led by Tudor Vladimirescu, the Ottoman Empire replaced the Greek rulers of the Romanian provinces with leaders from among the locals. It was a first victory, and others were soon to follow.



    In the first half of the 19th Century, up until 1859 when Moldavia and Wallachia united to form Romania, two generations of Romanians strived to modernise the country. It was the 1820s generation, which opened the door to reforms, and the 1840 generation, which initiated the 1848 Revolution.



    The 1820 generation was one formed in the spirit of Oriental culture, with Ottoman culture as the prevailing model. They learned of the reforming ideas circulating in the West via various travellers. The 1840s generation was made up of the children of local nobility, who studied in France, Germany and Italy and had direct, unmediated contact with Western modernity. Once back home, these young men designed a radical transformation programme for the Romanian Principalities.



    Experts in the Romanian 19th Century have read the profound changes occurring in that period as a reflection of the differences between the two generations. They went even further to notice rifts between the young and the elderly. Historian Alin Ciupală with the Bucharest University is one of the experts who embrace this viewpoint. Ciupală believes that after Tudor Vladimirescus 1821 riots and the removal of the Greek rulers of the Romanian Principalities, we can speak about the dawn of a political class in the Romanian territories.



    Alin Ciupală: “After reverting to local rulers in 1822, the greater Romanian nobility is actually divided into several factions. We have a group of boyars loyal to Russia and its policy in the Romanian principalities and the Balkan region. Then we have a group loyal to the Ottoman Empire and its interests in the same region. And, particularly after 1840, a new generation emerged, made up of higher or lower-rank noblemen, generally young people having studied in the West, who came up with a new idea, a new political project tied to the 1848 Revolution, to the union of the principalities, to the modernisation of the Romanian society.



    The emergence of the Romanian political class was the outcome of the fight of both generations for freedom of expression and the abolition of censorship. But it also came with a separation among those who were engaged in politics, and more often than not this differentiation was operated along the lines of membership to a particular generation. Equally important, there was a delineation by sex, with women being a lot more open to change than men.



    Alin Ciupală: “During this mid-19th Century period we can basically talk about two divisions, two rifts. On the one hand, there is a division between spouses, at couple level, between men and women. Most of the times, men were still attached to an Eastern-style cultural model, whereas women were more courageous and they took the step towards modernity sooner and more resolutely. They leaned towards the Western cultural model. And a second rift, which is very clear with the emergence of the 1848 generation, is that between children and parents. The youth, the new generation, who went to university in France and Germany, came back home with new ideas, with the desire to change things.



    An apparently minor element that played a great role in the separation between the values embraced by the youth and those fostered by the elderly, was fashion, something that many view as trivial. The clothing, footwear, jewels, adding to the taste in music, literature and socialising, have had an essential contribution to changing the Romanians mind-set. Visual sources clearly indicate this strong generational difference. The paintings dating back to that age that feature boyars and their wives depict almost opposite worlds. The husbands are dressed in Oriental outfits, in stark contrast with the wives, who are wearing clothes tailored in keeping with the latest trends in Paris. Alin Ciupală gave us the example of a public monument in Bucharest to substantiate this claim:



    Alin Ciupală: “There is a very beautiful monument in Bucharest, unfortunately we no longer pay any attention to it: a statue group featuring the Golescu family, near the North Train Station. We have the father, Dinicu Golescu, wearing an Oriental outfit, the kind the Greek rulers introduced in the Principalities in the early 18th Century. Dinicu Golescu is accompanied by his 4 sons, future 1848 revolutionaries, all of them dressed in keeping with the Western fashion, the “German style as it was called at the time. This monument is an illustration of the division I was talking about, and ultimately of the transformation undergone by the Moldavian and Wallachian society in the first half of the 19th Century.



    More than 160 years ago, modern Romania was being created. Toiling for this goal were two generations of Romanians, which, although very different in many respects, pursued the same goal: modernisation. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • American democracy is put to test

    American democracy is put to test

    Shocking
    images travelled around the world on Wednesday, when the US Capitol Building was
    taken by storm by Donald Trump supporters. Called upon to come to Washington and
    encouraged by the president himself, they absurdly tried to stop Congress from certifying the result of the presidential election, which
    they believe was rigged.




    The
    idea of the elections being stolen was in fact introduced to US public agenda
    and promoted by Trump himself before, during and after elections, without being
    able to provide any valid proof. Dozens of court cases brought by the
    Republicans were all dismissed and the Electoral College confirmed the victory
    of Democrat Joe Biden. Donald Trump ignored all these facts, becoming increasingly
    isolated even within his own party, with many Republican leaders acknowledging
    defeat. One such figure is vice-president Mike Pence, who was pressured by
    president Trump not to recognise Biden’s victory. Pence told those who wrought
    havoc in Congress that they did not win, that violence never wins, freedom does,
    while the leader of Senate Republicans Mitch McConnell described the riots as failed
    insurrection.




    The
    Senate’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer said Wednesday’s events did not happen spontaneously.
    He accused president Trump, who he said promoted conspiracy theories and motivated
    these thugs, of bearing much of the blame. The attack on the Capitol was also
    described as insurrection by president elect Joe Biden, who called on Donald
    Trump to step in firmly to stop the violence and protect the Constitution.




    On Wednesday, Trump posted several video
    messages on Twitter in which he thanked his supporters for their support,
    refusing to admit defeat and insisting that he won the elections and that his
    victory was stolen. He did tell protesters to go home, so as to have peace, law
    and order.




    Leaders
    from around the world have condemned the events in Washington. UN secretary-general
    Antonio Guterres said politicians must impart on their supporters the need to refrain
    from violence and respect democratic processes. EU foreign policy chief Josep
    Borrell and NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the result of the
    elections won by Democrat Joe Biden must be respected. What happened in America
    is not American, said French president Emmanuel Macron, while British prime
    minister Boris Johnson described the scenes coming out of Washington as disgraceful.




    The
    Romanian foreign ministry said the violence that took place on Capitol Hill is
    worrying and unacceptable and expressed confidence in American democracy, which
    it said should remain a model for the entire world. (CM)

  • The Constitutional Court resets the political game

    The Constitutional Court resets the political game

    The Constitutional Court of Romania
    is an arbiter that is little liked by the political class but whose rulings are
    implacable. On Monday, the Court established that there exists a legal conflict
    between president Klaus Iohannis and Parliament over the designation of the
    leader of the National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban as prime minister. A
    complaint in this respect was filed by the Social Democratic speakers of the
    two chambers of Parliament, who claimed that the president’s designation as
    prime minister of the same person who had been dismissed last month in a
    no-confidence vote in Parliament was contrary to Parliament’s will. The
    president of the Constitutional Court of Romania, the former Social Democratic
    politician Valer Dorneanu says, however, that the Court’s ruling is based on a
    different argument:




    I don’t know what gave you to
    understand that our ruling means the president could not have designated Orban
    as prime minister. Our argument relating to the existence of a conflict had to
    do with the fact that the person designated, and I’m not referring here to
    Ludovic Orban per se, was designated, or at least that’s how it transpires from
    the course of events, not to form a new government, but, as he himself says, to
    make sure one such government collapses.


    The plan of the National Liberal
    Party, which is ahead in opinion polls, was for two governments to be voted
    down within the space of 60 days, thus triggering the dissolution of Parliament
    and holding early elections. An open supporter of this scenario, president
    Iohannis will not comment on the ruling of the Constitutional Court. He has
    criticised instead what the media have described as the anti-play practiced
    by the Social Democratic Party:




    The most legitimate solution is going
    back to the people as soon as possible and creating a new parliamentary
    majority that can sustain a stable government. We cannot go on like this, in
    constant deadlock, with governments that change every few months. We see,
    however, that the Social Democratic Party is afraid to go back to the people
    and, although it has failed in government for the last three years, now wants
    to prevent those who have proven they know what must be done in Romania and are
    willing to do it from doing their job.




    The president admits that the
    chances of early elections have now dropped to under 50%. According to experts,
    21st of June is the deadline for holding early elections, because on
    this date the current Parliament enters the last six months of its mandate and
    can no longer be dissolved. In its three decades of post-communist democracy,
    Romania has never had early elections, regardless of how unstable the political
    scene might have been. Commentators say the fear of some parliamentary parties
    that they won’t make it to Parliament and of some MPs that they won’t win
    another term will prevail this time as well. (Tr.: CM)

  • Political uncertainty in Bucharest

    Political uncertainty in Bucharest

    Last year, the Romanian Social Democrats surprisingly lost the EP elections, the governing and the presidential election. Also in 2019, the PSD strongman Liviu Dragnea was imprisoned for corruption leaving the party without a leader. After these unexpected blows, few would have imagined that the main leftist party in Romania would continue to call the tune or at least to spoil their political adversaries’ game.



    The Social Democrats still have a say in political procedures as they have held a relative majority in Parliament since 2016, the year of the latest elections. And this very majority forced the first minority Liberal government headed by Ludovic Orban to avoid parliamentary debate on some of its bills, and to eventually resort to the procedure of assuming responsibility for those respective bills. The government assumed responsibility also for the bill on reintroducing the election of mayors in two rounds, a move that proved fatal.



    Worried that the new voting system might influence negatively their results at the summer local elections, the Social Democratic Party joined forces to gather all the political groups which were opposed to the bill, and dismissed the first Orban government through a motion of no confidence. Now, they are playing the majority card again to thwart the Liberals’ plans to hold early elections. The Social Democrats are set to boycott the government meeting of Monday, February 24, when the second Orban government has to receive the investiture vote.



    According to the Social Democratic interim leader Marcel Ciolacu, they want to expect the decision of the Constitutional Court which is going to examine, also on Monday, the possible legal conflict between Parliament and the Presidential Administration regarding the designation of Ludovic Orban to the position of PM for a second time. The Social Democrats believe that the president defied the MPs by designating a prime minister that had just been dismissed by Parliament.



    However, constitutional law experts claim that the PSD notification of the Court is ungrounded and that the president has the right to designate whomever he wants, in the absence of a party that holds an absolute majority, according to a previous ruling of the Constitutional Court. Observers are convinced that the move is another subterfuge of the Social Democrats who are doing their best to avoid observing the period of two months in which two governments should be dismissed for Parliament to be dissolved and early elections to be called.



    If quorum is not achieved on Monday, the investiture vote will be postponed and thus the procedure for early elections delayed. The PSD will equally vote against the emergency decree regulating legislative elections, which brings important modifications to the vote in the Diaspora, from the voting period of 3 days to the doubling of the number of the Diaspora’s representatives in Parliament.



    Cautious and attentive to the reaction of the Romanians from abroad, Marcel Ciolacu announced that all the measures targeting the Diaspora would be included in a bill initiated by his own party. Meanwhile, the Liberals are reiterating their will to call early elections, which they consider the only way to overcome the current political deadlock, since they would allow the creation of a solid center-rightist majority. The Save Romania Union is in favor of early elections, but the rest of the parliamentary parties are opposed to them, because they risk not being included in the future parliament. (translation by L. Simion)

  • Romanian politics – in the spotlight

    Romanian politics – in the spotlight

    Nine governments in eight years, of
    which four – three Socialist and one Liberal – since the previous parliamentary
    elections alone – all this does not precisely point to a healthy party system
    in Romania. Reassured by winning a second term last November with more than 66%
    of the votes in the final round, president Klaus Iohannis insists that his
    first choice is holding early parliamentary elections. The idea is shared by
    the National Liberal Party, a firm supporter of the president, by the Save
    Romania Union and by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, but
    opposed by the other parliamentary parties.




    Opinion polls indicate that the
    National Liberal Party is by far the most popular party in Romania right now,
    with 47% of voting intentions, while the Social Democrats, formerly in power,
    are credited with only 20%. Together with its partners from PLUS, the Save
    Romania Union has around 15% of voting intentions. The Democratic Union of
    Ethnic Hungarians in Romania are credited, as usual, with a little over the 5% needed
    to enter Parliament, while the People’s Movement Party, the Alliance of
    Liberals and Democrats and Pro Romania are credited with less than 5%, so they
    are not exactly happy with the idea of early elections.




    In an attempt to avoid the traps of
    the Constitution, which experts say is drafted in such a way as to make early
    elections almost impossible, the president on Thursday again mandated the
    leader of the National Liberal Party Ludovic Orban with forming a new cabinet.
    The nomination came after Orban’s first cabinet was dismissed through a vote of
    no-confidence filed by the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of
    Ethnic Hungarians in Romania over a bill to reintroduce the two-round voting system for
    mayors. If senators and deputies reject Orban’s new cabinet, the president can
    make one last proposal whose rejection would mean calling for early elections.




    Until then, political parties are
    rehearsing for the local elections in a few months’ time. Still the biggest
    party in Parliament and led at the moment by the speaker of the Chamber of
    Deputies Marcel Ciolacu, the Social Democratic Party is hoping to mend, at the
    party’s extraordinary congress this year, some of the deep wounds sustained
    last year when the former leader Liviu Dragnea was sent to prison for
    corruption and his successor and ex-prime minister Viorica Dancila resigned
    after losing the presidential elections with the party’s lowest score in the
    last 30 years.




    The leaderships of the Save Romania
    Union, the third biggest party in parliament, and the extra-parliamentary party
    PLUS, led by the former prime minister and European commissioner Dacian Ciolos,
    said on Saturday they were considering a merger. The conditions are to be discussed
    at the congresses of the two parties, but commentators are expecting some tough
    negotiations, especially after an internal vote in the Save Romania Union in
    which 91% of its members said they wanted their party to position itself as a
    centre-right party. In the European Parliament, however, the MEPs of the Save
    Romania Union and PLUS alliance are affiliated with the centrist Renew Europe
    group, which is the baby of the French president Emmanuel Macron, a former
    minister in Social governments.

  • The Romanian political scene is boiling

    The Romanian political scene is boiling

    2019 was a rather atypical year for Romania, when the Socialist left lost the elections and the Liberal right won almost everything. A party that has been dominating the Romanian post-Communist scene for 30 years now, the Social Democratic Party — PSD was defeated by the National Liberal Party in the elections for the European Parliament of May 2019, when they obtained only half of the votes which they had got three years before, when they had returned to power.



    The day after the elections, Liviu Dragnea, the strongman of the PSD and of the governing coalition made up of the PSD and ALDE — the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, was convicted and imprisoned for corruption. In September, ALDE went in opposition, and the government headed by the new Social Democratic leader, Viorica Dancila, became a minority government.



    In October, Viorica Dancila and her team lost the executive power after Parliament passed a motion of no confidence tabled by the former Liberal opposition which is now governing the country. Running in the presidential election, the leftist leader Viorica Dancila was defeated in November, in the second round, by the acting president Klaus Iohannis who was supported by the Liberals.



    According to a Social Democratic implacable tradition, all presidential candidates who lose the elections are removed from their positions, so Viorica Dancila, who got the poorest result ever registered by a leftist leader, was replaced by Marcel Ciolacu, the PSD’s spearhead, who also became speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.



    The PSD hopes that Ciolacu will take the Social Democrats’ revenge. And their first target is the bill on the modification of the local elections law, for which the Liberal cabinet headed by Ludovic Orban will assume responsibility, as announced. Like many politicians and civil society representatives, the Liberal PM supports the election of mayors in two rounds of voting, a move meant to increase the mayors’ legitimacy.



    The current system, according to which the winner is that candidate with the biggest number of votes won in the first round, led to strange situations, such as the one in Galati (southeastern Romania), the country’s biggest river port, where the current mayor was voted only by 9% of the electorate. The PSD blocked the respective bill in the special parliamentary committee and announced a motion a no confidence against the Orban cabinet.



    Backed by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania that wants to preserve its political monopoly over many localities in Transylvania (in central Romania), the motion is rejected by the Save Romania Union party, the People’s Movement Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, whose members are in favor of two rounds of voting at the local elections.



    If the motion of no confidence is adopted, the PSD wants the country to be ruled by a national union government until the parliamentary elections due in autumn. Commentators argue though that the toppling of the Orban government might accelerate the procedures for organizing early parliamentary elections. And this would be a first in 30 years, and according to voter surveys, the Liberals would win an outright victory. (translation by L. Simion)

  • False patriotism

    False patriotism

    In the 19th century, the Romanian intellectuals and society were trying to achieve the nation state. In order to build a nation state, historians and philologists resorted to scientific arguments and equally to fake ideas. Fake patriotism mobilized latent energies that eventually had a positive impact on national emancipation.



    In mid 19th century, at the end of the Crimean War, between 1853-1856, the fate of the Romanian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia was decided. The national movement that had emerged in the last decade of the 18th century was asking for the union of the two principalities in one state, which was to put an end to the Ottoman influence. This could only happen if the great western powers could be persuaded of its necessity, and consequently the Romanian elites resorted to all means possible to reach their political objectives. One of the means was to falsify medieval documents in order to present a better state of affairs that had preceded the Turkish invasion in Europe and the Turkish conquest of the Romanian Principalities.



    The best known instance of false patriotism was Hurus Chronicle, which is supposed to be the official chronicle of 13th century Moldavia attesting to the Latin origin of Romanians. The one who wrote the chronicle was Huru, the alleged chronicler of prince Dragoș, the founder of the principality of Moldavia.



    Mircea Anghelescu is a professor at the Faculty of Letters of Bucharest University and he wrote a book entitled ‘Mystifictions, which tackles fakes, apocryphal stories, farces and other mystifications in the Romanian literature. One of the chapters is devoted to Hurus Chronicle, which Professor Anghelescu considers a typical manifestation of a historical period.



    Mircea Anghelescu: “There are special conditions that create such contexts in which false patriotism emerges. The context of this phenomenon is related to what is called the establishment of historical periods. When the critical mass is created, there emerges the idea which someone will implement right away. There were talks about attempts to preserve independence, about fighting, as Romanians were surrounded by enemies, so it was very difficult to maintain a certain degree of autonomy. It is that very historical moment that requires and supports the emergence and dissemination of false patriotism. A famous fake that preceded the 19th century fake belongs to a Maltese monk named Giuseppe Vella. In the 18th century he claimed that certain anodyne Arab religious manuscripts were chronicles that included testimonies about land possessions in Malta. It was Emperor Napoleon who had to intervene to save Giuseppe Vella. This phenomenon can change the economic order in a country and produces consequences.



    False patriotism mobilized energies and the critical spirit was suspended. Higher-level thinking was more important than academic debate, and the Romanian intellectuals borrowed the practices of the epoch.



    Here is Professor Mircea Anghelescu with more: “On the eve of the 1848 revolution, which required, through the proclamation of Heliade Rădulescu, the return to a state of affairs existing prior to the Ottoman invasion, people would say: ‘we are not making a revolution, we want restitution which meant a return to the old laws. The proclamation must have been a source of influence for one of the members of the Sion family, who thought that the idea of ‘being ancient could be used to attest to the old tradition of his own family, because he wanted to enroll his sons at a noblemens school in Petersburg, Russia. However, no one could ever prove who the real creators of fake documents were, or the creator of Hurus Chronicle. This fake document, which was published, dates back to the period following the Crimean War, when the future of the Principalities depended on the decision of the Congress of Paris (1856). How did the fake actually emerge? One of the beneficiaries, who was naïve and not willingly involved in the creation of the fake, was the descendant of a boyar family named Boldur-Lățescu. He claimed that he had simply gotten in the possession of the document. Nobody however asked him about how he got in its possession. Who had given it to him, had it been found in the archives? Nowadays, when we have a legalistic perspective of history, this would be the first question to ask.



    Like any fake, Hurus Chronicle was proved a fake much later, after the requests of the Romanian politicians had already been met. Mircea Anghelescu is back at the microphone: “Language was the first argument used by the people of the time in the discussions that peaked and found a resolution towards the end of the 19th century. They compared the oldest document in the Romanian language, credited as an important document, which dated to the late 16th century and had a perfectly intelligible text, with Hurus Chronicle. The chronicle was absurd, the words observed the Latin order in a sentence. It also included forms derived from Latin etymons, most probably taken from Cantemirs writings. The fake would have been striking if the public had had some sense of history, or at least the experts. Critical sense emerges with the development of objective research. So, the first argument was the language. The second argument was related to knowledge about ancient epochs. This chronicle included many credentials: date of writing, signature of the author similar to a notarized document. In the 14th and 15th centuries nobody would have thought of that. The fake document also included descriptions of the Romanians way of organization, similar to that of the Israelite tribes mentioned in the Bible. Everything was ordered according to ecclesiastical rules and the rulers were some sort of bishops. There are descriptions of their dresses, white and red gowns with buttons that showed their position in the hierarchy. But these elements emerged much later in history.



    False patriotism was not an imposture but rather a means of reaching political purposes. And Machiavellianism used for the public good is an art, not a moral judgment. (translation by L. Simion)

  • January 20-26, 2019

    January 20-26, 2019

    The leu/Euro exchange rate reaches new record high


    The Romanian national currency, the leu, continues to depreciate more and more against the single European currency. On Wednesday, the Euro soared, breaking the historical record, as it reached for the first time the level of 4.75 lei, after several bumps up in previous days. The US dollar and the Swiss Franc had similar evolutions. Analysts say that the depreciation of the national currency can be explained by Romania’s foreign trade balance, with imports continuing to be disproportionately higher than exports, with the imbalance deepening with every passing month. National Bank adviser Adrian Vasilescu emphasized that this trend was even deeper during the winter holidays, when importers upped the quantity of merchandise they were bringing into the country, with customers packing stores. Now they are changing lei to buy currency to pay their bills. Other explanations for this negative trend, according to experts, are the fairly high level of inflation, the fact that foreign investors have dumped Romanian state bonds lately, as well as uncertainty in term of domestic economic policies that may adversely affect the safety of foreign investments.



    Dozens succumb to the flu in the cold season



    Over 30 people have succumbed to the flu so far this cold season. Authorities have decided to keep schools closed on Friday in order to contain the spread of the virus. Health Minister Sorina Pintea believes the situation is serious and will decide on Tuesday whether or not to declare the situation an epidemic, considering that the number of cases was much higher than the estimate, exceeding 20%. She has announced that the authorities have decided to purchase and distribute 25,000 more flu vaccine doses, to immunize in particular children, the elderly, chronic patients, and pregnant women. According to physicians, vaccination is the most effective way to combat the spread of the flu. Also very useful are individual measures such as use of cloth masks, use of napkins while coughing and sneezing, and frequent washing of hands.



    Romania salutes French-German partnership



    French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have signed a bilateral treaty in Aachen. In addition to European officials, the ceremony was attended by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, representing the country that holds the 6-month presidency of the Council of the European Union. In the present European context, consolidating the European project is a profound necessity, whose essence can only be in the unity and solidarity of member states, said the head of the Romanian state. He added that the new treaty is not simply an expression of the will of Germany and France to commit to the consolidation of the European project. The new treaty is legally and politically based on the Treaty of Elysee of 1963, which formed the basis of France and Germany’s historic reconciliation. The document is intended to adapt relations between the two countries to the realities of the 21st century, strengthening ties in the economy, foreign and security policy, education and culture, research and technology, combating climate change, and civil society.



    PM Viorica Dancila makes a working visit to Brussels



    Romania remains a staunch NATO ally, said Romanian PM Viorica Dancila in Brussels, after a meeting with the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In response, Stoltenberg said that NATO and the EU have been working better and better in cyber security and naval activities. The two officials reviewed the main issues on the NATO agenda. Also in Brussels, Dancila presented Romania’s priorities at the helm of the EU Council, in plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee. The head of the Romanian government reiterated Romania’s priorities, with emphasis on common European values: cohesion and reducing the gaps between regions. Close attention will be paid to migration, but also to strengthening the defense and security policies. Other priorities are the consolidation of the internal market, cyber security, and the protection of citizens on-line. Romania wants to give priority during its term to issues that directly benefit citizens. One of them is the multi-annual financial framework, related to which Romania wants to make enough progress to allow a political agreement to be signed in the autumn of this year, Viorica Dancila said.



    Romania celebrates the Union of the Romanian Principalities on January 24



    The entire country celebrates this week 160 years since the union of the Romanian Principalities on January 24, 1859. The anniversary was marked by religious and military ceremonies, laying of flower wreaths, and open air shows. This special moment was the main precursor to the Great Union of 1918. On this important day, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who had been elected to the throne of the Principality of Moldavia a week earlier, was voted by the Elective Assembly in Bucharest to be the sovereign of Wallachia. He was, as a result, at that point ruling an effectively new country, formed of the two former principalities. Three years later, with crucial support from French emperor Napoleon III, the union was recognized internationally, and the new state was called Romania. Cuza’s seven years reign laid the foundations of the modern Romanian state through radical reforms, which were continued by Romania’s first king, Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who ruled between 1866 and 1914. He was followed by his nephew, Ferdinand I, nicknamed ‘The Uniter, who ruled between 1914 and 1927. He ruled over the most important event for Romania in the 20th century, the 1918 union of almost all territories with a majority Romanian population, forming Greater Romania. (Edited by M. Ignatescu)

  • The Week in Review: October 21-27, 2018

    The Week in Review: October 21-27, 2018

    Justice Minister requests the removal of the Prosecutor General




    The Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has initiated the procedure to dismiss Augustin Lazar as Prosecutor General of Romania, following an assessment of his work. Earlier this year, also at the request of the Justice Minister and bound by a Constitutional Court ruling, President Klaus Iohannis had dismissed the chief of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi. Tudorel Toader explained that the same kind of behaviour that prompted Kovesi’s removal was now bringing the downfall of the Prosecutor General.



    According to the Justice Minister, Augustin Lazar has generated 3 judicial conflicts related to the separation of powers, and has made unprecedented accusations against public authorities, parliament and the government. Lazar is also accused of challenging the rulings of the Constitutional Court, of failing to meet his professional objectives, of criticising the justice laws after the constitutionality check had been completed, and of breaking the law by signing protocols with the intelligence services, thus paving the way for a parallel judicial system.



    In response, Augustin Lazar says the Justice Minister’s claims are exaggerations and that freedom of expression must be used against any interference that threatens to affect the independence of prosecutors.



    The Prosecutors’ Section of the Superior Council of Magistracy has scheduled the hearing of the Prosecutor General on November 13, and is to make public an official opinion on the dismissal request on November 21.



    According to President Klaus Iohannis, the Justice Minister’s request to remove Lazar is completely unjustified, and calls on Tudorel Toader to step down. Once again, the head of state says, attempts are being made to persuade people that prosecutors are the enemies of society. The President also urged magistrates not to lose faith in the Romanian society’s ability to withstand a new attack on the rule of law.



    The National Liberal Party, in opposition, believes the request to dismiss the Prosecutor General is groundless and is just an attack against the independence of the judiciary, whereas the leaders of Save Romania Union say Tudorel Toader has removed the chief prosecutors on orders from the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats.



    Talks on the rule of law and the justice laws in Brussels and Bucharest



    The head of the Romanian state Klaus Iohannis Tuesday addressed the European Parliament for the first time, presenting Romania’s views on the future of the European bloc. He pleaded for unity, cohesion and solidarity in the effort to strengthen the Union, and rejected the idea of a “multi-speed Europe.” Klaus Iohannis also said Romania is a democratic country, respecting the rule of law and fully committed to the fight against corruption. In fact, on Wednesday in Bucharest he held consultations with the parliamentary parties, precisely concerning the changes to the justice laws operated by the ruling coalition.



    Previously, the Venice Commission had released a report which found that the new justice laws and Criminal Codes undermine the fight against corruption and organised crime. The head of state has said that the justice laws must be rethought, modernised and improved and that the legislative cycle in the field must be resumed. On the other hand, the Social Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea has said that his party opposes the resuming of the legislative process in the case of the justice laws, because there is already a decree on this matter in Parliament.



    In his turn, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, has said, after consultations, that a consensus on the justice laws is necessary, but also common premises, such as putting an end to the abuse committed through secret protocols. The National Liberal Party, in opposition, has said that it supports the head of state’s idea of debates being resumed. The leader of the Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, believes that Romania’s presidency could be a very good platform for debate and a real mediation between magistrates, politicians, civil society and Romania’s citizens, who truly want an independent and functional justice system.



    The offshore bill, regulating gas exploitation in the Black Sea, passed by Romanian MPs



    Romanian MPs have adopted the offshore law, regulating gas exploitation in the Black Sea. The Opposition has criticised the lack of some precise calculations to justify modifications to this law, while the Power believes the Romanian state’s interests are protected by this law. Last week, the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats reached consensus over modifications to this law. Thus, it was agreed that 50% of the natural gas production in the Black Sea should be traded on the domestic stock exchange market while the operators’ investment should be deducted from the additional tax within the limit of 30%.



    Italian Interior Minister pays visit to Bucharest



    The Romanian Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, met on Tuesday in Bucharest with the Italian deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Bilateral cooperation in the field of security, especially in the context of Romania’s taking over the EU Council presidency in the first six months of 2019 were among the topics tackled by the two officials. The Romanian community in Italy and the Italian community in Romania make the relationship between the two countries even stronger, and contribute to their economic and social development, Minister Carmen Dan has said. In turn, Matteo Salvini has said that the Romanian community in Italy numbers more that 1 million and that the mistakes some of them make should not impact the other members of the community. Also, Salvini has thanked the Romanian authorities for their support in identifying Romanian fugitives in Italy.

  • The Social Democratic Party – back to square one

    The Social Democratic Party – back to square one

    A fragile peace reigns over the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the leftist government in Bucharest, after its leader Liviu Dragnea convincingly won the confidence vote he requested from his colleagues in the Executive Committee on Friday evening. The meeting had been prefaced by an open letter penned by leading figures in the party calling for Dragnea’s resignation, including as speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. In what looked like a genuine political indictment, the Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea, the deputy prime minister Paul Stanescu and the former defence minister Adrian Tutuianu said Dragnea’s legal situation had become the party’s major vulnerability ahead of the European and presidential elections next year and the local and legislative elections in 2020.



    The signatories to the letter also called on the prime minister and the party’s executive president Viorica Dancila to act as interim leader of the party until a new congress is held. Given a suspended prison sentence in one case, Dragnea is now waiting for a final sentence in another. He says, however, that these are politically motivated cases and that the investigations were conducted in a most unprofessional way, which, he says, can happen to any Romanian citizen. Comforted by Friday’s vote, Dragnea says he doesn’t want to see another party leadership meeting to discuss anything but important problems.



    The most vocal and visible of his challengers, Gabriela Firea believes, however, that the most important win of Friday’s meeting was that the party was able, for the first time, to discuss its problems openly, sincerely and with logical arguments. The Social Democrats now all expect two weeks of complete harmony until the referendum to redefine family on the 6th and 7th of October, which was called with the support of the Social Democratic Party and most parliamentary parties.



    The possible reshuffle of the Dancila cabinet could only be discussed afterwards, which commentators believe would be an excellent opportunity to get rid of deputy prime minister Stanescu as revenge for his criticism of Dragnea. Moreover, commentators also say, on the 8th of October, immediately after the referendum, Liviu Dragnea faces a new and possible decisive term in his corruption trial at the High Court.



    For the former Romanian president Traian Basescu, today a senator of the small Peoples Movement Party, “Firea, Stanescu and Tutuianu have the great merit of leaving the opposition and the media a signed political document that can be used to attack the Social Democratic Party and which has weakened” Dragnea. The media says this is some small consolation for the opposition parties, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the People’s Movement Party, which are yet unable to agree even on when to file a no-confidence motion against the government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. (Translated by C. Mateescu; edited by D. Vijeu)