Category: The Future Starts Today

After Romania became a member of the European Union in 2007, joining the Schengen area became the top priority for Bucharest’s foreign policy. Expected to occur in March, 2011, accession proved too far, as the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council repeatedly delayed, under various pretexts, debating the issue of clear deadlines for including Romania and Bulgaria in free movement area. It seems that Schengen is a very hard aim to reach. Foreign policy analyst Bogdan Chirieac tries to explain:

‘There is no logical explanation. Something just happened, not in Romania, but in Europe. We are talking about western, democratic, rich Europe, which broke its promise to Romania. The Schengen agreement reads nothing about the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, the justice system, the Rroma minority, and other such things. That was supposed to be a simple technical issue of securing borders. Romania spent one billion Euros to secure the border, employing a famous French-German company.’

Ironically, Germany and France, alongside Holland, are right now the most reticent towards Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession. This very month, the German home secretary, Hans-Peter Fridrich, accused Romania and Bulgaria of improperly dealing with the social integration of the Rroma, which, in his opinion, puts great migration pressure on certain countries, mostly Germany. He took this stance after a German court ruled that a family of Romanian migrants has a right to receive social assistance. If the ruling stands permanently, it will definitely increase migration to Germany, the secretary believes, emphasizing the fact that Brussels has to make sure that Romania and Bulgaria make good use of European funds for social integration.

In reply, the Romanian home secretary reiterated the fact that Romania meets all the technical and legal criteria for joining Schengen, and that a decision on this matter should not be pending on the Rroma issue. The same issue was discussed in Paris. The members of the French cabinet talked about the allegedly insufficient efforts made by the authorities in Bucharest to integrate the Rroma, even though their initial objections involved securing the borders of Romania and Bulgaria. Here is Bogdan Chirieac once again:

‘The Rroma minority in France has nothing to do with Schengen. The Rroma go there anyway, they are European citizens, they cannot be halted at the border, even if they don’t have documents, meaning an ID card. This is an aberration. The crisis has sparked in Europe a kind of madness, I would dare say that it is comparable to the Great Depression of 1929-1930.’

Pilippe Gustin, the French ambassador to Bucharest, said that one should not confuse two different issues:

‘The Schengen issue is a technical problem that has turned political, it has to do with Romania’s home policy and the home policy of all EU member countries. We should not confuse two different things. Unfortunately, this confusion has been sustained for years, and the media has joined in.’

Even though all Schengen states have admitted that Romania and Bulgaria have met the technical criteria, Bucharest and Sofia now must wait for the report issued as part of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, demanded by those countries that tie accession to the conclusions of this document. The report, reflecting progress in justice, will only be submitted early next year, as announced by mark Gray, spokesman for the European Commission. Meanwhile, Romania and Bulgaria have announced they would continue lobbying Europe for a decision in favor of their joining Schengen, in full compliance with European principles and regulations.

State mechanisms to support minority language news media based on strict and objective criteria and applying to all forms of mass communication have yet to be created in the non-EU states that are home to large communities of ethnic Romanians. The financing of media outlets is still subject to discrimination, with only pro-governmental publications receiving support. These are but some of the observations laid down in a report on the situation of news media in the Romanian diaspora drawn up by the International Forum of Romanian Journalists. The document also contains a brief account of certain aspects pointing to the precarious situation of the Romanian language press in Romania’s neighbouring states that are home to large communities of ethnic Romanians.

This report has recently been presented in Brussels during a debate on the preservation of Romanian culture outside Romania’s borders initiated by the euro MP Norica Nicolai. She says she may request that the start of accession talks with Serbia concerning the chapter on culture be made conditional on the visible improvement of the situation of the Romanian ethnic community in this area.

Norica Nicolai: “As far as Serbia is concerned, I think now is the time to do something for the Romanian community in this country. If we continue to support Serbia unconditionally in opening more EU accession chapters, the Romanian community will probably receive the same discriminatory treatment from the Serbian state. The talks on chapter 23 concerning culture are due to start and I intend to send letters to my colleagues to ask them to make the start of these talks conditional on real commitment from Serbia and the implementation of its obligations.”

This position follows Serbia’s failure to respect its commitment to introduce the study of the Romanian language in the schools in Timoc Valley as of September 1st based on a manipulative survey of ethnic Romanian children in the area that created international confusion. Here’s Norica Nicolai again about the position of the Serb authorities on the fulfilment of their commitments related to ethnic minorities.

Norica Nicolai: “Their response is incomplete and embarrassing. They even made up a new language in this manipulative survey, the so-called ‘Vlach dialect’. Not to mention that this survey must have undoubtedly been carried out in communities where the Romanian ethnic population is not in the majority, thus preventing access to the Romanian language for the children in Timoc Valley. This is not fair, and the situation has been inaccurately presented in Brussels by the Serb government in a manipulative and disingenuous way.”

Although the ethnic Romanian community in Vojivodina benefits from mass-media in the Romanian language, in north-eastern Serbia, an area known as Timoc Valley, there is basically no print publication in Romanian, and radio and television programmes are irregular. Ethnic Romanians in Timoc say they have no access to information, as there are no radio and television programmes in Romanian, and call on the Serbian authorities to solve the problem and implement the same model as in Vojvodina as far as ethnic minorities are concerned.

The situation isn’t much better in the break-away region of Transnistria, in the majority Romanian speaking Republic of Moldova, where there is no news media in Romanian, and all public communication is done using the Cyrillic alphabet. Polina Cupcea, from the daily National in Chisinau, explains.

Polina Cupcea: “In Transnistria there is basically no kind of news media in the Romanian language. Romanian journalists are often banned access at the Bender-Tiraspol crossing point. The journalists working for the print media have to hide their equipment, and TV journalists have to cross the border by boat because in order to hide their equipment. This is discouraging for journalists, who are no longer interested in writing articles about Transnistria.”

Broadcasts in Romanian are also a problem for the ethnic Romanians in the region of Chernowitz and across Ukraine. The shows in Romanian are restricted to a few minutes per day, during daytime, when most people are at work, while the reception of Romanian TV stations is very expensive, which means the Romanian ethnic population in the region is practically cut off from its country of origin.

As for Hungary, international teams consisting of various media institutions and representatives of national minorities have repeatedly warned that Hungary’s new media law poses serious threats to the freedom of the press.

The report by the International Forum of Romanian Journalists also writes that there are no radio or television programmes in the Romanian language in Bulgaria.

Emphasising the importance of the use of the national language in the administration, in schools and in the media, Norica Nicolai has called for real support from the authorities in Bucharest in the form of a medium and long-term strategy to promote Romanian culture and identity.

As the first among equals in the EU, Germany has the most influence among European Union countries. Its large population and sound economy in the middle of a continent crippled by the crisis, as well as its consistency in matters of foreign policy grant Germany weight in difficult European decisions. In a few of these cases, says the press, the decisions were postponed until after the results of last month’s elections in Germany.

Some of these decisions are leverage for the banking union, extending aid to Greece past the present rescue package, and a strategy for Ireland to emerge from its own financial difficulty. Inevitably, the elections will echo beyond Germany’s borders. The Christian Democrats won 42% of the vote, beating their main rivals, the Social Democrats, who only won 26%. The government coalition has not had complete success, however, because Merkel’s traditional partners, the Liberal Democrats, have not managed to get over 5% of the vote, and as a result have not made it to Parliament. Political analyst Cristian Parvulescu explains:

Cristian Parvulescu: “This is no surprise. Everyone expected such a result, especially since one week ahead of federal elections there had been state elections in Bavaria, where the allies of the Christian Democratic Union, the Social Christian Union, had also scored historically, while the Liberal Democratic Party suffered a historical defeat, which anticipated what was about to happen one week later. At that point it was obvious for German pundits that the situation was clear-cut. In fact, the only unknown in the elections in Germany was who Angela Merkel was going to form an alliance with, the Liberal Democrats or the Social Democrats. If the Liberal Democrats were not to make it to Parliament, and they didn’t, then a grand coalition with the Social Democrats was predictable.”

Professor Parvulescu anticipates that the so-called ‘grand coalition’ of the two heaviweights on the German political stage will be inevitably asymmetrical. Social Democratic leader Peter Steinbruck resigned right after the defeat, creating a power vacuum inside the coalition. The Social Democratic junior partner cannot influence the decisions of the future cabinet, especially given that its head has already adopted some of their campaign themes.

Cristian Parvulescu: “Angela Merkel has quite some room for maneuver, which is wide to the extent that the Social Democrats did not manage a good score, even though they gained in comparison to four years ago. At the same time, once they are part of the government, they will be very limited in action and will not be able to influence government policy. This does not mean that austerity will continue in Europe. Angela Merkel had already announced some changes and measures, such as the introduction of a minimum wage, which many of the German poor had been expecting for a long time, and that would have already occurred without a grand coalition, because, paradoxically, even though Germany is a highly developed country, it has never had a minimum wage.”

The green party, voted by about one tenth of Germans, and which is now the third political faction in Germany, said they were available as a governing partner alongside the Christian Democrats. Cristian Parvulescu, however, is sure that such a cabinet is less probable:

Cristian Parvulescu: “This alliance with the Greens does not have a lot to say, as long as Angela Merkel has already made the decision to shut down nuclear plants and resort to other resources after the Fukushima disaster two years ago, which worried the public in Germany a lot.”

At the same time, according to a two-decade-old formula, the French-German leadership of the European Union readies for a fresh start. According to Philippe Ricard, European policy commentator for Le Monde, the most important issue coming up will be harmonizing the new governing coalition in Berlin with an old Conservative chancellor, voted once again by popular vote, and the socialist administration in Paris, whose president, Francois Hollande, and his government, are losing popularity fast. The European Union and its ability to have a say in global affairs depend on French-German dialog.

In 1999, the Romanian state granted the Canadian Rosia Montana Gold Corporation a licence, valid for 20 years, to exploit the gold deposits in the Apuseni Mountains. Ever since, this mining project has been dividing Romanian society into two camps: people, who, alongside environmentalists and historians, are opposed to the project, saying the conservation of the environment and the architectural heritage of the area should prevail over economic considerations, and those who say the project would rescue an area faced with serious unemployment. Recently, the mining project in Rosia Montana received a favourable opinion from the environment ministry and is now to be voted on in Parliament. Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Bucharest and other cities in Romania as well as in Paris, New York and Brussels, calling for the project to be halted.

Some say the state’s profits are too low, others are concerned about the impact on the environment of an open-pit mining project of this scale, while yet others are opposed to the technology used in the gold mining process that involves the use of cyanide. The waste product resulting from the mining process is to be deposited in a large decant pond. The representatives of the Canadian company say experts have verified the safety of the pond, arguing that the technology used poses no threat.

The vice-president of the environment department of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, Horea Avram explains: “Before reaching the pond, the waste product will be neutralised so the cyanide concentration will not exceed 3 mg/l on an average. The main quality of this type of waste product is that it degrades naturally. The information according to which the cyanide remains in the decant pond is therefore wrong. As soon as the exploitation ends, within 2 or 3 months, the level of concentration drops below 0.01%, which is tens of times lower than the limit established by the European Union and Romania.”

Some of the residents of the area also staged protests, while several miners barricades themselves underground for a few days calling for the start of the mining process. They say mining is the only way to prevent unemployment and poverty in the region. On the other hand, the Alburnus Maior Association, which has been opposed to the project for years, argues that it is not worth implementing a project that may have a devastating impact on the region’s environment for the sake of only 600 jobs. A special parliamentary committee will look at the arguments of each side and then present Parliament with an overview of the situation. If the project is rejected, the Romanian state may pay over 2 billion dollars in damages representing the 550 million dollars invested by the company so far and its estimated profit. Ionel Blanculescu, an advisor to the prime minister, tells us what the company’s investment has consisted in so far:

“According to the documents presented by the company and the government, the most significant investment is a geological survey which I’m told lasted around 7 years. This is an extremely extensive survey that cost 98 million dollars and involved 1,200 drillings at a depth of 300 metres, every 10 metres. Samples were taken and analysed by two different labs. There were also costs related to relocation and the building of houses in the area. There are also 500 employees who, I understand, have been involved in activities related to heritage, and the Roman galleries, as well as management costs.”

300 tonnes of gold and 1,600 tonnes of silver may be extracted from Rosia Montana, says the Canadian company, which makes Rosia Montana the third largest deposit of its kind in the world. Moreover, a significant amount of rare metals is believed to exist in the area, which some voices say is the true purpose of the project. Rosia Montana Gold Corporation is to pay the Romanian state 6% of the total value of its output, a level which has been increased from the initial 2%. Based on the value of precious metal, Romania would receive around 1 billion dollars. The mining project would last 25 years, of which 2 are needed for the building of the mining infrastructure, 16 years for the mining activity as such, while another 7 years are needed to rehabilitate the area and close down the mine.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta says Romania must exploit its resources in compliance with European standards and that public debate will reveal the essential aspects connected to the project, given that the information that has circulated in the last 15 years has generated a lot of confusion.

In 1999, the Romanian state granted the Canadian Rosia Montana Gold Corporation a licence, valid for 20 years, to exploit the gold deposits in the Apuseni Mountains. Ever since, this mining project has been dividing Romanian society into two camps: people, who, alongside environmentalists and historians, are opposed to the project, saying the conservation of the environment and the architectural heritage of the area should prevail over economic considerations, and those who say the project would rescue an area faced with serious unemployment. Recently, the mining project in Rosia Montana received a favourable opinion from the environment ministry and is now to be voted on in Parliament. Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Bucharest and other cities in Romania as well as in Paris, New York and Brussels, calling for the project to be halted.

Some say the state’s profits are too low, others are concerned about the impact on the environment of an open-pit mining project of this scale, while yet others are opposed to the technology used in the gold mining process that involves the use of cyanide. The waste product resulting from the mining process is to be deposited in a large decant pond. The representatives of the Canadian company say experts have verified the safety of the pond, arguing that the technology used poses no threat.

The vice-president of the environment department of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, Horea Avram explains: “Before reaching the pond, the waste product will be neutralised so the cyanide concentration will not exceed 3 mg/l on an average. The main quality of this type of waste product is that it degrades naturally. The information according to which the cyanide remains in the decant pond is therefore wrong. As soon as the exploitation ends, within 2 or 3 months, the level of concentration drops below 0.01%, which is tens of times lower than the limit established by the European Union and Romania.”

Some of the residents of the area also staged protests, while several miners barricades themselves underground for a few days calling for the start of the mining process. They say mining is the only way to prevent unemployment and poverty in the region. On the other hand, the Alburnus Maior Association, which has been opposed to the project for years, argues that it is not worth implementing a project that may have a devastating impact on the region’s environment for the sake of only 600 jobs. A special parliamentary committee will look at the arguments of each side and then present Parliament with an overview of the situation. If the project is rejected, the Romanian state may pay over 2 billion dollars in damages representing the 550 million dollars invested by the company so far and its estimated profit. Ionel Blanculescu, an advisor to the prime minister, tells us what the company’s investment has consisted in so far:

“According to the documents presented by the company and the government, the most significant investment is a geological survey which I’m told lasted around 7 years. This is an extremely extensive survey that cost 98 million dollars and involved 1,200 drillings at a depth of 300 metres, every 10 metres. Samples were taken and analysed by two different labs. There were also costs related to relocation and the building of houses in the area. There are also 500 employees who, I understand, have been involved in activities related to heritage, and the Roman galleries, as well as management costs.”

300 tonnes of gold and 1,600 tonnes of silver may be extracted from Rosia Montana, says the Canadian company, which makes Rosia Montana the third largest deposit of its kind in the world. Moreover, a significant amount of rare metals is believed to exist in the area, which some voices say is the true purpose of the project. Rosia Montana Gold Corporation is to pay the Romanian state 6% of the total value of its output, a level which has been increased from the initial 2%. Based on the value of precious metal, Romania would receive around 1 billion dollars. The mining project would last 25 years, of which 2 are needed for the building of the mining infrastructure, 16 years for the mining activity as such, while another 7 years are needed to rehabilitate the area and close down the mine.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta says Romania must exploit its resources in compliance with European standards and that public debate will reveal the essential aspects connected to the project, given that the information that has circulated in the last 15 years has generated a lot of confusion.

The Magurele science complex lies 4 km away from Bucharest, and has started construction on the most advanced infrastructure in the world for the study of photon radiation. Starting in 2017, this will be the home of the strongest laser in the world, the nuclear physics component of the Extreme Light Infrastructure European project.

The other two components of the project will be in Prague, the high-energy beam science component, and in Szeged, Hungary, for extremely short duration laser bursts. The future European center for ultra-high power lasers and laser-matter interaction in Magurele is set to turn Romania into a point of interest for researchers the world over. In Magurele, the European commissioner for regional policies, Johannes Hahn, talked about the potential of this center of research.

He said that this was an important moment not only for Romania, but for the whole of Europe, and that the EU provides an important part of the funding for it. He added that it was the first time when regional funds co-finance basic research, and that there are two reasons for that. For one thing, such infrastructure attracts researchers and students, being a step forward in stemming the brain drain, attracting people to science. For another, this project puts Europe on the world map of nuclear physics research, using the latest in laser technology.

Researchers in Magurele say that this will break down barriers in physics. This latest in laser technology is a world first in physics in general, not just in Romania. For the first time, a laser beam will bombard a beam of gamma particles sent by an accelerator. Both these large sized pieces of equipment, the laser and the gamma particle accelerator, are way over the threshold of power that other existing systems have.

The laser will have a power of over 10 million watts. By comparison, the strongest lasers right now are in the UK and the US, and are 10 times weaker. The complex will be set on seismic dampeners, because the slightest tremor may cause a disaster. One of the buildings will have 12 underground levels, the other eight. The center will be the equivalent of the Swiss CERN. The Swiss center works with elementary particles, while the center in Magurele will study the interaction between EM radiation and matter. It will be unique not just by its size, but by its features.

Nicolae Zamfir, director of the Nuclear Physics and Engineering Institute, coordinator of the ELI project for Romania, says: “ELI is way beyond anything that exists in the world today, it is the only building in the world of its kind. This protection against vibration will be provided by the fact that every inch of this building with a surface of hundreds of thousands of square meters lies on huge springs that dampen every vibration, while the temperature and humidity are regulated by a huge 5 megawatt system, with all the power provided from thermal water sources. It will be the largest green building in Europe. It will provide for fundamental research and for applied research, with hundreds of scientists all over the world providing proposals.”

According to scientists, the laser in Magurele is so powerful that it could mutate matter. The areas of impact for this research range from cancer treatment to destroying radioactive waste. Physicist Andrei Dorobantu told us that, when used in cancer treatment, the laser is able to reach full power only when it reaches a tumor, without harming surrounding tissue. The Magurele laser will also be used for creating radioactive materials for medical use, radio isotopes to treat a variety of diseases. Another application would be the ability to test nuclear reactors while they are running.

Security and terrorism prevention would also gain from the existence of such a laser, helping in border security checks. Researchers also hope to solve one of the worst problems of nuclear energy, which is spent fuel. Some spent fuels remain radioactive for millions of years, but may be obliterated using this laser. The project puts Romania at the forefront of photon beams with extreme properties, and opens up the way for novel research.

Last year alone, cyber attacks caused losses of 90 billion euros according to Interpol President Mireille Ballestrazzi. Hackers are still difficult to track and they know no limits, she said, adding that the spread of electronic payment and research and the difficulty of tracking criminals encourage cyber crime. NATO states, which are strongly dependant on electronic communication, have become vulnerable to this new type of security challenge and are constantly looking for solutions.

One such solution is the creation in 2010 of a division for emerging security risks. The division deals with issues related to cyber defence, energy security, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the fight against terrorism and the Alliance’s strategic analysis capability. Romania’s NATO ambassador Sorin Ducaru, who will take over the position of Assistant to the NATO Secretary General for Emerging Security Risks this autumn, spoke about the various incidents related to the cyber space in an interview on Radio Romania.

Sorin Ducaru: “Incidents in cyber space take different shapes. One area is cyber crime, which leads to fraud and the theft of resources and money over the Internet. Another area is cyber espionage which, in the worst-case scenario, may target critical infrastructure in various countries. The problem is that when it comes to cyber space, it’s difficult to locate the source accurately and this usually takes a long time. However, we at NATO are in a stage where we are establishing our priorities and the number one priority is to ensure the security of the Alliance’s own systems. I’m referring to the command structure, the NATO agencies and the general headquarters. Basically, by the end of the year, we should be able to ensure full protection for all NATO systems. Each state must invest in equipment and technology, but being part of an alliance makes our defence more efficient and even financially cheaper.”

Shortly after 9/11, NATO started to improve its ability to defend itself from cyber attacks, while focusing on the implementation of passive protection measures requested by its military structures. It wasn’t until the events of 2007 in Estonia, when cyber attacks paralysed the country’s almost entire information infrastructure that NATO started to reconsider its cyber defence policy radically. In January 2008, the Alliance drafted for the first time a NATO cyber defence policy. One of the most serious attacks so far occurred in the US in that same year, when an undetected spy programme spread to classified and unclassified files via a memory stick connected to an army laptop computer at a military base in the Middle East.

Ever since, cyber espionage has turned into an almost constant threat, reads the NATO magazine published in Bucharest. The publication also speaks about the impact of massive cyber attacks against Georgian government websites and servers during the conflict in Russia. It is believed that they weakened the Georgian government at a crucial stage in the conflict. In 2012, the Alliance’s network had to deal with over 2,500 cases of unusual cyber activity and attempts to penetrate the network, that is once every three hours, both day and night, every day of the year, said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The cyber area is also linked to terrorism, says Sorin Ducaru.

Sorin Ducaru: “We know that a certain piece of intelligence coming from an airport on the movement of a person or group under surveillance may have an effect in another country, unless it is blocked. Terrorism also has a connection to this cyber area because in many cases communication is achieved via cyber information systems. The main effort and the biggest challenge are to put together all these resources and generate a more efficient response to prevent crisis situations. To this end, an Intelligence Unit was set up within the Alliance three years ago. One of its main goals is the assessment of the situation across all NATO countries.”

Once this monitoring system in place, says Sorin Ducaru, all movement occurring in a certain place may indicate possible terrorist attacks or incidents that could not be otherwise predicted.

Last year alone, cyber attacks caused losses of 90 billion euros according to Interpol President Mireille Ballestrazzi. Hackers are still difficult to track and they know no limits, she said, adding that the spread of electronic payment and research and the difficulty of tracking criminals encourage cyber crime. NATO states, which are strongly dependant on electronic communication, have become vulnerable to this new type of security challenge and are constantly looking for solutions.

One such solution is the creation in 2010 of a division for emerging security risks. The division deals with issues related to cyber defence, energy security, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the fight against terrorism and the Alliance’s strategic analysis capability. Romania’s NATO ambassador Sorin Ducaru, who will take over the position of Assistant to the NATO Secretary General for Emerging Security Risks this autumn, spoke about the various incidents related to the cyber space in an interview on Radio Romania.

Sorin Ducaru: “Incidents in cyber space take different shapes. One area is cyber crime, which leads to fraud and the theft of resources and money over the Internet. Another area is cyber espionage which, in the worst-case scenario, may target critical infrastructure in various countries. The problem is that when it comes to cyber space, it’s difficult to locate the source accurately and this usually takes a long time. However, we at NATO are in a stage where we are establishing our priorities and the number one priority is to ensure the security of the Alliance’s own systems. I’m referring to the command structure, the NATO agencies and the general headquarters. Basically, by the end of the year, we should be able to ensure full protection for all NATO systems. Each state must invest in equipment and technology, but being part of an alliance makes our defence more efficient and even financially cheaper.”

Shortly after 9/11, NATO started to improve its ability to defend itself from cyber attacks, while focusing on the implementation of passive protection measures requested by its military structures. It wasn’t until the events of 2007 in Estonia, when cyber attacks paralysed the country’s almost entire information infrastructure that NATO started to reconsider its cyber defence policy radically. In January 2008, the Alliance drafted for the first time a NATO cyber defence policy. One of the most serious attacks so far occurred in the US in that same year, when an undetected spy programme spread to classified and unclassified files via a memory stick connected to an army laptop computer at a military base in the Middle East.

Ever since, cyber espionage has turned into an almost constant threat, reads the NATO magazine published in Bucharest. The publication also speaks about the impact of massive cyber attacks against Georgian government websites and servers during the conflict in Russia. It is believed that they weakened the Georgian government at a crucial stage in the conflict. In 2012, the Alliance’s network had to deal with over 2,500 cases of unusual cyber activity and attempts to penetrate the network, that is once every three hours, both day and night, every day of the year, said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The cyber area is also linked to terrorism, says Sorin Ducaru.

Sorin Ducaru: “We know that a certain piece of intelligence coming from an airport on the movement of a person or group under surveillance may have an effect in another country, unless it is blocked. Terrorism also has a connection to this cyber area because in many cases communication is achieved via cyber information systems. The main effort and the biggest challenge are to put together all these resources and generate a more efficient response to prevent crisis situations. To this end, an Intelligence Unit was set up within the Alliance three years ago. One of its main goals is the assessment of the situation across all NATO countries.”

Once this monitoring system in place, says Sorin Ducaru, all movement occurring in a certain place may indicate possible terrorist attacks or incidents that could not be otherwise predicted.

Speaking at the annual Ministry of Defense meeting, Russian leader Vladimir Putin enumerated what he believes to be the main challenges of the century. Among them: the launch of the second stage in the deployment of the anti-ballistic missile shield, continued attempts to expand NATO eastwards, and the danger of militarizing the Arctic Circle. The Russian president spoke about the Russian security priorities, and referred to threats and unstable areas, as well as the armed conflicts in the Middle East and Asia, with the danger of exporting radicalism in Russia’s vicinity. Putin called these dangers acts of defiance against Russia, challenging directly Russia’s national interests, which define its political priorities. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Moscow, Alexandr Beleavschi, explains:

Alexandr Beleavschi: “One of the fundamental concepts behind the new foreign policy applied by Russia is that of indivisible security. The document points out that Russia will build its relationship with NATO in terms of NATO’s availability to have an equal partnership, full compliance with international law, and the real steps taken by NATO in creating a common space of peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic region, as well as full compliance with commitments made as part of the NATO- Russia Council, namely of refraining from providing security for itself at Russia’s expense. The doctrine confirms Russia’s negative attitude towards NATO expansion, and the Alliance’s military infrastructure getting closer to its borders.”

The most important of Russia’s priorities is developing closer integration in the Euro-Asian space, including strengthening the economic space defined by Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as creating a Euro-Asian economic union, Putin added. At the same time, Russia has to contribute to the strengthening of the world’s multipolar character by developing joint reaction mechanisms to regional security threats, including the consolidation of the military component of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a structure formed by several former soviet republics, which Moscow leads.

Under these conditions, in which geopolitical evolution forces Russia to take rapid and well designed action, the Russian president called for a massive modernization of armed forces over the next five years. In Washington, US President Barack Obama made a proposal to reduce strategic armaments alongside Russia. Here is Alexandr Beleavschi again:

Alexandr Beleavschi: “According to the Russian-American START treaty, signed by presidents Medvedev and Obama in 2010, the two nuclear superpowers will downsize their arsenals to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads, and vectors to 800, of which no more than 700 get deployed. In his State of the Union address, President Obama said he would make even more disarmament proposals to Russia. Russian military experts, however, believe that this is not in Russia’s best interest. The first reason is that for the time being, American arsenals surpass the limits set by START, while Russian arsenals are at the limit, or even below. One other reason is the different structure of the two nuclear triads. The Russian triad is centered on land-based strategic missiles, while the American one is centered on ballistic missile submarines. Another argument is the huge superiority that the US enjoys in terms of modern conventional armaments, especially in terms of high-precision ammunitions. The fourth reason is the geopolitical neighborhood, with Russia neighboring China, North Korea, Pakistan and Iran, while the US neighbors only Mexico and Canada.”

The meeting in Berlin between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, did not yield concrete answers to any of the major issues dividing the US and Russia, including the issue of the anti-ballistic missile shield. Before the meeting, the idea of a compromise circulated, a compromise consisting of a political statement signed by the presidents of the two countries, providing that the shield is not aimed against Russian nuclear forces.

After the talks in Germany, the head of the Russian diplomacy dismissed these speculations, saying that if an agreement cannot be reached on building a joint shield, Moscow does not want statements, but guarantees that it will not be aimed against itself, guarantees that can be verified based on objective technical and military criteria, which Washington repeatedly said it cannot provide. For the time being, in Moscow, the modernization and restocking of the army for 2011-2020 provides for some 650 billion dollars being allocated, which some experts believe Russia will have a hard time providing.

The annual report of the Global Wind Energy Council regarding the evolution of this industry places Romania in 10th place among EU member states. Most wind farms are clustered in Dobrogea, southern Romania, where the average wind speed is 7.2 meters/second at an altitude of 100 meters. The region is flat and sparsely populated, which makes it the ideal location for the development of wind parks, the document further reads. According to the same report, this industry has seen a lot of development over the last three years in Romania. Nevertheless, wind energy accounts for a mere 5% of the overall energy output at national level. Romania continues to rely on fossil fuels, which account for 50% of its output, followed by hydropower at 25% and nuclear power, representing 20%.

While not neglecting the development of alternative energy sources, the authorities in Bucharest mainly channel their efforts towards augmenting the country’s nuclear energy sector. There are 440 reactors all over the world, 60 are currently in the construction phase, while another 80 reactors are to be built in the future. Attending a specialist conference held in Bucharest by the Agency for Nuclear Energy and Radioactive Waste, Economy Minister Varujan Vosganian explained why he believes Romania needs to expand its nuclear programme, even though energy consumption is dropping at national level. Varujan Vosganian:

“The development of the Romanian economy in the coming period will require an increase in energy consumption, because the energy sector must be closely linked with the strategy for reindustrialising the country, with the strategy for increasing its competitiveness. In this context, I believe it is only fair to speak of increasing the nuclear energy capacity of our country”.

In order to produce more nuclear energy, Romania is seeking investors in reactors III and IV at its Cernavoda nuclear power plant. Dating back to the early 1980s, the initial blueprint of this power plant, the only one in the region employing the Canadian technology CANDU, provided for the construction of five reactors. At present, only reactors I and II are in operation, the former since 1996 and the latter since 1997. On the other hand, Bucharest hasn’t yet given up on plans to build a new nuclear power plant in central Romania. Experts say the constant development of Romania’s nuclear energy programme is vital for Romania. One reason is that the current thermal power plants, which have a low-cost energy output, might not be able to operate without undergoing major technological improvement. Varujan Vosganian spoke about the prospects of Romania extending its nuclear energy programme:

“We are an EU Member State, but must also see ourselves as part of the global landscape, from the point of view of investments, from the point of view of international trade and from the point of view of energy strategy. In this context I have to say the nuclear programmes used for peaceful purposes are in full expansion. Why shouldn’t we develop one of our own? Nuclear energy ensures energy autonomy. It is a clean and relatively cheap energy. We have the necessary human resources and the advanced technology required. In the medium term, all of this might offset the depletion of other resources. At the moment we don’t have a clear-cut plan with respect to prospects of developing a nuclear programme”.

The problem of nuclear energy has been under constant debate, both in Europe and at global level, even more so after the 2011 incident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in the aftermath of an earthquake and tsunami. Countries such as Germany and Italy have expressed their wish to close down their nuclear power plants, while other European states continue to pump large amounts of money into this sector. Teodor Chirica, a representative of the Romanian Nuclear Forum told us more on this topic:

“Finland, France and Slovakia have nuclear projects in the implementation phase. The United Kingdom continues to foster innovation in the field of developing new instruments to finance nuclear projects in particular and non-carbon projects more generally. Adding to this list is Poland, a country who has great ambitions to develop its nuclear programme, for reasons of energy security first and foremost. We can notice certain financial obstacles in the process of developing nuclear energy which affect large-scale energy projects, including nuclear projects. Unfortunately, the global financial crisis has deepened these financial problems”.

Tudor Chirica believes Romania should join the other 13 EU Member States willing to continue their nuclear energy programmes and formulate a common vision which should then be presented to the Brussels authorities.

Unlike the television market, which has been flourishing since the fall of the Communist regime, the publishing industry has been facing great difficulties. Over the past years, many print brands have closed down or have been forced to rely on low staff numbers. Consequently the print media in Romania has seriously declined, something hard to anticipate 10 or 15 years ago. High-quality newspapers, which are few, find it hard to continue to run print versions, given that the print market is being dominated by niche publications such as sports, economic publications and tabloids. Actually, tabloids have proved to be a winner, and this speaks volumes of the evolution of the Romanian press consumers’ tastes.

But we see a similar struggle for survival in the ever-growing virtual environment, which is now host to publications that once had a heavy say in the print market. Visibility is no longer given by the traditional number of copies sold, but by such common online terms like the views, likes and comments. Cristina Casapu, a journalist with an online magazine, told us more about the online media:

“The current technological evolution has created a new fashion — that of online media, of electronic publications. The Internet has become an easy way to communicate information. At first, print newspapers and magazines also had on online version but later many of them went for the online version alone. This has been caused both by the financial crisis, which affected the industry, and by the readers. They find it easier to access information on the Internet from wherever they might be at a certain moment: from home, from the office, from the subway station or from a café, by simply using their PCs or other devices such as tablets or mobile phones.”

Irrespective of the format in which it reaches the consumer, print or online, the Romanian press has a few general features, easily noticed even by the casual reader. The most obvious are the political influence and the decrease in quality. In many cases, the watchdog of democracy, as the press is called, is either a puppy for politicians to play with, or a pitbull sniffing for the most trivial of topics, far from what public interest should be. At the same time, the public interest often happens to be replaced by the interests of either the company or the journalist himself, given that in Romanian press it is customary to write articles by request. Cristina Casapu discussed these trends:

“As easily accessed as information is nowadays, I cannot help noticing a significant drop in quality. You can easily notice that you can find identical pieces of news on various websites. A journalist’s job seems to have been transformed into a clerical job. Another trend is that of blogs, Internet pages that people who are not necessarily journalists use to express their opinions. They seem to be gaining ground against print, which is fast becoming obsolete. In spite of all this, it is not the end of print, it is just that its target audience will be more coagulated and select. Technology continues to evolve, and who knows what kind of publications we will be seeing in twenty or thirty years?”

Is it still possible for print to regain some of the influence it has lost in these last few years? It could be that this marginalization of the printed press is irreversible. These are questions to which only the future can bring an answer. More and more voices claim that even in a favorable economic climate, print cannot make a comeback. One of the reasons is that the online press has enough arguments to strengthen its dominant position. Because it is easily accessible, and mostly free, it has an enormous advantage over the traditional press. In addition, the passion for electronic media is also fed by the fascination that Romanians have for gadgets.

Prices of real estate in the US have registered the highest level in the past seven years, proving that Americans have grown more confident in the development of their national economy and are again willing to borrow money from banks. Analysts say that prices are very likely to keep growing, even if the pace will be slower. The Radio Romania correspondent to Washington, Ani Sandu, explains:

“Home prices have grown by 10%, according to a Standard&Poor’s report. Such price rising has been reported in all the 12 US cities covered by the report, in particular Los Angeles, Seattle, Charlotte in North Carolina and Tampa in Florida. Consumer confidence, too, has reached the highest level in the past 5 years, and despite the austerity measures taken this year, consumption has not dropped. To analysts, these are signs that the economy is finally starting to truly recover. Among the factors that have led to this positive trend are the constant growth of jobs, the drop in interest rates and also the fact that there are not too many new houses on the market.”

The US economy will grow this year and next at a rate of 1.9% and 2.8% respectively, reads a report drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an institution that plays the role of adviser to the governments of the developed countries on economic, social and governance policies. Also, Moody’s rating agency has revised downwards the prospects regarding the US banking system from negative to stable, reflecting the continuous improvement of the operational environment and the diminishing of the number of risks facing banks as a result of increasing economic stability. Moody’s, which in 2008 cast a negative perspective on the banking system in the US now expects a GDP growth ranging between 1.5%-2.5% in 2013-2014 and a drop in the unemployment rate by 7%. The low interest rates will improve the performance of the US banking system in the coming 12 to 18 months. These rates will also trigger a drop in the rate of unemployment and will improve banks’ equities.

The 18 big American banks are now better prepared to deal with a severe recession in the US and a drop in the world economy than during the financial crisis that started in 2008, the US Federal Reserve has also announced.

The news, however, is not that good for Europe. The OCDE report has revealed that Euro zone economies will shrink this year by 0.6%. A recovery is only expected in 2014 when the Eurozone is estimated to grow by 1.1%. The risks faced by the European economies are not that many now, but a slow pace of reform implementation might worsen the debt crisis in the Eurozone, the report warns. The pace of recovery is hesitant and inconsistent across Europe, and the OECD believes central banks should boost efforts to stimulate lending to economies. However, a resumption of crediting is not possible unless there is sustainable economic growth, Romanian bankers say. On the other hand, voices from outside the banking sector say the lack of proper crediting hampers a solid growth. The latest forecasts on Romania’s economic growth stand around 2%, and the Vice-Chairman of the Romanian Banking Association, Petre Bunescu, says there is a tendency for everybody to resort more to saving. Petre Bunescu:

“ At least in the past two years, saving as a phenomenon has gained ground. Undoubtedly, people, faced with the crisis, have become more reluctant when it came to spending, and then saving is a good thing and quite visible. On the other hand though, savings at the level of the population and also at company level are limited. In my opinion, Romania, which will definitely resume its upward trend, will not be able to count on internal resources alone.”

One of the biggest projects that the Association is currently working on is focused on finding means of involving commercial banks in the process of authorising access to European funds, the President of the association, Radiu Gratian Ghetea has said:

“ The road from wish to implementation is not an easy one. Our wish, that of the banking community, is not to impose a system on all banks. We want to create a framework that all those who are interested in can join, and subsequently get involved in accessing European funds.”

To reach this goal, a specialised committee of the Association is collaborating with National Bank and Finance Ministry experts.

In December 2010, a Tunisian fruit vendor called Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest against the abuse of the regime of then president Zine el Abidine ben Ali. Bouazizi died three weeks later, ten days before the ben Ali regime fell from power after 23 years. His protest, however, is considered the spark of the uprising in Tunisia and what has become known as the Arab Spring.

Two and a half years after these uprisings, recent protests in Turkey seem to copy the model of the Arab Spring protests that brought down several authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. Like in Turkey today, tens of thousands of disgruntled people took to the streets at the time to voice their frustrations, especially among the middle and lower classes. Social networks played a key part in the organisation of protests and the mobilisation of the people. We talked to professor Eugen Lungu about the role of social networks.

Eugen Lungu: “If we look at the ingredients that went into these revolts in the Arab world, we see that the social networks, the Internet and mobile telephony for the first time played a role. In 1989 eastern and central Europeans did not have the Internet. However, it is now part of history that in the Arab world, which is more traditional and economically less developed than other regions of the world, the Internet saw considerable development as a result of globalisation. The Internet was a facilitating factor in Libya, Egypt and Syria, in that it allowed messages to be sent through social networks. Large numbers of people thus gathered in Tahrir Square or in the main squares of other cities, and significant social forces coagulated to topple autocratic regimes.”

The fact that social networks such as Facebook and Twitter help plan uprisings is proven by the fact that countries facing protests blocked access to these networks and even the Internet. Access to international media was also restricted in these cases, and foreign journalists reporting from the protest areas were threatened and even detained by the police. Generally, the Arab Spring is understood as being a series of protests that started in late 2010 in a number of Middle Eastern and North African countries with totalitarian regimes.

Eugen Lungu: “The first consequences, I would say, are domestic, in the sense that changing these autocratic regimes paves the way for the modernisation of these societies. Egyptians, Libyans and Syrians have the magic of more settled societies, more evolved societies. The Internet right now connects them to the modern, Western world, the so-called civilised world. Therefore a first consequence would be the beginning of the modernisation of these societies and the start of democratic processes, despite the fact that some voices doubt whether these mostly Islamic societies can walk the steps of democracy as we see it in the West. Another consequence has to do with security. In my opinion, this spectacular change that occurred in the Middle East and North Africa raises serious issues in terms of security. I’m referring here to a rearrangement of geopolitical fault lines.”

Speaking about what generated the uprisings in the Arab world, professor Lungu says some commentators highlight the economic aspect, other the political factor, while others place more emphasis on geopolitical aspects, including religion. At the same time, says professor Lungu, we should not forget that autocratic and dictatorial regimes in the Arab world had been in place for decades. In Turkey, however, our guest says protests started among a section of Turkish society that sympathises with lay parties.

In Turkey too, social media and the modern means of communication have played a role in the protests, just like in all Arab countries affected by the Arab Spring and even Iran. This essential feature of modern society makes these revolts into a regular evolution of society, with live messages and the possibility of expressing instantly the opinions of citizens, including those in authoritarian and dictatorial societies. The citizen is no longer alone and forgotten, subject to repression. Through communication and information conveyed by the Internet and mobile telephony, we all become citizens of a global world.

Romania’s current Constitution, which has been in force since 2003, is to be revised. Debates on this issue have been recently held all throughout the country. The Constitutional Forum is drawing up a report to include the civil society’s proposals as regards changes to be brought to the fundamental law. Public debates on the revision of the Constitution, which focused on three major directions — territorial, thematic and academic provisions — ended with meetings held in Bucharest and organized in cooperation with experts of the Venice Commission.

Among the main reasons that have prompted the fundamental law’s revision is the conflict among the state powers, so debates focused mostly on this issue. An opinion poll presented by the Constitutional Forum’s President, Cristian Parvulescu, reveals that more than half of Romanians believe that the attributions of the presidency, government and parliament should be revised, as well as relations between these three state powers. Following last year’s political crisis in Bucharest, which ended in a referendum on the impeachment of Romania’s president Traian Basescu, the Venice Commission made public a report, recommending changes and clarifications to this relation. No matter the changes to the fundamental law, there are two things that cannot be changed: the fact that Romania is a national state and a republic. Professor Cristian Parvulescu tells us more about it:

Cristian Parvulescu: “If we talk about revision, I don’t think that anyone can change Romania’s status as national state and its official language, which can’t be changed either. Nevertheless, there were proposals for a second national language at regional level, where minority communities are quite large. This issue will surely be approached within the Commission, because we have taken notice of this proposal and will include it the Forum’ report. The type of government the country has will also be discussed, but this is another constitution article that cannot be changed.“

Cristian Parvulescu also says that the articles in question cannot be changed by a simple constitution revision, but only by drawing up a new constitution. Romanian politicians must closely analyze all the changes they want to bring to the fundamental law, says Evgheny Tancev, former head of Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court, now a member of the Venice Commission, who has taken part in the debates in Bucharest. Romanian politicians, Tancev has pointed out, have to choose from among 4 types of republic: parliamentary, semi-presidential, presidential and semi-parliamentary.

Evgheny Tancev: “My feeling is that most opinions favor a parliamentary republic, but you cannot have that and at the same time choose the president directly. It is a question of balance among state powers.”

The political class has to choose from between a single and a two-chamber parliament. How the power is distributed among state institutions, depending on the type of parliament they choose, is highly important. As regards rights and liberties, representatives of the Venice Commission have suggested that the anti-discrimination spectrum should be widened to include age and sexual orientation.

According to Cristian Parvulescu, the less popular topic, when it comes to the Constitution’s revision, is regionalization. The political analyst has underlined that one of the recommendations made by the experts from Poland, where regionalization has proved a success, was that the Constitution should not include the number of the territorial-administrative units:

Cristian Parvulescu: “After 2006, the regions in Poland have been important engines for economic growth and they are highly successful, as we already know, at drawing European funds. The Polish don’t have counties and regions included in the Constitution, the have only communes and towns, leaving it to the Parliament to legislate the country’s administrative organization.”

Guaranteeing private property is another issue discussed at the Constitutional Forum, Prime Minister Victor Ponta underlining the need for clarifications in the Constitution that should allow for the confiscation, seizure and expropriation of property in certain conditions, thus eliminating abuse. Here is more on the topic from Alexandru Radu, an expert in constitutional issues and a teacher of political sciences:

Alexandru Radu: “The property issue has been controversial from the very beginning, since the original text of the Romanian Constitution was adopted in 1991. It was included in the Constitution only in 2003 following the then revision of the Constitution and now it will surely trigger debates. On the other hand I don’t think that the Prime Minister’s suggestion will cause very heated debates, given that the Social Liberal Union enjoys a comfortable majority in Parliament which enables them to counter any initiative of the opposition.”

The report drafted by the Constitutional Forum was forwarded to the parliamentary commission for the revision of the Constitution. In autumn, the Venice Commission will issue an opinion based on which Romanian authorities will consult Romanians in a referendum.

Faced with unprecedented unemployment, on International Labour Day Europeans protested against austerity and called for measures to create jobs. In Greece, France, Italy and Cyprus, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of large cities, while in Spain, which has over 6.2 million unemployed, trade unions organised more than 80 protest rallies. In nearly 2 million Spanish households, all family members are out of work and many of them have been looking for a job for two years. The situation is even worse if we look at youth unemployment: almost 60% of them are without jobs. Here is the Radio Romania corresponded in Madrid, Ana Maria Damian:

“With a 27% unemployment rate, Spain faces serious problems and almost daily protests because of loss of jobs. In order to keep the rate of unemployment in check, the government has accepted to meet trade unions and employers associations on May 16th to discuss a possible national agreement. The Centre for Sociological Research has published the findings of a barometer about the main concerns of the population and their voting intentions. Unemployment is the biggest worry for 80% of Spaniards, second place is taken by corruption and fraud, while third come economic issues, which are a major concern for a third of the population.”

One ray of hope can be seen over Greece as Brussels expects it to see some economic growth in 2014, after six years of recession. Gradual economic recovery is also expected in Romania, with an estimated economic growth rate of 1.6% this year, according to an economic spring forecast by the European Commission. This year, Romania is expected to have an annual inflation rate of 4.3%, while the present unemployment rate of 6.7% is expected to stay below 7% this year and next. According to Olli Rehn, the commissioner for economic affairs, of the 20 EU countries where the excessive deficit procedure has been implemented, Romania and Latvia, as well as Lithuania are on track for exiting the procedure.

For the whole of the European Union, the aforementioned spring forecast expects a 0.1% drop in the GDP, followed by a recovery to 1.4% next year. Speaking in Bucharest, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy pointed out that the economic crisis is not yet over and that in spite of lower unemployment rates, the lack of youth jobs continues to be a problem. There are some good news, though, says Van Rompuy, referring to the increased stability in the eurozone, higher competitiveness, better exports and safer public finances. Here is economic analyst Valentin Ionescu:

“This is how I see the situation at the moment: the eurozone has become more stable economically and the deficit has stopped growing, although a considerable decrease has only been reported in certain countries. In Europe, the eurozone is divided in two, between the competitive north and the less competitive south, with the exception of Spain, which has recovered substantially. I’m more reserved in my estimations, in that I see 2014 as being more relevant in terms of future interpretations. We will have different figures with regard to public deficit and increased competitiveness, as reflected for example in each country’s trade balance, something that has not improved across the Union. Only certain countries export, there are big exporting powers, and there the trade balance is indeed positive or zero.”

There are no alternatives to austerity policies if the states of the world wish to emerge out of the economic crisis, says IMF director Christine Lagarde. In an interview with the RTS Swiss television, she said that each country has to have its own pace of reform, depending on its own situation. Christine Lagarde says that loans are no longer an option, but that, on the other hand, no deficit reduction and economic recovery is possible without adequate financial support.

The IMF director warns that the world economic situation continues to be difficult, and that budget discipline and growth policies are needed in order to attract investment and create jobs. There are three different speeds of economic recovery in the world, says the IMF head. The fastest are the emerging countries, followed by the states which start seeing some growth, such as the US, Sweden and Switzerland, while the third group is represented by areas such as the eurozone and Japan, which are still struggling on the path to economic recovery.