Category: Today in the News

The international crisis in Mali, one of Africa’s poorest countries, bears the hallmark of Al-Qaeda. An armed group linked to the terrorist network has taken hostage many foreign citizens working for a British oil compound in the neighboring state of Algeria, in retaliation for the air and ground intervention of French troops against the Mali-based Islamist pockets of resistance. Romania is one of the countries whose citizens are among the hostages. The Romanian government has announced it has set up a crisis cell, at national level, with responsibilities related to the case.

The recent crisis prompted an extraordinary meeting in Brussels, where the EU foreign ministers gave the go-ahead for a mission to form and reorganize the army in Mali, made of 200 military trainers and 250 security agents. The mission is assigned to train government forces in their fight against Islamist rebels. France, the country that used to have control over Mali in the colonial era, has announced the number of its military officially called on the ground will reach as many as 2,500 from their present number of military, which stands at more than 1,400. The Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean who attended the aforementioned reunion, has said Romania might participate in the European military operation in Mali.

Titus Corlatean: ” We are at a rather advanced stage of institutional reflection and analysis regarding a specific contribution to the European Union’s operation, and I’m speaking about that as a feasible likelihood. We can speak about personnel with specific responsibilities for the preparation and training of the respective army, it may well be that we can dispatch General Staff elements and equipment, or training logistics. As for me, talks and information I received at the meeting beefed up my stance on the necessity of Romania’s contribution with respect to a required endeavor to fight terrorism.”

Romania’s Foreign Minister went on to say that in the wake of the Brussels meeting he held talks with his counterparts who were interested in the situation in Algeria. Corlatean agreed to permanently maintaining contact regarding the hostages’ condition. The Romanian Foreign Minister condemned the action perpetrated by the terrorist groups that generate and support violence and religious extremism, all that leading up to an enhanced risk to undermine the political situation in the entire sub-Saharan region.

Titus Corleatean also said one of the European Union’s main priorities should be to restore stability and territorial integrity to the Republic of Mali. The Romanian Foreign Minister emphasized that the European Union must carry on with its support for the authorities in Bamako, in a bid to secure the country’s return to constitutional order, holding general elections as soon as possible.

The World Bank has revised downwards its 2013 economic growth forecast for Romania from 2.8% to 1.6%. However, representatives of the aforementioned international financial institution say the real figures might be higher if agriculture fares well this year, if the rate of European funds absorption is increased and domestic demand rises. The representatives of the World Bank have also noticed the progress Romania has made in terms of macro-economic stabilization and recommended to Romania to go on with structural reforms and not to hurry to adopt the euro before achieving a real convergence with European economies.

Despite the progress registered by Romania’s economy regarding the control of the budget deficit, the positive evolution of exports and of the inflation rate at the end of the year, there is still a lot to be done, so that these achievements could be considered sustainable, says the World Bank country manager for Romania and Hungary, Francois Rantrua:

Francois Rantrua: “We still have to deal with many problems and we risk hearing people say: our budget deficit and inflation rate are OK, we can now leave reforms aside. I hope this time people have understood that reforms have to be continued. There are many sectors that need reforms. It takes some time to reform the public administration and regain the investors’ trust, but these reforms must go on. You cannot continue to have economic growth if you don’t attract investors interested in the energy field. The state owned enterprises cannot manage on their own in certain sectors”.

According to the chief economist of the National Bank of Romania, Valentin Lazea, a distinction should be made between the domains that need public investments and those that rely on private investments.

Valentin Lazea: “We should, once and for all, make a distinction between what the state can and has to finance and what the private sector should finance. I have referred to the energy field where things have become clear: the nuclear energy field will be funded by the state, the alternative energy field will probably remain in private hands, and I also referred to agriculture, where the irrigations networks, storage houses, etc will remain funded by the private sector while the infrastructure, gas and water supply and sewerage will remain in the state’s hands.”

Some of the challenges Romania is now facing are: re-balancing its social security budget, the reform of the healthcare sector, streamlining the activity of state-owned enterprises and improving the system of collecting money to the state budget.

The Romanian currency, the leu, is registering its best moments in the past year. It has appreciated to 4.33 units against the Euro, the lowest level in the past eleven and a half months and has significantly gained ground against the US dollar, which is being traded at 3.26 lei. The Romanian national currency followed a positive trend at the end of the year 2012, with analysts saying the elimination of tensions on the Romanian political scene and the formation of a government backed by a large majority were the main elements which generated this positive change.

Against this backdrop, Romania’s image abroad has improved and the investors’ confidence in the country has increased. However, the leu firmed significantly on Wednesday, shortly after the American bank J.P. Morgan announced it would include Romania in the bank’s Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets, designed to track a basket of bonds issued in local currencies by emerging market governments. Scheduled for March 1st, Romania’s entry into the J.P.Morgan’s bond index, will be a gradual process, to unfold during three months. The advisor to the Romanian central bank governor, Adrian Vasilescu, says the announcement made by the aforementioned American financial institution will enhance the leu’s prestige.

Adrian Vasilescu: ”One of the first notable effects will be to improve the image of the leu, enhancing its prestige. Secondly, we will benefit from a second monitoring and a mirror to look into how the leu is regarded at international level.”

As regards the investors’ reaction, Adrian Vasilescu shows cautious optimism:

Adrian Vasilescu : ”It remains to be seen. There are always two moments when we speak about reactions: it is the shocking moment when the announcement is being made and then comes the moment of reconsideration. We are eagerly waiting to see what the long term effect will be.”

Local analysts say the announcement made by J.P. Morgan is the best piece of news on the local financial market. They say Romania will become more visible and accessible to portfolio investors, which might generate an increase in the capital market. Analyst Dragos Cabat has said in an interview with the daily BURSA that Romanias entry into the J.P.Morgans bond index is actually an international recognition of Romania’s status of emerging country.

Dragos Cabat has also said that when making reference to merging countries so far, one actually referred to Poland, the Czech Republic and only occasionally to Hungary. The daily ZIARUL FINANCIAR also hails the announcement made by the American bank and reviews some of the most important consequences of the move: Romania will have the opportunity to get loans faster and cheaper and the Finance Ministry will allow itself to stabilize its base of investors and thus avoid speculators.

The Romanian Government and the IMF delegation to Bucharest have a long agenda to cover. Among other usual topics, such as the draft budget for 2013, structural reforms and deferred privatizations, talks will also focus on major social issues. The Government intends to increase the national minimum salary from 160 to 180 Euros.

The decision was taken following the insistence of trade unions and as a promise included by the Social Liberal Union in its election campaign, in the run-up to the December 9 elections. The hike of the guaranteed minimum salary, apart from stepping up labour productivity, might also trigger negative effects, warns Ovidiu Nicolescu, the head of the National Council of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

Ovidiu Nicolescu: “The National Council of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises agrees with this increase, for social reasons. First of all, it is quite clear that a small income does not allow for a decent life. Secondly, the measure will have a positive impact on the demand, and it will improve the working climate, a key factor for the performance of businesses. However we need to approach such measures with utmost care, because if we continue to increase the income rate above the productivity level, inflation will go up, business will have a hard time turning a profit while exports will go down”.

Drawing on an older project of the Social-Liberal Union, the VAT slash for basic foodstuffs might be introduced as an experimental measure in the second quarter of 2013, following talks with Romania’s international lenders, Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin has announced. This pilot project is aimed at lowering the VAT from 24 to 9% for grains, flour and breadstuffs, which are all determinants of the price of bread.

According to preliminary estimates, lowering the VAT translates as an additional 150 million Lei taken from the state budget, which Government representatives do not see as a dramatic effort. The estimated benefit would be a significant curbing of tax evasion in the milling and bread production sector, which stands at 70% at present. A 20% cut in tax evasion would ensure the success of the project and see it extended over the next period as well. In fact, Minister Constantin has made it clear that combating tax evasion is the main driving force behind the project, and not the social benefits it brings.

Romania has voiced its deep concern with the recent developments in Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, which used to be a French colony until 1960. The concern relates to the military operations carried out by rebel groups in the north of that country. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has condemned the actions of the terrorist groups that promote violence and religious extremism and may destabilize the entire sub-Saharan region.

The Foreign Ministry has hailed the support granted by France to the Bamako authorities and stands for an active international collaboration with the Mali authorities, with a view to restoring constitutional order and stability in Mali, in accordance with the stand expressed by the EU and the decisions adopted by the UN and the African Union. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Romania pays special attention to the observance of democratic values, tolerance, the rule of law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state of Mali.

Titus Corlatean: “We have voiced our deep concern with the latest developments in Mali, where terrorist, extremist, fundamentalist groups, through their violent actions, put the stability of the entire sub-Saharian region at risk. We are talking about a common interest, that of the entire international democratic community, to combat terrorism and extremism, and that is why we all believe action is necessary. We hail France’s initiative, to support the legitimate authorities in Mali. There should be an international coordination at EU level, translating into substantial support, as the French have already done actually, and as has been stressed within the UN.”

On Friday, France started a military intervention to stop the advance of Islamist fighters from the north of Mali to capital Bamako. After the start of the French air raids against terrorists, the armed Islamists started to leave the big cities in the north, which they had occupied nine months earlier. The French President, Francois Hollande, has announced that more troops will add to the 750 French soldiers already deployed there, who will be subsequently replaced by African loyalist troops.

Another hot spot on the world map is Syria, where, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, over 150 people died on Tuesday alone, most of them civilians. According to the UN, over 60 thousand people have been killed in the two years of conflicts between civilians and the forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al Assad.

Romania has reported delays in meeting its pledges towards its international lenders and has called for a respite of several months in order to clear the ground for talks on signing a new agreement, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has recently announced. Pending issues include the privatization of large state-owned companies or the privatization process in the case of companies such as TAROM, the Oltenia Energy Compound or the Company Electrica.

Other unsolved issues are related to the overhaul of the taxation system, streamlining healthcare expenses, monetary policies endorsed by the National Bank of Romania and measures aimed at monitoring the Romanian banking sector. These days a joint delegation of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Commission is in Bucharest for another assessment of the 5-billion-euro precautionary stand-by agreement Romania signed with those institutions in the spring of 2011.

According to the Minister Delegate for the State Budget, Liviu Voinea, talks during the first week of the first visit, scheduled to end on January 29th, will focus on finalizing the draft budget for 2013. Romanian authorities expect no major problems in that respect, as all requirements regarding the budget deficit and expenses have been accounted for in the draft budget. Minister Voinea underscored that the 2013budget was not an austerity budget, but a development budget, after in 2010 and 2011 the budget deficit was cut back at the expense of the living standards of the population, while in 2012 inefficient investments and loss-making companies were discarded.

Economic analyst Dan Suciu believes that, apart from meeting all the requirements laid down in the agreement, Romania faces yet another challenge, that of delivering sustainable economic growth, which has been virtually the sole purpose of all reforms and budget adjustments over the last years. Government officials will also discuss with international lenders the opportunity and impact of certain measures the Government intends to introduce, such as increasing the national minimum salary from 155 to 177 Euros or slashing the VAT for basic foodstuffs.

Labour Minister Mariana Campeanu said salaries and pensions would be increased according to the government programme of the Social-Liberal Union made public during the election campaign, namely a 4% increase in pensions and restoring public sector salaries to the level prior to the June 2010 cuts.

Health-care has been a chronic issue in Romania for many years now. In the 1990-2012 period, no less than 22 ministers headed the Ministry of Health. Compelled to follow the directions set by their political parties, they took measures that failed to build the foundation that the system needed in order to develop and to serve one interest alone, that of the patient. The new government in Bucharest started the year with fresh, radical measures.

The current Minister of Health, liberal Eugen Nicolaescu, has announced that starting March 1st, when the 2013 frame-work agreement comes into force, private hospitals will no longer get money from the public health insurance funds. He has explained that all public money must go to public hospitals.

Eugen Nicolaescu: “ Social health insurances are compulsory because they represent the solidarity system. Those who want to have their own options, can apply to private insurances. The current law allows people to do that, if they can afford it. 90% of this country’s citizens, though, are poor and they depend on the health insurance system. This is Romania’s problem, our problem, and our job is to solve it.”

Halting the funding of private hospitals from the state budget has raised controversies. As expected, the decision is worrying patients, who claim they have the right to choose from among various suppliers of medical services and are calling for discussions on the issue prior to a final decision being made. In turn, representatives of the Institute for Public Policies say that Eugen Nicolaescu violates the principle of observance of patients’ rights, patients contributing to the health care funds, and is more concerned about fueling a low standard public health-care system.

On the other hand, the State Secretary with the Health Ministry, Raed Arafat, the one who a year ago had a dispute with president Traian Basescu over the health-care reform, has made it clear that, although private hospitals get money from the state, the most complex medical cases are treated in the public hospitals. In his opinion, private hospitals should be funded from private or complementary insurance systems, not from the social insurance fund. Arafat has explained that the money that will no longer go to private units will be used to finance the 53 strategic hospitals in Romania, which deal with over 70% of the most serious medical cases in the country.

Moreover, funds will be created for several programs, for the physicians involved in them to no longer be forced to ask their patients to buy medicine and supplies with their own money, the State Secretary added. The main issue, though, remains the chronic under funding of the health-care system as a whole. Romania is the country with the lowest percentage of the GDP allocated to health care — 5 % in Europe – as compared to countries like the USA with 17.5%, the Netherlands and France with about 12% or Germany with 11.5%.

The delegation arriving on Tuesday is part of the seventh evaluation mission for the precautionary agreement signed by Romania in March 2011. For two weeks, international experts will be analyzing the recent evolution of the Romanian economy and the draft budget for 2013. Recently, Prime Minister Ponta has introduced the general outline of the budget. He stressed the fact that he wants to put an end to the difficulties of the last four years, of which two periods of severe recession.

Prime Minister Ponta also made public his plans to bring the budget to its 2008 level, before the crisis came into effect to its fullest. The government proposes fiscal and budget discipline, eliminating waste in public expenditure, and streamlining investments. The draft budget is based on an estimated GDP worth 140 billion Euro, an exchange rate of 4.5 lei to the Euro, a moderate economic growth of 1.8%, and a budget deficit of 2.1%, financed roughly equally from domestic and foreign sources.

The government estimates this year budget incomes worth 46 billion Euro and total expenditure of 49 billion Euros. The areas with the highest budget allocations are social insurance and assistance (16.5 billion Euros), health (6.2 billion), transportation, (4.9 billion Euros), and education (4.4 billion). The Prime Minister said he would not allow increases in pensions and salaries, but the draft budget does provide money for raising pensions by 4%, as well as for bringing back public wages to their July 2010 level. Most of the amounts expended by the government will be in paying state employees, 10.2 billion Euros, and pensions — 11.1 billion. T

he draft also provides for investments worth 7.8 billion Euros, one third of that from European funds. This year, Romania has outstanding debts worth 14.4 billion Euros and a debt of 34.7% of the GDP, some of the smallest in the EU. In order to meet the budget deficit agreed on with the IMF, the Romanian executive announced it planned to reorganize the tax collection system, combat tax evasion, and last but not least, cut back on expenditure.

The government announced that, in order to save money, the budget allocated to Parliament would stay the same as in 2012, even though the number of MPs is much higher after the December 9 elections. The other measure to be taken is to cut the number of advisers, ministry employees, and managerial positions in those ministries, which the government claims to be the first steps in a tough reform of state run companies.

The winter holidays are over. Students and children in Romania have returned to schools and kindergartens for the second semester of the 2012-2013 school year. According to the new education minister, Remus Pricopie, for the time being no substantial changes will be brought to the Romanian education system. Changes will be made where necessary, because the education system needs stability.

Remus Pricopie: “I believe the education system has to be stable and changes should be strictly specific, as the impact of these changes has been clearly assessed.”

Therefore the preparatory year introduced in the system last autumn will remain part of the school system, although Prime Minister Victor Ponta had expressed his wish to move the preparatory year back to the kindergarten system. The introduction of the preparatory year in schools last year triggered lots of criticism as the authorities faced many difficulties in finding classrooms for holding classes for prep year pupils. As regards the Baccalaureate exam, minister Remus Pricopie recommended students not to worry, as the current form of examination would be maintained.

He made this clarification as the vocational baccalaureate, which was suggested last year as an option, does not exist from a legal point of view. The vocational baccalaureate might become a new form of high school graduation exam for those who do not want to apply for higher education but choose to start working. On the other hand, the education minister intends to change the curriculum, which is a pillar of the education system.

Remus Pricopie: “We have managed to gather expertise and observations that should help us revisit the curriculum starting from the preparatory year to the last high-school year, and in a relatively short time we’ll be able to write new schoolbooks. Actually the first schoolbooks for a new curriculum could be published in almost one year and a half, because the process is complex. You cannot integrally change schoolbooks in one year for all grades, this should be done gradually”.

Minister Remus Pricopie also said the vocational school, which has to remain an option, has not seen a clear development over the past years, which is why the education authorities decided to strengthen this segment. Last but not least the education minister referred to the issue of violence in schools, which can be fought against through a permanent dialogue between parents, teachers, police and the mass media. He also said that cameras should be installed in all classrooms.

The European Commission will make public a new report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism on the Romanian judiciary in the second half of January. The announcement was made by European Commission spokesman Mark Gray, who said the European Executive considered it was better that the new report be presented after the setting up of the new administration following the December 9 elections.

The Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification in the field of justice was set up in December 2006 to help Romania overcome drawbacks in reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption. The European Commission spokesperson also said there were no provisions for the time being to dispatch a team of experts to Bucharest to draft the document, although there had been contacts with Romanian authorities to prepare the report.

We recall that in December the Romanian president, Traian Basescu, said that the team of experts from the European Commission might come to Bucharest in January. At the time, Basescu also expressed concern that Parliament had fallen behind with the reform of the judiciary. According to the July 2012 interim report on Romania’s judiciary, our country failed to meet the requirements laid out under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.

The document nevertheless acknowledged the promising results of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the National Integrity Agency in handling high-level corruption cases and in verifying the wealth statements of high-ranking officials. The conclusions of the new report are key to Romania’s Schengen accession. The document is eagerly anticipated by the Netherlands, a country that announced it would take a final decision on Romania’s Schengen accession based on its conclusions, reads a press release made public by the Dutch Embassy to Bucharest.

Apart from the Netherlands, Germany has also vetoed the decision to grant Romania and Bulgaria free access to the Schengen Area at the latest Justice and Home Affairs Council summit, pointing to the need of further progress in the reform of the judiciary, especially the enactment of the New Codes and the anti-corruption strategy.

Originally slated for March 2011, Romania’s and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession has been repeatedly postponed after several Member States voiced concern regarding insufficient progress in reforming the judiciary and fighting organized crime.

The goals of Victor Ponta’s cabinet in 2013 are budgetary discipline, supporting the private environment and social justice after four years in which the fiscal and budget policy of the former government was characterised by austerity, underdevelopment and injustice. The cabinet also estimates that budget returns will stand at 46 billion euros and spending at 49 billion this year, which means a budget deficit of 3 billion. Prime Minister Victor Ponta explains where state spending will go:

Victor Ponta: “10.2 billion euros will cover the expenses incurred by public employees, including doctors, teachers, the police force, fire fighters, public servants, Parliament, local administration, judges and all the other people whose salaries come from public money. 11.1 billion euros will go to pensions, and I have to remind you that we have 4.5 million employees and over 6 million pensioners. 7.8 billion euros go to investments and 7.6 billion to goods and services, that is the functioning of state institutions. Social assistance spending amounts to 4.4 billion euros, interest rates stand at 2.5 billion, subsidies at 1.1 billion, Romania’s contribution to the EU budget is 1.4 billion, while 2.9 billion euros will be spent on other types of transfers and spending.”

The government has set a cautious economic growth rate for 2013 of 1.8% of the GDP. The budget bill is based on a GDP worth 140 billion euros, a flat tax system and an exchange rate of 4.5 lei for one euro. The budget projection for 2013 does not allow for an increase in salaries and pensions, but it does provide enough funds to cover the return of public sector salaries to the level prior to the cuts of June 2010 and the indexation of pensions by 4%. To meet the budget deficit target agreed with the International Monetary Fund, the government plans to rethink the tax collection system, combat tax evasion and, last but not least, cut spending. Talking about spending, Victor Ponta explained:

Victor Ponta: “The government has decided that the budget allocated to parliament in 2013 will remain at the level of 2012, despite an increase in the number of MPs. The amount allocated to each MP will thus be lower, which is a sign of responsibility and a way of setting an example, by starting at the top when it comes to reducing expenses.”

The prime minister also says he expects the upcoming assessment mission by the International Monetary Fund to highlight progress as well as delays:

Victor Ponta: “We have made progress, particularly in the area of fiscal and budgetary adjustment, but there are also setbacks, particularly when it comes to state companies. While TAROM and the Infrastructure division of the Railways Company already have private managers, we must step up things in this respect in the other state companies as well.”

The prime minister has made it clear there will be no talk of a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund until the on-going agreement comes to a successful end.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta has warned local authorities that unless they raise taxes, they will have to do without government support.

The Romanian government has passed an ordinance allowing the local authorities to decide whether to keep taxes and duties at last year’s level or raise them to adjust to the inflation rate in the past three years. In December 2012, the executive issued a decision under which local taxes are to be raised by 16% in 2013, with town halls being allowed to amend the resulting sum within a 20% margin.

The new ordinance stipulates that it is the task of the local authorities to decide whether to raise or lower taxes and duties in 2013, through an exception to the Fiscal Code. Until now, it was the government that decided on cutting or raising the taxes. The local authorities must make their decision within 20 days of the enforcement of the government ordinance. On the other hand, local councils have to assume responsibility if they decide to keep taxes at last year’s level. Prime Minister Ponta has cautioned those who aren’t in favour of raising taxes that they will no longer be entitled to additional budget funding.

Victor Ponta: “The 16% some mayors are willing to collect will go to the local budget. Unless taxes are raised, this amount will not be paid by the state budget, because the state budget pays for pensions, salaries and make public investment. What I’m talking about is local autonomy. If the mayors opposed to raising taxes can do with last year’s budget, that’s very good. There are probably a few rich communities that can do this. However, adjusting taxes to keep up with the inflation level is natural and has always been done.”

Most town halls have initially announced they won’t raise taxes. Some have operated the 16% raise, while others prefer to wait for the new ordinance to come into effect. One of the cities where the raise has been operated is Sibiu, in central Romania. The city’s mayor Klaus Johannis believes the entire concept of taxes and duties is wrong and that these should be set by the local councils.

According to the authorities, in the cases in which the city hall has operated the raise and then reconsidered its position, taxpayers are entitled to ask for their money back. The minister for public administration Liviu Dragnea says town halls that prefer to keep taxes at last year’s level will next year have to raise taxes in keeping with the inflation rate. The highest local taxes are paid in the country’s central regions, while the inhabitants of Romania’s big cities are paying the highest property taxes.

Of the 200 students, master students and PhD students competing for these awards, 50 made it to the final. The jury was made up of leading academic, cultural and media figures. The competition was divided into 8 different categories, namely: the awards for best Romanian student of the year in North America, graduate and post-graduate level; the best Romanian student of the year in Europe, graduate and post-graduate level; the best Romanian student of the year on other continents; the best Romanian Erasmus student of the year; the student of the year in Romania and the special arts award. The grand prize and the title of best Romanian student of the year abroad went to 30 year old Sergiu Pasca, a researcher at Stanford University in the US.

He earned a number of prizes for his research in the field of autism, including an award for innovative post-graduate research from the Stanford School of Medicine and the Sammy Kuo award for best postdoctoral paper in neuroscience at Stanford University. Pasca’s study was published in 2011 by the prestigious Nature Medicine magazine and was considered by the National Institute of Mental Health as being one of the 10 most important studies of the year. Sergiu Pasca introduced himself to the audience.

Sergiu Pasca: “I am a post-doctoral researcher at Stanford University in California, the US, but I have graduated from the Medical School in Cluj Napoca. My research is mainly based on understanding the cellular and molecular causes of autism, a disorder which as you may know, severely affects social communication and for which there is unfortunately no drug treatment available. I feel extremely honoured to receive this award.”

Sebastian Burduja, the president and founding member of the League of Romanian Students Abroad and himself a graduate of the Stanford University, said the Romanian youths who complete their studies abroad are a much needed strategic resource for Romania. He also said that while the solutions to Romania’s problems are well-known, there is often a lack of specialists to implement them. This year’s edition of the gala also saw the launch of the SMART strategy for the Diaspora, a multidimensional strategy to facilitate the return to Romania of Romanian youths, who have graduated from foreign universities.

A delegation of the Venice Commission came to Bucharest for talks with the Romanian authorities, as they are to draw up a report on the constitutional situation in this country. The Venice Commission delegates have met with the Romanian President, Traian Basescu, who told them that the government and the Social Liberal parliamentary majority more than once acted in an abusive manner, by issuing emergency ordinances meant to prevent the Constitutional Court from verifying Parliament’s decisions.





Nevertheless President Basescu said that state institutions such as the Constitutional Court, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Directorate showed resilience to political pressure, thus confirming the existence of the rule of law in Romania.

Traian Basescu: “My conclusion is that, at the moment, Romania has institutions able to resist political pressure. These events have given us the opportunity to see this reality confirmed, even if it may come as a surprise to some people or on the contrary, as a confirmation of the existence of the rule of law in Romania. “





On July 29th Romanians voted in a referendum on the impeachment of president Traian Basescu. The referendum was invalidated due to the low turnout, established by a law whose controversial alteration, eventually for the benefit for the presidential institution, triggered many debates. The delegation of the Venice Commission closely followed these aspects and also the way political decisions influenced legal actions.





To be able to formulate an opinion, which will be included in a report next month, the delegation of the Venice Commission has also met with the members of the Constitutional Court. The Court president, Augustin Zegrean, has said that judges were asked to make a comparison between the 2007 suspension of Romania’s president and this year’s suspension. The European Commission for Democracy through Law, also known as the Venice Commission, is the advisory body of the Council of Europe on constitutional matters.





The commission members, appointed by the EU member states, act on their behalf and do not have a national or party mandate. The Venice commission delegation’s visit to Bucharest occurs against the backdrop of the need for clarifications on the legality of the July 29th referendum. To this end, judicial bodies have started the prosecution of many people, including leaders of the parties that make up the parliamentary majority.

130 bilateral projects to be implemented in the following period were identified during the talks, when a Romania- USA task force meeting in Bucharest was also scheduled in early May. The problems encountered by the Romanians traveling to the United States were also high on the agenda and the parties agreed to work together to diminish the visa rejection rate. Here is Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu:



Cristian Diaconescu: “Mrs. Hillary Clinton and I decided to set up a technical taskforce, through which both parties get informed on national jurisdiction and working procedures, so that such situations be avoided in the future. It’s for the first time the US wants to work with us to find proper and quick solutions and should the American legislation in this respect be amended, we hope that visa rejection will be regulated and we’ll benefit from free movement in the USA.”





Designed by Washington as a defence line against any possible missile attacks from Iran, the anti-missile shield in Europe, which after the NATO summit in Chicago over May the 20th and 21st is to also become a NATO defence line, was also high on the agenda of the talks. The US Secretary of State voiced satisfaction at Bucharest’s stand on the shield issue as some of its elements are to be installed on Romanian territory.





‘The anti-missile defence project becomes a reality thanks to Romania’s efforts’- Mrs.Hillary Clinton pointed out; the US official also extended thanks for the continued Romanian presence in Afghanistan. Cristian Diaconescu underlined that the Romanian troops would stay in Afghanistan by mid-2013. After the Romanian troops’ departure, responsibility will be transferred to the Afghan authorities. Moreover, Romania will contribute to the preparations for the economic recovery of the Afghan state.