The Week in Review September 14 – 20

The highlights of the week in Romania

Roxana Vasile, 19.09.2015, 13:43

The Romanian Prime Minister is Under Prosecution

Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta is under prosecution, the first head of government to get indicted for irregularities in the 25 years since the fall of communism. A party colleague, Dan Sova, is also being prosecuted with 17 accusations of forgery, conspiracy to commit aggravated tax evasion and money laundering. The cases revolve around the energy complexes of Turceni and Rovinari. The alleged violations were committed while Ponta was a lawyer in the private sector. In parallel, prosecutors have concluded that Victor Ponta has to be investigated for conflicts of interest as prime minister as well. His co-defendant, Dan Sova, a former minister for transportation, is being prosecuted for conspiracy to commit abuse of office. He is suspected of having pocketed hundreds of thousands of Euros for contracts that deprived the state of around 16 million Euros. The situation is getting thorny for the standing government and the Social Democratic Party, insofar as President Iohannis called once again on Ponta to step down. The Social Democrats, however, refuse, as illustrated by interim party chair Liviu Dragnea:

Liviu Dragnea: “We have no guarantee that Pesident Iohannis would appoint as prime minister another Social Democrat. Victor Ponta is a prime minister who has led several governments which have generated in Romania good economic results, and not only economic. Romania is not about to burn down. Romania isnt about to burn down even tomorrow. Nothing terrible is going to occur over the next few days. It is important for him to put some order in his thoughts, and, depending on his decision, we will talk, the two of us and as a political party, as a coalition.

Ponta continues to deny all charges.

Romania and the Refugee Crisis

Romania continues to oppose mandatory refugee quotas faced with the wave of migration of late, and next week the country will plead once again with the EU against such measure. The announcement was made by President Klaus Iohannis, after he consulted the Higher Defense Council of the country. The head of state has reiterated Bucharests commitment to take in 1,785 refugees, even though the European Commission would like Romania to take in three times as many. However, if the EU forces Bucharest to take in more than the number they volunteered to, the Defense Council took into account asking the EU for money to cover the extra expenses. Here is what President Iohannis said:

Klaus Iohannis: “If anything like this should happen, it is clear that we have to do something. A decision has not been made, but the idea has been circulated, which probably may lead to a solution, of using European funds for expanding facilities for taking in refugees, or, at the extreme, of course, of using European funds for building more centers to house refugees.

Also this week, a verbal war ensued between Romania and Hungary after Budapest announced it planned to erect a razor wire fence to fend off refugees on the Romanian-Hungarian border, similar to the one built on the border with Serbia. The position of the Bucharest government in relation to the way Hungary treats migrants is in line with the positions expressed in the EU, as well as in other international organizations. The Romanian government reiterated that a fence on its border with Hungary was not in conformity with European norms. The Romanian government believes it is fundamental to observe these norms, as well as human rights.

The Mayor of Bucharest is Under Detention

Dan Marin, representing the small National Union for the Progress of Romania Party, in the ruling coalition, is acting as of Tuesday as mayor of Bucharest. As such, he said:

Dan Marin: “Right now there is a void of information as regards the financial situation at City Hall, which is why one of the first measures I will take is to run an external audit.

Dan Marin takes over from Sorin Oprescu, suspended as mayor by the prefect of the capital city due to prosecution. Anti-corruption prosecutors accuse Oprescu, who is under temporary arrest, of having taken 25,000 Euros in bribes, alleging that he ran a kickback ring in his administration.

The Romanian Economy Shows Signs of Recovery

The IMF representative in Romania and Bulgaria, Guillermo Tolosa, said this week that Romania may overtake economically in the next three years European countries such as Greece, the Czech Republic and Portugal, if it maintains fiscal stability and manages to draw in investments, especially in infrastructure. Also this week, annual inflation reached a historic low in a quarter century, minus 1.9%, without the risk of deflation. The National Forecast Commission has upped its figures for 2015 on economic growth from 2.8% to 3.3%, allowing for the possibility of 4% in 2018.