April 1-5

A roundup of the week's main stories

Roxana Vasile, 06.04.2019, 12:33

Referendum to be held along with elections for the European Parliament

On Thursday,
president Klaus Iohannis announced the two topics for the referendum that he
will call for on May 26th, on the very day when elections for the
European Parliament are also scheduled: banning amnesty and pardon for those
indicted on corruption charges, and banning the passing by the Government of
emergency decrees in relation with judicial crimes, correlated with the right
of other constitutional authorities to directly notify the Constitutional Court
about such decrees. Also, the head of state has called on the current
Government, formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals
and Democrats to refrain from issuing any decree concerning the justice system
in Romania until the referendum. The best way to carry on the fight against
corruption is zero tolerance for this scourge, said the president, who also
voiced his dissatisfaction with the way in which the justice laws are handled
by the Social Democrats. In turn, government representatives have accused the
head of state of having a hidden, electoral agenda. Calin Popescu Tariceanu,
the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the junior partner in the
ruling coalition, has stated:

The
president is concerned not so much about justice, as he is about making sure he
is reelected president, so he wants to use the referendum as a launching pad
for him to jump into this political dance, because otherwise he would not be able
to participate in the European Parliament elections, and he wants to steal the start
in the presidential race.

The president of
the opposition National Liberal Party, Ludovic Orban, has stated:

The
president is doing a very good thing by calling this referendum, to put an end,
once and for all, to the attempts made by those who have robbed Romania in the
past 30 years to escape the law.

International warnings to Romania

The Romanian
justice system is right in the eye of the storm, and this has become even more
clear this week, when 12 embassies in Bucharest of partner and allied
countries, including those of France, the US and Germany, have voiced worries
about the rule of law in this country and have called on the parties involved
in drafting emergency decrees on justice to refrain from making changes that
would weaken the rule of law and the country’s capacity to fight against crime
and corruption. Also, the European Commission and the European Parliament have
warned that the Bucharest authorities must resume the fair path of reform of
the judiciary and to abstain from any measures that would affect the rule of
law in a bad way. In reply to this warning, the Romanian Prime Minister Viorica
Dancila has stated that by no means ambassadors can draw up the
prime-minister’s agenda. The Justice Minister Tudorel Toader too has commented
on the European officials’ concern:

Just
like you, I see how European officials are voicing concern, but such concern is
actually precaution, which however has an important electoral power. As the
minister of justice, I would like to formulate a simple and courteous request,
which I have actually repeated several times at national level, namely to know
ourselves, to respect our competences, to respect our dignity and national specificity.

Problems facing the former head of the National Anticorruption
Directorate and Romania’s Prosecutor General

As of Wednesday, the former head of
the National Anticorruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi is no longer
under judicial supervision, in relation to a case in which she is accused of
bribe taking, abuse of office and false testimony. Under these circumstances,
she can now travel to Brussels, where negotiations are under way between the European
Parliament and the Council of the EU on appointing the first European chief
prosecutor, a post for which Ms. Kovesi is a candidate. The irrevocable
decision to lift judicial supervision was made by the High Court of Cassation
and Justice, in the context in which the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans,
had stated that Laura Codruta Kovesi had to be allowed to defend her candidacy
and the European Parliament, through its president, Antonio Tajani, had called
on the Romanian authorities to place no obstacles in the way of the candidacy
of the former head of the Anticorruption Directorate, who is actually the
European Parliament’s favourite candidate. The Judge Department of the Superior
Council of Magistracy reacted promptly and said pressure was being put on the
judge designated to analyse the challenge filed by Ms. Kovesi. Here is what the
Romanian PM Viorica Dancila has stated about this issue:

We are asked not to
intervene when it comes to justice being made and this sounds fair to me. But
the European officials are calling on us to stop criminal investigations. What I am telling
them loud and clear is that the Romanian PM has not and will never try to
influence justice.

In another development, on Thursday,
the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives decided to
conduct another verification of the Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar,
following information carried by the media, according to which he was involved
in actions of political policing during the Communist regime. Also, when he was
a member of the commission in charge of making proposals for release from the
high-security penitentiary in Aiud, one of the toughest such facility
established by communists, Augustin Lazar allegedly denied parole for an
anti-Communist dissident, Iulius Filip. The prosecutor general has denied the
accusations.

15 years of NATO membership

During a solemn session devoted to
the anniversary of 15 years of NATO membership, it was declared that Romania would
continue to be a trusted ally, a promoter of NATO values and a pillar of
stability and security in the Black Sea region. The Romanian Parliament adopted
a declaration reaffirming their commitment to the values and goals of the
Alliance, but also concern over the diversification and intensification of the
security threats faced by the allies.