The Week in Review (27.06 – 03.07.2022)

Click here for the headline-grabbing events of the past week in Romania

Bogdan Matei, 02.07.2022, 18:03

Russia
is no longer a partner, but a threat

The
NATO Summit in Madrid is one of the most significant Allied meetings
in recent years in terms of results for Romania – said Romania’s
President Klaus Iohannis. He pointed out that the central theme of
the discussions held, and of the decisions made at the summit, was
the military invasion of Romania’s neighbor, Ukraine, by the
Russian army, and that NATO’s new strategic concept, adopted at the
summit, adequately reflects the current security situation. Thus,
Russia is no longer considered a partner, but is labeled as the most
significant and direct threat to the security and stability of the
Allies. For the first time, Communist China is accused of using a
wide range of political, economic and military activities to project
its power around the world. China’s avowed ambitions and its coercive
policies pose challenges to our interests, security and values -
said the NATO member states’ representatives, who also point a
finger at the strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow
against the international order. NATO has also confirmed the
strengthening of its military presence on the Eastern flank,
including in Romania. Its reaction force increases from 40 thousand
to over 300 thousand highly trained soldiers. This is the most
important reorganization of our collective defense since the Cold
War NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg unerlined, while US
President Joe Biden said that we are here and we
are proving that NATO is more necessary than ever. He announced,
in turn, a strengthening of the U.S. military presence throughout
Europe. NATO has also promised to support Ukraine, for as long as
necessary, to resist the Russian armed invasion. Secretary-General
Stoltenberg said that support for Kyiv was a moral and
political obligation.

Romania
and the gas crisis

One
of the EU Member States least dependent on Russian hydrocarbon
imports, Romania can become energy independent, a supplier of energy
security in the region, and a transport corridor for gas and green
energy from the Caspian Sea – says the Romanian Energy Minister
Virgil Popescu. He participated on Tuesday, together with the Prime
Minister Nicolae Ciuca, in the ceremony organized in Vadu, in
Constanta County (south-east), on the occasion of the launch of the
natural gas exploitation as part of the Midia project. Minister
Popescu said that the natural gas reserves in the Romanian Black Sea
area amount to 200 billion cubic meters. The extraction of natural
gas from the Midia area is the first project of its kind in the
Romanian Black Sea area in the last 30 years, and in June the first
amounts of gas have already entered the domestic market. In turn,
Prime Minister Ciuca said that 41% of Romania’s gas storage
facilities is currently filled, and, by November 1, this amount will
reach 80 %.

Social
policies for crisis situations

Legal
entities that want to postpone paying their loan installments must
prove that, in the last three months, they have suffered losses of at
least 25%, and individuals must show that their monthly expenses
increased by 25% – shows a government decision made by the governing
coalition made up of PSD-PNL-UDMR, which thus hopes to mitigate the
effects of the recent price hikes. The deferral of loan installments
is valid for a maximum of nine months, and only on loans without
arrears in the last six months. Postponing the payment of loan
installments for those affected by the price increase is a temporary
advantage – warned expert Adrian Mitroi, a professor at the Academy
of Economic Sciences in Bucharest. He explained, on Radio Romania,
that the postponement brings, in fact, an additional cost. When the
debtor resumes payment, the amounts due monthly will be higher, as
they will also include certain additional bank fees. The government
also adopted a draft law that will help students and young people to
receive bank loans, 80% of which will be guaranteed by the state. In
the case of students, the guarantee is about 10,000 Euros, and in the
case of young couples, about 15,000 Euros, the equivalent in lei, the
national currency, at the exchange rate of the day.

The
law of silence in Romania

The
head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, former chief
anti-corruption prosecutor in Bucharest, Laura Codruţa Kovesi,
announced that she is looking into appealing to the European
Commission for activating the mechanism of conditioning European
funding in order to defend rule of law in Romania. According to an
EPPO press release, the reason is the content of a law recently
passed by Parliament, reflecting a European directive on protecting
whistleblowers. The main concern is that the bill could discourage
them in Romania, more specifically with regard to uncovering fraud
involving European provided funding, according to an EPPO press
release. Many Romanian civic organizations announced they would file
complaints with the People’s Ombudsman against the bill on protecting
whistleblowers, pointing out that Romania risks sanctions,
considering that the prospective law samples selectively the European
directive relevant to the issue.

Florin
Citu resigns again

On
Wednesday, meeting in plenary session, Romanian senators have
dismissed the speaker of the chamber, after filing Florin Citu’s
resignation. Previously, Citu had stated that his resignation had
been requested by Liberal Party chairman, PM Nicolae Ciuca, and by
party secretary general Lucian Bode, who had informed him that he no
longer has party support for the position of speaker. He claimed that
he was blamed for the statements he made for years against the Social
Democratic Party social and salary policies, a party that is in
coalition partnership with the Liberals. According to some Romanian
journalists, Florin Citu is a very competent economist, for others a
ridiculous character, and he ascended the political ladder as fast as
he fell off of it. For as long as he was favored by President Klaus
Iohannis, he was PM and National Liberal Party chairman, then he
supposedly fell out of grace and lost both positions, in favor of
Reserve General Ciuca. The interim speaker position will be held by
Liberal Alina Gorghiu, a former MP with controversial bill proposals,
also seen as a protege of the head of state. Two years prior, she
proposed that people with prison sentences of less than seven years
serve their detention at home, an initiative that sparked waves of
criticism.