The Week in Review, March 4 -10

A roundup of the week's main stories

Roxana Vasile, 09.03.2019, 12:09

Former chief prosecutor of the National
Anti-Corruption Directorate face to face with prosecutors.

The former chief
prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi,
was informed on Thursday, after many hours of hearings at the special section
for the investigation of magistrates that she was charged in a second file, in
relation to the coordination of a crime group made up of prosecutors from the
same Directorate. Mrs. Kovesi rejected the accusations as mere confabulation
and claimed she is innocent. She says that she has been publicly harassed for
two years, and the Judicial Inspection representatives have verified her on 50 occasions
already. She claims that her summoning to the Prosecutor’s Office on the very
day when discussions for the election of the chief prosecutor of the future
European Public Prosecutor’s Office were being held in the European Parliament,
was not a coincidence.

Laura Codruta
Kovesi: I don’t think it’s a
coincidence, I think I was summoned on purpose for this particular day, I think
it was on purpose that I was hindered today to give statements and clear things
and I also think it was on purpose that I was summoned in relation to one case only
to find out that I was being heard in a different case, without being summoned
for it in a procedural and correct manner.

In a first file
opened by the special section for the investigation of magistrates Mrs. Kovesi
has been accused of abuse of office, false testimony and bribe-taking. We
recall that Mrs. Kovesi was dismissed last summer from the position of chief
prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the justice minister
Tudorel Toader criticized her for having defied Parliament and for having
contested the decisions of the Constitutional Court.

Minister Tudorel Toader is being contested

This week the
justice minister Tudorel Toader has been faced with a simple motion but he has
been rescued by the lack of quorum, as the vote on the simple motion filed by
the National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Party was rescheduled. On
Wednesday the plenum of Parliament did not have the required quorum as the
Social Democratic MPs decided not to participate in the vote, because they claim
the motion includes many fabrications. Meanwhile, the Social Democratic leader
Liviu Dragnea explained that the situation of Tudorel Toader will be discussed
in the coalition, underlining the state of discontentment with this minister
which needs to be clarified with their junior partners in the coalition, the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats – ALDE. An independent supported by ALDE,
Tudorel Toader has been criticized both by the Social Democrats and the
Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which is backing the
government in Parliament. According to the Liberal Party representatives, by not
ensuring the quorum at the vote on the simple motion on justice, the ruling
coalition is putting pressure on minister Toader to promote the legislative
changes they badly require. Minister Toader is also being contested by part of
the civil society. Teachers and students on Thursday protested to show
solidarity with the magistrates’ protest, and condemned what they consider the
political subordination of the judiciary. Previously, actors from several
theaters in Bucharest and from across Romania had protested against the
subordination of justice. They are all discontented with the recent government
decree no. 7 which changes the justice laws.

The 2019 state budget bill returns to
Parliament

The 2019 state
budget bill is constitutional, the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday,
following the notification made by President Klaus Iohannis. Refusing to
comment on the Constitutional Court’s decision, Klaus Iohannis announced he
would return the bill back to Parliament, claiming this is a budget of national
shame.

Klaus Iohannis:
The 2019 budget is based on a fantasy and there are no guarantees as to its
implementation, as also pointed out by the European institutions and other
international institutions. This budget bill places in doubt the compliance
with the international treaties Romania is part of, and, unfortunately, also
the legislation in the field. This year’s budget is designed to serve, first and
foremost, the political interests of a small group.

The
parliamentary opposition, represented mainly by the National Liberal Party and
the Save Romania Union, shares the president’s views. In exchange, the
governing coalition labeled the return of the budget bill to Parliament as
deceptive, political and irresponsible. It is obvious that president Iohannis
is only interested in winning another term and does things that endanger
Romania’s image and macroeconomic indicators.

To say that the
country is facing an economic disaster while official figures say the opposite,
shows lack of responsibility and respect for truth. Blocking the government has
become his main concern, prime minister Viorica Dancila has said. The deputy speaker
of the Chamber of Deputies Florin Iordache, speaking on behalf of the Social
Democrats, says they will send the bill to the president to sign as it was
initially passed by Parliament, without making any further changes. According
to the Social Democratic Party, the 2019 budget bill ensures the necessary
resources for all important economic sectors.

Romania at the helm of the Council of the
EU for 2 months

Romania’s
Prime Minister on Friday presented the balance of Romania’s first two months at
the helm of the Presidency of the Council of the EU. During the first two
months of its term in office, Romanian Presidency completed 67 files, half of
which have been already approved by ambassadors of EU member states. The
Romanian Presidency and the European Parliament also reached a preliminary
agreement on a set of temporary and limited measures to ensure basic road
freight and road passenger connectivity in order to mitigate the most severe
disruption in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a negotiated
agreement. During talks held in Brussels with EU chief negotiator for Brexit,
Michel Barnier, Prime Minister Dancila said this week that the Romanian
authorities have prepared for any scenario, including a no