The Week in Review, October 27 – November 2
A roundup of the week's main stories
România Internațional, 01.11.2014, 14:51
Presidential Elections in Romania
The first presidential ballot this coming Sunday will see eighteen million Romanian voters choosing from among 14 candidates the one who will head the country in the next five years. Vying for the presidential seat are two representatives of political alliances, eight candidates backed by political parties, and four independent candidates. The election campaign started on October the 3rd, and all along it has been dented by incendiary disclosures regarding corruption among high-ranking politicians and business tycoons. Everyone keeps their hopes high, however, that the ongoing political scandals will not nourish the indifference of Romanian voters, whose political apathy has become obvious ever since the early 1990s, and has translated into an increasingly low turnout. The eighteen thousand five hundred and fifty polls in Romania and 294 abroad are waiting for Romanians to show up in great numbers. Nearly 21 million ballots have been printed and more than ninety four thousand stamps with the word VOTED on them have been made available. The second round was scheduled for November 16th.
The campaign targeting high-level corruption
The campaign targeting high-level corruption has continued this week. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate has been striking the power and the opposition alike, current and former ministers, parliamentarians and mayors. The High Court of Cassation and Justice has ruled that former Social Democrat MP Viorel Hrebenciuc, one of the most influential representatives of the left, be held in temporary custody. Jointly with some of his fellow party members, several magistrates, as well as his son, Hrebenciuc is accused of involvement in illegal returns of tens of thousands of hectares of farmland and forest. Among those heard for their alleged involvement in the aforementioned returns is Prince Paul, an illegitimate offspring of Romania’s King Carol II. According to the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the damage caused to the country’s National Forestry Division stands at more than 300 million Euro. Prosecutors with the same Anti-Corruption Directorate have also sent to temporary custody a couple of political or financial allies of the incumbent right-of-center president Traian Basescu, on suspicion that, in exchange for undue benefits worth millions of Euros, acted as middle persons in the case of overvalued IT licenses for the education system. Among them, the former Communication Minister, member of the Liberal Democratic Party (currently in opposition) Gabriel Sandu, and businessman Dorin Cocos. Until last year, the latter was married to Elena Udrea, a current presidential candidate and president of People’s Movement Party.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso’s term in office comes to an end
The acting president of the European Commission, the Portuguese Jose Manuel Barroso, on Wednesday presided the last meeting of the EU executive. The EU enlargement from 15 to 28 countries was one of the biggest accomplishments of Barroso’s two consecutive terms in office. He has voiced his regret, though, for the reluctance of some of the Member States and the lack of solidarity regarding some decisions. In Jose Manuel Barroso’s opinion, what is worrying is citizens’ lack of trust in the European institutions, as well as social injustice, issues that must be resolved by the next European Commission, which starts its activity on November 1st. Romania’s representative in the new executive headed by Luxembourgish Christian Democrat Jean-Claude Juncker, Social Democrat Corina Cretu, will take the office of European Commissioner for Regional Policies.
European Aid for Romania
The EU will earmark almost 650 million Euro for energy infrastructure projects. That includes the gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Austria, which crosses Romania and Hungary, and the company handling it is Transgaz, will get over a million and a half Euro. The money is provided through the European connection mechanism, which is granted mostly for natural gas infrastructure projects in the Baltic Sea area, as well as for Central and South East Europe. The projects aim to provide energy security for Europe, and to create a European energy market. At the same time, in a program covering all the 28 member states, the EU provides aid, starting on November 17, for underprivileged persons. For Romania, this means aid for over 1,200 families and single people. The Romanian postal service has distributed over 2.6 million vouchers, worth around 28 Euro each, which may translate into 27 kilograms of food. The government in Bucharest has allocated almost 100 million lei, the equivalent of 22 million Euro, for restoring infrastructure destroyed by the floods that occurred between July and September, to be distributed to 171 towns and villages in 15 counties.
Romania Appreciates the Outcome of Elections in Ukraine
The Romanian Foreign Ministry saluted on Monday the outcome of the election in neighbouring Ukraine, and stated that it is an important part of the democratic process in this country, which needs to implement reforms necessary for joining united Europe. The ministry also saluted the turnout at the polls, which it saw as a commitment towards reforming the state and society as a whole. We recall that in last Sunday’s parliamentary elections, pro-Western Ukrainians have won a significant victory, as over three quarters of voters supported the orientation of the government in Kiev.
