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| The Week in Review 12-18/06/2011 |
| (2011-06-18) |
| Last updated: 2011-06-20 15:41 EET |
The plan to reorganize Romania’s counties leads to controversy
Recently, the announcement made by Romania’s President Traian Basescu on rearranging the administrative map of the country sparked conflict between the government and the opposition, and also between the main coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. According to the Liberal Democrats, Romania’s territory should be divided into eight large units which geographically correspond to the eight existing development regions.
Under the present formula, Romania is divided into 41 counties and the region surrounding the capital Bucharest. The head of the Liberal Democratic Party, Emil Boc, explained that this change would allow the state to function better, would facilitate the absorption of European funds for development and fighting corruption, and would also reduce bureaucracy. The ethnic Hungarian partners have their own view of the matter, with 16 administration units, which they are not yet ready to give up on.
The head of their association said it all when he stated: “Our starting point is our project, and we can talk about this project if you want, but we did not seek another compromise, because you can’t have a compromise with eight counties. The formula proposed by the Liberal Democrats, with eight mammoth counties, is one that we reject, and if it passes, it will not be because we helped”.
In reply, premier Emil Boc said: “We in the Liberal Democratic Party believe that we have convincing and solid arguments to support our project. Politics is a continuous mechanism for dialogue, with arguments and counterarguments for the solutions one or the other brings to the table, and that is why this process has to continue. Dialogue is the only normal way to solve the problems we all have in common, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians was a partner which, for the last 20 years, had dialogue as the main weapon for political cooperation in Romania, and I mean weapon in the political sense of the word”.
The Prime Minister said that the final version of the law, and the way in which it is promoted will be decided by consultation within the coalition. The Social Liberal Union, made up of the Social Democratic, National Liberal and Conservative parties, also disagrees with the project of dividing the country into eight regions, and also with the haste with which this project is being pushed through.
The opposition announced they would hold a referendum in counties where the local councils belong to their party, asking the people whether or not they agree with dismantling the present county system.
The Romanian foreign minister visits Egypt and Tunisia
Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi started a small tour of North Africa, including Egypt and Tunisia. He wanted to convey a message of solidarity with the new governments of these countries. It was in Tunisia early this year that a wave of change began that swept through the Arab world. The departure of former Tunisian president Ben Ali after 23 years in power and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak after almost three decades, encouraged other Arab countries. Popular revolts quickly spread to Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.
In Cairo and Tunis, the Romanian minister encouraged the authorities in those two countries to continue the transition towards democracy, and extended a helping hand on behalf of Romania regarding institutional reform.
In his meetings with officials from the two countries, the Romanian minister hoped for strengthened relations in terms of politics, culture and the economy. Baconschi said that Romania recognizes the strategic role that Egypt plays as a mediator and key player in the region, and that Tunisia could be an example for the Arab world in mediating between moderate Islam and Western democracy.
European farmers will get compensation from the EU for the E.coli epidemic
Romanian European Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos said that the funds set aside by the EU to compensate those affected by the E. coli scare could start in July. The EU set aside an emergency fund worth 210 million Euro for vegetable growers, who were the worst affected.
Ciolos proposed that compensation be issued to all growers of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and courgettes, who will receive up to 50% of the average European price per kilogram over the last four years. For the growers who are part of associations, compensation might reach 70%.
Romanian Minister of Agriculture Valeriu Tabara said that Romanian farmers were to be compensated too. They claimed millions of Euros were lost when vegetable sales plummeted. EU countries can submit figures for the quantities of vegetables pulled from the market by 22 July in order to set the level of compensation due to each state.
The Romanian national football team has a new coach
Coach Victor Piturca, the only person who managed to carry the national football team to two final stages of the European Championships, in 2000 and 2008, has agreed to come back to head the team.
Piturca comes to replace Razvan Lucescu, who resigned early in June after the 3-nil victory over Bosnia in the preliminaries to the Euro 2012. Earning eight points in six games, Romania now ranks fourth in the group after France, Belarus and Bosnia.
The new trainer said that even though he’s not aiming to qualify for the European championships next year, since the odds are low, he is confident that he can carry the Romanian team to the finals in Poland and the Ukraine. Romania has four games to play, with Luxembourg, France, Belarus and Albania. Three victories would allow Romania access to the playoffs depending on how the other teams in the group perform.
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