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| The European Parliament Discusses Romania’s Situation |
| (2012-09-13) |
| Last updated: 2012-09-14 14:18 EET |
The intense debates and accusations that dominated the Romanian political scene this summer have moved, for one day, to the European Parliament which met in Strasbourg on Wednesday to discuss Romania’s political situation. Centred on the July referendum to impeach president Traian Basescu, the discussions revealed the conflicting views of MEPs from different political groups.
The toughest critic of the way in which the Victor Ponta cabinet managed the referendum process, the vice-president of the European Commission, Viviane Reding, described the events taking place between July and September 2012 as a combination of actions that question the rule of law, the democratic balance and the independence of the judiciary. According to Reding, the situation remains fragile and the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism will be critical of Bucharest and of the events taking place in the last few months.
The European Commission will be keeping a close eye on Romania, commissioner Reding also said, adding that talks will be held within the following days with president Basescu and prime minister Ponta. A report will then be published assessing the extent to which Romania has regained some of the confidence it lost during the summer. Speaking on behalf of the European People’s Party, the German MEP Manfred Weber:
Manfred Weber: “An independent ombudsman was replaced, two emergency ordinances were issued that tried to limit the powers of the Constitutional Court. We are not talking about a banana republic but about an EU member state.”
On the other hand, the Socialists represented by the leader of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda, as well as the liberals represented by the British euro MP Graham Watson blamed the People’s Party representatives of not being equally vocal when, in Budapest, anti-constitutional laws were passed at the initiative of PM Viktor Orban. The Liberal Graham Watson said the situation in Romania showed difficulty in the process of transition from communism to democracy and dismissed the idea of a coup d’etat.
Speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said Romania and Bulgaria are technically ready to join the Schengen area thus responding to a request related to the European Commission’s support of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s faster accession to the free movement area. However, he added that the European Commission could take action when certain decisions made by the member states questioned the rule of law.
On the same day, the president of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaite, warned that if Romanian politicians failed to show responsibility, Romania would not join the Schengen area. Recalling the constant support provided by Vilnius, the Romanian President, Traian Basescu, said that solutions should be found for shortening the period ahead of Romania’s Schengen accession.
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