Deutsche Welle Accused VOR of Attempting to Manipulate Romanian Parliament

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Once again, Voice of Russia, one of the largest and oldest foreign-language broadcasters in the world, received attacks from EU sources. This time, Germany’s state-run Deutsche Welle radio accused VOR of making Romania a “banana republic” and undermining the foundations of legality in the country, as well as attempting to distance Romania from Berlin and Brussels. DW claimed that VOR manipulated Romanian MPs, and that it’s trying to help turn Romania into a Russian colony. They also accused VOR of masterminding a strategy to nudge the Romanian parliament into changing the Romanian Constitution “in line with VOR’s wishes”.

Earlier, Romanian President Traian Băsescu stated that opposition political parties, media outlets, and analysts are carrying out orders transmitted via VOR instead of listening to Western media. DW’s accusations are another link in a series of attacks on VOR, which broadcasts on-air and online in 37 languages. Recently, VOR suffered a series of attacks… beginning from diplomatic and administrative pressure to hacking attacks on its partners’ sites in Europe. VOR forwarded a letter to DW offering a thorough discussion on the matter to exchange opinions and information. Earlier, VOR gave the Romanian President an opportunity to speak out on-air and on this website.

24 November 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_23/Deutsche-Welle-accuses-Voice-of-Russia-of-manipulating-Romanian-parliament/

Editor’s Note:

If nothing else, DW’s complaint proves that the money that the Kremlin spends on VOR is money well-spent. If VOR weren’t “gaining friends and influencing people”, the Westerners would be silent. In short, the world as portrayed by the Corporate Media isn’t in synch with reality… especially not the version peddled by Fox News, which has a proven track record of publishing outrageous fibs and offers utterly crank analysis. That’s not to mention RFE/RL… a Langley front from Day One. This complaint proves that VOR’s a source well-worth attending to… it means that it cleaves closer to the truth than the Western media does… fancy that…

BMD

 

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Why Did the USA Repudiate Băsescu?

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Removing Băsescu from office might seem illogical from the point of view of US-Romanian relations, but it isn’t by chance that the USA repudiated the Romanian president. At first sight, the president seemed a perfect vassal of the USA… he sent Romanian troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, allowed deployment of a missile defence site (thus turning Romania into one of the priority targets for Russian nuclear missiles), started verbal attacks against Russia, and advocated American interests in major European forums. Under such conditions, many supporters of the Romanian president believed that Băsescu’s American patronage was stable and wasn’t subject to change. However, the reality turned out to be different.

General Clark’s visit to Bucharest and the fast replacement of Ambassador Gitenstein prove that Washington made a decision to support Romania’s USL (Social-Liberal Union) Party in the domestic political struggle. Despite all of Băsescu’s efforts to remain an unsurpassed vassal of the USA, he ended up in a situation where the decision-makers at the US administration decided to remove him from politics. The obvious question is, “What has he done to upset the Americans?” There are two possible answers to this question and the answers might not be mutually exclusive.

Traian Băsescu failed to win the goodwill of the American Democratic Party élite. The image of “being one of the Republicans in Bucharest” turned out to be harmful for his political career. Probably, another incident made Washington nervous… Băsescu’s visit to the Chinese Embassy earlier this year, where, on 10 January, he took part in Chinese New Year celebrations. The decision was quite unexpected, since the president had never taken part in such events. Only a couple of Bucharest analysts noted the inconsistency between the official version of the visit and the calendar. In 2012, the Chinese New year started on 23 January… two weeks after the official ceremony held in Bucharest. For an outsider, the situation was clear… Băsescu needed to discuss something important with the Chinese, so, for that reason, they moved the New Year’s party some two weeks. We can only guess what topics they might’ve discussed, but one thing’s obvious… such discussions can’t help but cause certain irritation in Washington. Today, the situation Băsescu has found himself in might be the result of such annoyance.

Another possible explanation, which doesn’t exclude the above-mentioned scenario, might be Băsescu’s behaviour abroad. Superpowers often use their vassals as a means of exchange in their geopolitical manoeuvring. At a certain point, Băsescu’s behaviour abroad started to irritate some geopolitical players so much that his “getting out of the game” became a topic for discussions at high-level talks. In the context of such machinations, global geopolitical forces tend to make mutual concessions on certain regional problems, often combining things that don’t have any apparent connection.

It is quite possible that régime change in Romania… that means removal from political life not only the president, but also the entire team who supported him… is just a tit-for-tat exchange, a concession in a geopolitical deal made by the USA at the international level. One can prove such an explanation of the current situation by the fact that General Clark went over there and actually organised Băsescu’s removal in a blitzkrieg, with military precision. It looks like Washington needed the urgent resignation of the president, but didn’t want to leave the process in the hands of local executors. The steps that the USL government will take domestically and internationally, and the difference between them and what Băsescu was doing might be able to somewhat explain the real reasons for his removal. Regardless of that, it’s clear that Romanian politics will never be the same and Romanian politicians will understand that subservience cannot guarantee them security for the future.

12 July 2012

Valentin Mândrăşescu

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_07_12/Why-is-the-United-States-repudiating-Basescu/

Rightwing Romanian Prime Minister Resigns

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc (1966- )… don’t cry for this rightwing Neoliberal bastard… he wanted to squeeze the people so that the McMansion dwellers could party on, scot-free. The people have had enough of paying for the mistakes of the oligarchs and their affluent effluent lickspittles.

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On Monday, media reports indicated that Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc announced the resignation of his government. After a government meeting, he said, “It’s time for important political decisions. That’s why I made the decision to give up the government’s mandate”. In January, protestors at several anti-government demonstrations in Romania (an EU member) demanded the resignation of President Traian Băsescu and Boc. Romanians voiced their disapproval of the government’s decision to enact budget cuts that would lead to a reduction in social programmes.

6 February 2012

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120206/171173777.html

17 January 2012. Romanian Protests Continue…

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According to the Associated Press, Romanian police used tear gas to disperse an anti-government demonstration; they estimated that the crowd was over a thousand people. For the third consecutive day, mass demonstrations erupted over the Romanian government’s plans to reduce government spending drastically. The night before, protesters gathered on University Square in downtown Bucharest. They blocked traffic on the main streets of the city and refused to disperse for seven hours, despite police orders to do so. Protesters chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Romanian President Traian Băsescu and the calling of early elections. The police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, after the cops tussled with protesters. AFP reported that the clashes injured at least 10 people; four policemen, an employee of Romanian TV channel Antena 3, and 5 protestors. Earlier, the Romanian government put in place a programme to cut state spending. In 2010, they reduced civil servants’ salaries by 25 percent and raised some tax rates, according to RIA-Novosti.

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Today, anti-government demonstrations occurred in Bucharest and other major Romanian cities. The protestors demanded the resignation of Romanian President Traian Băsescu, that the cabinet step down, and that the government abandon its “austerity” policies. According to the Romanian media outlet Realitatea TV, demonstrators took to the streets in Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Galați, and Craiova, in addition to those in the capital. For anti-government slogans, demonstrators added at this time and banners calling for “renounce violence”. On Saturday night in University Square in downtown Bucharest, clashes broke out between police and demonstrators, who didn’t comply with orders to disperse and marched to Cotroceni Palace, the presidential residence. The cops used tear gas to break up the crowd; more than a dozen people suffered injuries in the mêlée, including four policemen and an employee of Romanian TV channel Antena 3.

Over the past year, the Romanian authorities implemented an “action plan” to rescue the economy, which, according to Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc, “faced its most difficult crisis in the past 60 years”. Romania’s one of the poorest EU countries, and, in order to stay afloat, it received assistance from the IMF and the EU. As a condition for aid, the government cut public-sector salaries by 25 percent, reduced pensions by 15 percent, terminated a number of social programmes, and made hundreds of thousands of civil servants redundant. These policies on the part of the authorities provoked sharp criticism from labour unions, which called the government actions “social genocide” and organised mass protests. ITAR-TASS reported that the unified opposition in parliament, the Social Liberal Union (USL), started the process to impeach President Băsescu.

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The Romanian government held an emergency meeting in connection with the country’s growing wave of protests against its austerity measures. The evening before, in Bucharest, demonstrators pelted police with stones, who responded with water cannons and tear gas. Several dozen people were injured. Protests erupted across the country for the fourth consecutive day. All told, more than 4,000 people participated in the rallies. The protestors demanded the resignation of Romanian President Traian Băsescu, that the cabinet step down, and that the government abadon its “austerity” policies. The government claims that these measures would reduce the very high public debt, which put Romania on the brink of an economic crisis. Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc urged protesters to end their violence and start to dialogue.

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In Bucharest and other Romanian cities, demonstrators demanded the resignation of Romanian President Traian Băsescu. Special police units equipped with shields, batons, and tear gas cylinders now ring the area surrounding University Square in Bucharest, where thousands of protesters gathered the night before. Cops searched people for weapons and explosives. A group of demonstrators carried a coffin with the inscription “Băsescu = Ceaușescu”, pointing out the similarities between the current president and the country’s last communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, executed in December 1989. Ceaușescu faced charges of crimes against state property, the genocide of his people, the secret transfer of funds in foreign banks, and undermining the national economy.

According to police authorities, football yobbos, backers of FC Dinamo Bucureşti and FC Steaua Bucureşti {they have a Romanian analogue of a Rangers vs Celtic thing going on, called the Eternal Derby. They’re the Romanian Old Firm: editor}, known for their rowdiness at matches, exacerbated the situation. Cops arrested nine people, who threw firecrackers at the police in an attempt to enflame the situation, and three of them had knives and other dangerous objects. Students gathered in the centre of Bucharest, new demonstrators took to the streets in Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Timișoara, Constanța, and other cities.

In connection with the wave of demonstrations, the Romanian Government held an emergency meeting, following which Prime Emil Boc called demonstrators “to end their violence and start to dialogue”. On Monday, police arrested over 200 protesters, most of whom faced fines for participating in last night’s riots, during which they threw stones, petrol bombs, and firecrackers at the coppers. In response, the police used truncheons and tear gas. According to reports, the violence led to 60 people injured, including five policemen.

The immediate cause for the anti-government demonstrations was a proposal by President Băsescu to “reform” healthcare {on the same lines as the acrid and noxious US “welfare reform” of 1996: editor}. After Deputy Minister of Health Raed Arafat {a Palestinian immigrant to Romania: editor} resigned in protest, Băsescu withdrew the bill, but that didn’t mollify the demonstrators, who expressed dissatisfaction with the fall in general living standards, and, in particular, the reduction in salaries and the pensions freeze. The Western media reported that the current protests were the biggest in Romania since President Băsescu took office in 2004.

15-17 January 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012/01/15/63869080.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012/01/15/63899544.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012/01/16/63908169.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012/01/17/63983066.html

Editor’s Note:

Let’s keep this focused and “on point”. The pro-American lickspittles in the government want to put all the pain in the current situation on the common people. The government wants to spare the Romanian analogues of McMansion dwellers from all sacrifice and inconvenience. They’re “productive”, dontcha know! This is exactly what the GOP wants to impose in this country, too… it wants to squeeze ordinary folks for the profit of those like Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney. After all, Mitt enjoys firing people… he said so. Oh, yes… the “man of the people” Rick Santorum’s worth over a million bucks… how many of you have comparable worth?

The people have “had it”… they’re taking to the streets. In the short run, it’s not going to get better; the imprisonment of Abba Ephrem in Greece proved that. Yet, it’s “October 1916”… and a spectre’s haunting the Neoliberals’ paradise…

Most ordinary Romanians appreciated the achievements of the former Socialist Republic of Romania in the social sphere, and they despise the “new” Neoliberal Globalised/Multinational Romania (the Western media has its agenda, and it issues much white propaganda from Langley). A direct and actual quote has it, “We had everything! We had a good life! Indeed, we could go to church. We had it all! Now? Division and misery!”

‘Nuff said…

BMD