Centre for Romanian Studies

The Romanian way to change Laws in the European Parliament

THE MEDIA REPORTS: Undercover investigative reporters  proposed to several members of the European Parliament to pay 100,000 euros/year  in exchange of the MEPs  pushing specific amendments for approval. Three of those astute MEPs who were targeted for this undercover exercise accepted the mission: Romanian Adrian Severin, Slovenian ex-Foreign Affairs minister Zoran Thaler and a former Austrian Interior minister, Ernst Strasser. – a diverse and colourful bunch…

Who said that the Orient started at the gates of Vienna? Apparently  such wisdom came, not so long ago, from the lips of a Viennese taxi cab driver: vox populi…

Here are the finer details of the story:

Romanian MEP Adrian Severin, a former Romanian Foreign Minister, makes headlines in London’s Sunday Times

Adrian Severin (born 28 March 1954 in Bucharest) started his political career under Ceausescu’s Communist rule, as Instructor (lector) at the distinguished and now sadly defunct  Ştefan Gheorghiu Academy, whose ethos was hatching Romanian Communist cadres. Doubtless such qualifications were signally well-suited and indeed a prerequisite for a glowing political career once the Communist dictator was put down two decades ago.

After the infamous 1989 Palace Coup, Mr. Severin became a member of the National Salvation Front and the Democratic Party (which he left in April 1999). Nevertheless, this inspired and timely political conversion was a convenient device for him to be parachuted as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania between December 12, 1996 and December 29, 1997, surprisingly under the  Emil Constantinescu‘s Conservative watch (1996-2000).

With the Romania’s accession  to the European Union Adrian Severin’s talents aimed at bigger and better things, propelling him, on 1 January 2007, to he position of MEP as a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Group of the Party of European Socialists.

Sadly, only four years into this glowing career,  in 2011, the European Parliament opened a formal investigation into alleged corruption by Mr. Severin and two other MEPs. Mr.  Severin insisted he had done nothing  “illegal or against any normal behavior“, (by Romanian Mioritic standards, of course) although he was accused of accepting a  bribe in exchange of initiating a law amendment.  Little surprise that he was called by the Leader of the SD Group in the European Parliament to resign, an impossible contrition to expect of a Romanian caught in the act… True to Romanian tradition when uncovered Mr. A.S  predictably refused to go, against all factual evidence… As a direct consequence of these shenanigans Mr. Severin was suspended from his position of Deputy-Leader of the SD Group and was compelled instead  to leave his Parliamentary Group… Doubtless this latest wanton act of discrimination against Romanians will be Europe’s loss.

Unlike the Romanian Parliament where such contrition is unheard of *), by contrast, in the European Parliament, at least,  when one is caught red-handed and one refuses to go, one is given the Order of the Boot: which implies that by European standards, at least, when the free  press gets hold of the story, all chicken come home to roost –  not so in Romania, where the Mioritic Press is both cowered, and unruffled by such minor blip, which is considered irrelevant chicken feed: a boring if unsurprising irritant which is as old as dodo.

Mr Severin’s political career is not yet over, as his talents will soon be needed  for bigger and better things in his home country. Far from being regarded  a handicap, these latest unfortunate events in Mr Severin’s European career will soon be put to good use in the Romanian political arena: watch out this space predicting a bright political reincarnation! He deserves, at least, to be Leader of a New Party of a kind which proliferated in the Mioritic Space, since Nicolae Ceauasescu was put down two decades ago.

Romanul are sapte vieti!

Well, seven odds to one is a very good bet, by any standard!

You are an undisputed winner, Mr. Severin, with a bright political future ahead of you: we wish you well!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12806955

*) The list of political reincarnations of old Communist cadres from the times of the dearly-departed Comrade Nicoalae Ceausescu is far too long to bother spelling it here, amongst the present-day Romanian Ministers, politicians, churchmen and Industry leaders… thanks to the infallible Darwinian selection which has the better of it!

The Romanian Parliament, built by Communist Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu on the ruins of Historic Bucharest and which is second largest in the World. During this time Adrian Severin was a Lecturer at the Communist Academy Stefan Gheorghiu. Later on he served in this very building as a Socialist MP and Foreign Minister.