The criminal investigation opened by the NAD regarding the trio Florin Cîțu, Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihăilă came as a bombshell, but for some characters it should be much more than a surprise. For names like Iohannis, Ciolacu, Ciucă and others, the slamming of the former PM on the altar of vaccine imports must be a huge alarm signal. Because it turns out – as how many times before? – how much naivety is ingrained in the Romanian dignitaries who believe that unconditionally catering for Western interests creates a mighty shield against consequences.
There is an old legend in Romanian politics: if you are with “them”, you’ve got immunity.
It’s just that, over and over again, the legend gets spectacularly deflated, and the consequences are devastating for those who believed in it.
Traian Basescu was known from the beginning for his commitment to “serve” the Great Firefly. Along his two mandates, President Băsescu kept toeing the line and bending over backwards to deliver what he was asked for. Shield in Deveselu, armaments imports, elimination of Romanian competition for multinational companies through prosecutor’s offices, arrest of awkward figures for the West.
Towards the end of the mandates – long before Iohannis – was circulated his appointment to the NATO leadership, as a reward for the performance. Or his appointment as PM and so on.
Today we know how that ended.
Instead of gratitude and honors he got a quarter of the family in prison, got the official label of a snitch for the Securitate, got his post-presidency privileges humiliatingly withdrawn, got his political protégé behind bars and so on.
Instead of being rewarded, he was crushed like a cockroach.
Before him, another president had the same experience.
In 1999, Emil Constantinescu made the biggest concession to the Americans, offering the Romanian territory to be used for bombing a neighbouring and friendly country, including on Easter night.
All in the hope of speedily joining NATO and the EU, during his mandate, if possible.
In the autumn of the same year, Emil’s government took a nosedive in surveys amid a growing economic and social crisis.
Were the leaders of the time worried?
Quite a lot, but they were firmly convinced that “the Americans won’t let us down”. Those Americans/ Europeans for whom they had done everything.
Next year, the Americans/Europeans let them down in such a way that the DCR did not enter the Parliament, and Constantinescu did not even dare to run, abandoning the race before it started. We joined NATO after 5 years, and the EU after 8.
Few post-Decembrist politicians were so pro-Western, especially pro-American, as Adrian Severin, the signatory of the Strategic Partnership. That didn’t prevent him from going behind bars.
Americans have no friends, only former friends, noted the former PM Adrian Năstase. Alas! He spoke the truth!
History repeats itself at this moment. Romania has a president who sacrificed Romanians on the altar of foreign interests, leaving the impression for the last two years that he is the President of Ukrainians. Klaus Iohannis has as sole concern the supervision of huge armaments contracts with cash down and the merchandise another time. And the approval of any Western initiative before it is even articulated.
The governments of Ciolacu, Ciucă or Cîțu, have done the same, to take just recent examples.
Cut investment, pension and salary money to buy Patriot missiles, F-16, F-35, Abrams, Himars, to pump money into Ukraine, to destroy the Danube Delta for the corridors of Ukrainian imports, etc. Buy ten times more doses of the American vaccine than were needed, on hefty sums.
While the Romanians are told that the belt must be tightened, because these are difficult times.
Klaus Iohannis swings in the sweet illusion that he will be receiving high honors after the end of his terms. NATO, EC, EP, whatever’s in there.
Marcel Ciolacu and Nicolae Ciucă hope to stay in power next year as a reward from Westerners, in the name of the services they provided.
Just as Florin Cîțu & Vlad Voiculescu thought that if they throw away Romanian money on Western vaccines, they will be protected and generously rewarded.
Now they notice that they are being rewarded with a criminal case of epic proportions.
And they are probably wondering how it was possible, “we did everything they asked of us and much more than that?” And, as things go, Klaus Iohannis, Marcel Ciolacu, Nicolae Ciucă, SDP and NLP and many others will be soon asking themselves the same question.
