Yearbook 2008
Romania. In January, the Constitutional Court ruled that
the investigations of Romania's communist past violated the
Constitution, as the Investigative Council acted as
prosecutor, judge and appellate body at the same time. Tens
of thousands of investigations had been conducted to test
people for public service, and hundreds of people had been
revealed as former Securitate employees. According to
Countryaah reports, the court's
decision led to street protests and the government
intervened through compulsory decrees to enable the council
to continue its work.
In February, the European Commission declared that
Romania must quickly show improvements in the fight against
high-level corruption. Romania and Bulgaria are the only EU
countries with a system of judicial reform and fight against
corruption and organized crime.
When the majority of EU countries and several of Serbia's
neighbors at the beginning of the year recognized Kosovo's
independence, Romania protested and warned of a dangerous
precedent for the world in general and the Balkans in
particular.
In April, President Băsescu met his American counterpart
George W. Bush, who came to Bucharest for a NATO summit. It
was the first time that Romania was hosted and the meeting
was held in the huge Parliament Palace that the dictator
Ceauşescu had built.
In September, the Romanian Parliament challenged the EU
through a legislative amendment that allowed the Justice
Minister to move away from the Anti-Corruption Office's
chief prosecutor. He had then brought charges of corruption
against a number of resigned and incumbent ministers. Prime
Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu visited Brussels and was
told that it must be a national priority for the Romanian
government to tackle high-level corruption. According to
Transparency International, Romania is the EU's most corrupt
country, where bribery in health care and schooling is
particularly common.
In November, it became clear that Romania will build two
new nuclear reactors in addition to the two existing
reactors, which account for one fifth of Romania's
electricity supply.
The parliamentary elections at the end of November were
very even. The Social Democrats (PSD) won a tight victory
with 33.6 percent over the right-wing Liberal Democrats
(PD-L), which gained 32.9 percent. Prime Minister Taricean's
party Liberals (PNL) had to settle for 18.6 percent of the
vote.
The coalition negotiations resulted in an agreement on a
left-right government between the Social Democrats and the
Liberal Democrats. The appointed Prime Minister Theodor
Stolojan resigned and was replaced as head of government by
Liberal Democratic Party leader Emil Boc, 42.
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