Two years into Traian Băsescu’s term in office as President of Romania, we draw the line and try to assess his political performance. Many criticise President Traian Băsescu as being a politician without a political project. Although he did launch many themes in the political arena, most of them either faded without securing him any image gains, or threaten to backfire at their initiator. Whether... 

The note scandal brought about two novelties for Romania’s political life of the past two years: President Traian Băsescu was cornered, and PSD came into the spotlight as the main Opposition force. The image impact on the President was notable, particularly as his choices, indeed his mistakes, were surprising. Traian Băsescu relied on the consistency of the efects his own behaviour had on the... 

One thing is certain however: parliamentary parties will no longer have the presidential institution wield an autocratic influence on the other institutions, namely the Parliament and Government. Mr. Constantin Niţă, you are one of the senior leaders of the main Opposition party, and apart from the Deputy seat in the Parliament of Romania you also hold the presidency of the PSD Braşov branch.... 

PNL’s plans to expel two former party presidents have given rise to all sorts of scenarios in the media. Most opinions have been negative. Allegedly this comes against party democracy principles. A handful of analysts eventually bothered to agree that it might turn out a good idea (but only in the short run, so PNL should not rest on its laurels). Let’s review the facts. Once President Băsescu... 

The file declassification topic fits Traian Băsescu like a glove. Opinion leaders and political analysts were just noticing an inclination towards balance and wisdom that the President was ever more often taking up when he had problems to handle. Some of the President’s imagology scaffolding was being eaten into, with the increasingly evident failure of the battle against corruption or at least... 

The incumbent Power primarily deserves credit for dislocating some of the “cornerstones” of the rotten communist-repressive system, which has appropriated Romania and has been pillaging it for over sixteen years. This should be enough; they will do the rest themselves. It is precisely what we can see these days. The downpour of “revelations” and mutual accusations shows that rival factions... 

Looking at the recent moves of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), one can’t help wondering what all this commotion that seems to have taken over party leaders is all about. One motion of no confidence after the other, meetings of party members, bombshell statements, attempts at joining forces with other parties… If we were to believe Mircea Geoană, it only takes one flick for the incumbent... 

Another method used in misappropriating public assets is the under-appraisal of companies, which allows for State-run businesses to be taken over for chicken feed. The modus operandi is quite simple. The targeted company is under-assessed (either through flawed management, which buries the company in debts, or by using the accounting value rather than the market value of assets as a starting point),... 

The end of June offered political sensationalism gourmets a new episode in the Băsescu – Tăriceanu duel. While we do not claim to compete with the reports and analyses in the media at the time, we would like to provide readers with a different scales to measure the foreign policy decision to pull out Romanian troops from Iraq. The pros Surprisingly enough, Premier Tăriceanu was the first... 

The country report, which, the Romanian political class presumed, would give us the passport for the European Union entry, and after which politicians would be free to do as they pleased, like conscripts after the discharge, shed light on some interesting trends in the main Romanian parties. The Commission verdict put them on hold, but, as Eminescu put it, “eyes closed to the outside will open...