ROMANIA:Romania's leaders, elected to stop graft, accuse each other of shady deals as the EU arrives to assess reforms, writes Dan McLaughlin
The EU's justice commissioner is in Romania to assess halting legal reforms that are vital to its fight with corruption, amid fears that the country's respected justice minister could be the next victim of a bitter power struggle between the president and prime minister.
Franco Frattini arrived in Bucharest yesterday, as personal relations between President Traian Basescu and the prime minister, Calin Tariceanu, hit an all-time low, and the ruling coalition formed by their parties appeared to be heading for an ugly divorce.
The two men shot to power in late 2004, when their liberal Justice and Truth Alliance beat the former communist Social Democrats (PSD), and Mr Basescu won a presidential race against Adrian Nastase, who was then PSD prime minister.
Brussels praised their reforms and an anti-corruption drive led by Monica Macovei, the justice minister who has gone after several big political fish - including Mr Nastase, who is now on trial for alleged blackmail and bribe-taking worth €1.4 million.
By the time Romania's 22 million people joined the EU on January 1st, however, relations between Mr Tariceanu, the suave former businessman, and Mr Basescu, the sharp-tongued ex-sea captain, were already on the rocks, and now they look close to collapse.
Both men accused each other of shady business dealings in a live television debate and have clashed over senior appointments. Mr Tariceanu decided to postpone the country's first elections to the European Parliament because of daily political squabbling and an investigation into whether Mr Basescu should be impeached for abuse of power.
Each man claims to be the champion of an anti-corruption drive that is vital for Romania if it is to receive its full allocation of cash from Brussels, while suggesting that his rival is hampering the process of uncovering graft to protect himself and his friends.
The row burst back into public view yesterday, just before Mr Frattini's arrival in Bucharest.
"The president behaves like the head of state of a former Soviet republic," Romania's Rompres news agency quoted Mr Tariceanu as saying in a radio interview. "You don't do politics in this way in the European Union, with ungrounded accusations and unacceptable statements."
Mr Tariceanu also echoed criticism from the PSD that Mr Basescu interferes too much in the running of the state, and urged him to act within the limits of the constitution.
"Otherwise, he will have to bear the consequences. The impeachment procedure is under way as it is unacceptable in a European country for the president not to fulfil his duties and responsibilities," the premier said.
Rompres quoted Mr Basescu saying, in a separate radio interview, that Mr Tariceanu now relied for support on the PSD, a party that includes ex-communists linked to the ousted regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his feared Securitate secret police.
"The prime minister's fate now depends on the opposing Social Democratic Party that we strongly attacked during the electoral campaign," he said.
"I sent two million files of the former Securitate to the council, we condemned the crimes of communism in December 2006. My fight with the former structures became obvious then. Unfortunately, the premier became partner with those structures."
This week Mr Tariceanu said he was looking into allegations that interior minister Vasile Blaga tried to block certain investigations, and that Ms Macovei changed a key parliamentary Bill without the agreement of the rest of the cabinet.
Both ministers, who are allies of Mr Basescu, deny the accusations, and members of the president's Democratic Party say Mr Tariceanu is purging their colleagues from government.
The attack on Ms Macovei comes shortly after she lost a confidence vote in parliament, in which opposition politicians and members of Mr Tariceanu's party criticised her work at the justice ministry.
That non-binding motion prompted several democracy watchdogs in Romania to spring to her defence. Amid fears that her days in government might be numbered, Mr Frattini also expressed his "full-hearted appreciation of Ms Macovei".
A similar expression of support during his current visit would surely boost Ms Macovei's chances of political survival - or at least deliver a stay of execution.