Translated material
Fear women and rubber
The Romanian army has lost its top
In Romania, Defense Minister Teodor Athanasiu and Chief of the General Staff of the Army, General Eugen Badelan, were put on trial almost simultaneously. The first is accused of abuse of office, the second of corruption. The country's President Traian Basescu, by decree, temporarily removed Minister Athanasiu from his post and sent the chief of staff to the reserve.A woman was “to blame” for the misadventures of the liberal civil minister. Last summer, in the heat of controversy over the withdrawal of the Romanian military contingent from Iraq (which was advocated by the Minister of War), Atanasiu spoke undiplomatically to the adviser and press secretary of the country's president, Adriana Saftoiu. They say that his military intelligence informs him of everything that Mrs. Saftoiu breathes and through what “sources” she discredits him, the minister. A sensitive female adviser filed a complaint against him with the prosecutor's office. President Basescu instructed the Minister of Justice to initiate criminal proceedings against the Minister of Defense Theodore Athanasiou. The case has already been transferred to the military prosecutor's office. The president made his decision based on the conclusions of a commission he specially created, which worked for two months. Unfortunately, Ms. Saftoyu does not comment on her demarche - this is what Vremya Novostey was told at her reception.
The second accusation against the minister concerns messages about the decision of the National Liberal Party to withdraw troops from Iraq, sent by his department via secret communications to Romanian military attaches abroad. The crime is that the minister used the infrastructure of the army for political purposes, thanks to which the liberals actually usurped the idea of withdrawing troops from Iraq...
The current situation is one of the manifestations of the “war of palaces”, which, now fading, now flaring up, is being waged between President Traian Basescu and Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu. Behind this lies the rivalry between two allies in the ruling coalition - the Democratic Party (PD) of President Basescu and the National Liberal Party, led by the prime minister. The disagreements concern many issues, including the problem of changing the constitution, but especially early elections in the spring of 2007, the idea of which is persistently promoted by the president and the Democratic Party.
Liberals believe that a judicial investigation will prove Athanasiou's innocence. In their opinion, President Basescu’s gesture “smacks of a political vendetta caused by the minister’s demand for the withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq.” At one time, the president called this initiative an “anti-Romanian putsch” and undermining the country’s prestige in the international arena. Some politicians believe that the president has exceeded his powers.
Another aspect of the troubles in the army is the conflictual relationship between the civilian minister Athanasiou and the military, led by the chief of the army general staff, General Badelan. The latter became interested in the National Anti-Corruption Directorate: based on its lawsuit, the court will examine how legally the general and his subordinates fulfilled the contract to exchange decommissioned equipment for Tofan-Group tires.
The drama of the situation for the Romanians is that the military spirit has always been strong in the state. Throughout the history of this country, reliance on the army has often played a decisive role - both in the creation of Greater Romania in 1918, and in the coalition with Germany during the Second World War, and in the December revolution of 1989, and in the international politics of our days with its theaters military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of all the institutions, the army and the church enjoy the greatest trust of Romanians. And then the top of the army was seized by a fever...
Until the trial and the case, the Ministry of National Defense will be temporarily headed by Secretary of State Corneliu Dobrizoi. Vice Admiral Gheorghe Marin, a former classmate of Traian Basescu at the Maritime Institute in Constanta, has been appointed as the new chief of the general staff.