It took Romanian authorities 22 years to prevent the access of the Communist in general and especially of torturers and Political Police workers to leading positions in Romania. 

The Lustration Law, adopted by the Majority with the exceptions designed to give a safe shelter exactly to the leaders currently in power, comes too late for a society dazed by an incomplete transition and still looking for an identity. 

The adoption of the law in a form which makes it completely…

Democracy has taken notable steps back for the benefit of security, profit and globalisation in the last ten years. The war on terror and the two that followed, as well as the financial crisis and the economic recession that shook the foundations of the capitalist system have allowed governments to make decisions by-passing the regular democratic and participative route. The argument was that, when times are difficult, citizens may be stripped of some of their civil rights and freedoms in…

Since Wednesday, the Romanian Opposition has been officially on parliamentary strike, protesting the unilateral manner in which the majority led by PM Boc’s Democrat-Liberal Party pushes laws, but also against anti-democratic derailments such as the attempted to merge local and legislative elections. The last intent was however circumvented by the street protests.

The Social-Liberal Union (USL) wanted its protest to have a strong impact, but the way in which it was managed, starting…

By Rodica Pricop in Bucharest

Following President Basescu’s surprising announcement about the withdrawal of the Healthcare Law, we have found out the ingredient that can convince the authorities to open a dialogue with the people from which they have distanced themselves so much in the last three years. Deaf and dumb to the dramatic daily reality, the authorities only lowered their tune when feeling their chairs shaking.

Since 2009 until last week, the privileged partners of…