Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
hope
Citation preview
2014-11-19, 11:03 AMRomania’s presidential poll offers hope for more tolerant future - FT.com
Page 1 of 2http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4d7e35a8-6f47-11e4-b50f-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3JWvnWeRx
GLOBAL INSIGHT November 19, 2014 8:59 am
Klaus Iohannis
T
Sign up now
FirstFT is our new essentialdaily email briefing of the beststories from across the web
As a centre-right ethnic
Romania’s presidential poll offers hope for more tolerant futureTony Barber Author alerts
Election of a leader from ethnic minority shows country’s maturity
he result of Romania’s presidential election may turn out to be the most positive politicalevent in Europe this year.
It is encouraging for what it says about three things in central and eastern Europe: itstroublesome ethnic politics, the never ending struggle against corruption and the unfoldingcontest between the Euro-Atlantic alliance and Russia.
The election winner was Klaus Iohannis, the centre-right mayor of the city of Sibiu, whodefeated Victor Ponta, the centre-left prime minister. What makes Mr Iohannis’s victory
special is that he comes from Romania’s ethnic German minority.
After waves of emigration in the communist and post-communist eras, ethnic Germans account thesedays for well under 1 per cent of Romania’s 20m people. But the acrid aroma of menacing nationalismhas often permeated Romanian politics, as the country’s Hungarian and Jewish minorities can testify.
Romanians showed exceptional maturity on Sunday by electing an ethnic minority candidate as theirhead of state. For many voters, the political programmes and personal appeal of the two candidatesevidently mattered more than their respective ethnic backgrounds. It seems that this was especially truefor Romanian voters who live in western European cities. They voted heavily for Mr Iohannis.
Few European countries, east or west, can say the same. Has Bulgaria had an ethnic Turkish president?Has Italy had a prime minister from its ethnic German region of South Tyrol? Has Britain had a premier of Afro-Caribbean origin?
In a region whose history is riddled with ethnically inspired political tensions, Romania’s election result gives hope for a future oftolerance.
The fact that Mr Iohannis was elected on what was perhaps the most explicitly anti-corruption programme of any Romanianpresidential or prime ministerial candidate of the 24-year post-communist era, indicates Romanian voters are no less sick than thenation’s western allies of pervasive corruption in Romanian politics, business circles and public administration.
In early October Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European affairs, warned in a hard-hitting speech: “In centralEurope today!.!.!.!the twin cancers of democratic backsliding and corruption are threatening the dream so many have worked for since1989” – the year the region’s peoples overthrew communism.
Official corruption is a deep-seated problem in Romania. One former prime minister, AdrianNastase, has been convicted twice on corruption charges (after his first prison sentence, he shot
Safari Power SaverClick to Start Flash Plug-in
Home World Companies Markets Global Economy Lex Comment Management Life & Arts
Africa Asia-Pacific Europe Latin America & Caribbean Middle East & North Africa UK US & Canada The World Blog Tools
©AFP
2014-11-19, 11:03 AMRomania’s presidential poll offers hope for more tolerant future - FT.com
Page 2 of 2http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4d7e35a8-6f47-11e4-b50f-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3JWvnWeRx
Printed from: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4d7e35a8-6f47-11e4-b50f-00144feabdc0.html
Print a single copy of this article for personal use. Contact us if you wish to print more to distribute to others.
© THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2014 FT and ‘Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
German politician, Klaus Iohannishas excellent relations withAngela Merkel, Germany’sChristian Democrat chancellor
RussiaRELATED TOPICS
himself in a failed suicide bid). The recent election campaign took place against the backdrop ofan alleged bribery scandal involving top-ranking politicians and the sale of software technologylicences for Romanian schools.
Mr Iohannis cannot change everything overnight, but his ascent to the presidency is a sign thatthe political classes are less likely to escape unpunished for flagrant abuse of public office.
His election victory should also stiffen the resolve of Nato and the EU to stand firm against Russia’s efforts to expand its political,military and economic influence in the Balkans and Black Sea area.
In some respects, Romania is less susceptible than its neighbours to Russian pressure. It relies less on Russian energy. As a non-Slavnation that once lost territory to the Soviet Union, it is immune to pan-Slavism and has few illusions about how the Kremlin deployspower. Yet from time to time one hears that high-level Romanian politicians have privately aired the idea of doing a deal withPresident Vladimir Putin that would concede to Russia permanent dominance over south-eastern Ukraine.
Mr Iohannis is unlikely to toy with such notions. As a centre-right ethnic German politician, he has excellent relations with AngelaMerkel, Germany’s Christian Democrat chancellor. He sees eye to eye with her on the danger posed not only by Russia’s intervention inUkraine, but by its support of the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria. Under Mr Iohannis, Romania can be expected tocontribute to a more coherent, united EU stance towards Russia.
