Romanian Interior Min Warns Transporters To Stop Protests

Romanian interior minister Cristian David said that if the road transporters who “intentionally” blocked traffic continue their action, he will instruct law enforcers to take the most drastic of measures, adding that law violations will not be tolerated.

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"The continuation of such an action will impose the most drastic of measures, in accordance with legal provisions, against those who illegally and intentionally block traffic. This is why you should take this statement as a serious warning that you should observe the law," David said.

He added the protest is “outside the legal frame of authorization,” and it has seriously disturbed traffic.

Over 150 road transporters put their trucks in motion Tuesday morning, around 08:00 local time, in the area of Bucharest - Pitesti A1 highway, on Bucharest’s beltway, after a nearly five-hour protest on Monday morning.

Union leaders of road transporters will gather in front of the Romanian government building, just like they did Monday morning when they requested a meeting with Premier Calin Popescu Tariceanu over their demands.

The road transporters ask, among others, for elimination of the road toll, cheaper fuels and upgraded road infrastructure.

Mid April, road transporters organized protest marches in Bucharest and 18 other cities nationwide, protesting against the government’s measure to collect the road toll twice – on national roads and highways, respectively. The transporters said Romania is the only country in EU that collects the tax twice, as all the other member states demand the tax for highways alone.

Transportation minister Ludovic Orban said at the time that the transporters protest over nothing, as the ministry took no action that would affect their operations.

He said the road toll cannot be eliminated, as it represents the only revenue source for the country’s roads authority CNADNR.

In addition, the transporters’ alternative proposition to include the road toll in fuel prices is not a viable option either, the minister of economy and finance Varujan Vosganian said in his turn.

He said the measure will implicitly up fuel prices and will unjustifiably tax car owners who do not use national roads frequently.

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