Romanian Lawmakers Snap At US Ambassador Over Recent Statements

Romanian Chamber Speaker Bogdan Olteanu told MEDIAFAX that Taubman, got his mandate in a manner that would be dubbed “corruption” in Romania, adding that “in Romania, Romanians make the laws.”

“Mister Taubman should channel his actions towards representing USA interests in Romania. If he wishes to make comments about the restriction of liberties brought through the recent US legislation after 2001, he is free to do so,” said Olteanu, in reply to Taubman’s criticism of the recent amendments to Romania’s criminal statutes.

Olteanu also said that Taubman obtained his mandate in a manner that, in Romania, would be considered “corruption”, through donations towards a candidate.

“In Romania, the law is made by Romanians. The fact that mister Taubman obtained the embassy in a manner that, in Romania, would be considered corruption, does not qualify him to make, in Romania, statements that, made by an European Ambassador in the USA, would be dismissed by the American Congress,” concluded Bogdan Olteanu.

In reply to the statements made by Olteanu, the president of the Romanian National Initiative Party, MP Cozmin Gusa, said that he officially asks the Standing Office within the Chamber of Deputies to immediately take a stance that would separate the legislative forum from the stance expressed by Olteanu regarding Taubman.

"The intervention of Ambassador Taubman, whom I have no reasons to like since he began his mandate, is a fair one and it might support the complicated fight against corruption in Romania. At the same time, I am surprised that the Chamber Speaker took such a stance regarding mister Taubman’s statements, which, aside from being incorrect, might even underline the involvement of the Parliament, as an institution, in a subjective battle of liberal party leaders, to protect their corrupted allies from the pressures of the National Anticorruption Department," Gusa told MEDIAFAX.

Greater Romania Party vice-president Lucian Bolcas said that an ambassador is not supposed to make statements regarding the Parliament and the legislation.

Bolcas told MEDIAFAX that, personally, he has a great deal of criticism for the amendments brought to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, but he does not feel that the US Ambassador should make such evaluations of the Parliament.

"If you respect your diplomatic status, you need to act according to diplomatic customs," said Bolcas. 

The president of the committee for legal matters within the Chamber, conservative Sergiu Andon, said that Taubman’s statements regarding the Parliament are an "inconceivable interference in the activity of a high institution of the Romanian state," and the conclusions are wrong, "based on erroneous information and a subjective opinion."

Andon told MEDIAFAX that Taubman has priors in such conduct, which makes it a serious matter. According to Andon, Taubman received unilateral information and he did not talk with all parties involved, or at least some of them.

"However, he misinforms, saying that he talked to all responsible factors, when he actually heard only on voice, or several unilateral voices. I have noticed that he said he is not a lawyer, nor a judge, so I calmly and frankly say to him that he is no Ambassador either," said Andon.

Romanian Democratic Party vice-president Ioan Oltean said Thursday that the US Ambassador is right when criticizing the recent amendments brought by the Parliament to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, stating that the concerns of the Ambassador are "real and justified."

Oltean told MEDIAFAX that, at this moment, there are attempts by the current rule to weaken the fight against corruption, to cut down the jurisdiction of criminal investigation courts, through the amendments brought to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.

According to Oltean, there can be comments made about the interference of the US Ambassador in the affairs of a Romanian state institution, but this should not be a cause for thought, since what matters is that there is reason enough for such statements and that there are concerns in Europe.

Taubman said in Bucharest that the propositions amending the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code are “worrisome for Romanians and for friends of Romania.”

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