As Brexit enters endgame, Romania takes EU presidency

Bloomberg

No stranger to gaffes, Romania’s prime minister is perhaps best known for one particularly glaring slip of the tongue not long into her tenure.
Addressing colleagues at a government meeting in May — as well as a live online audience — Viorica Dancila proudly declared that “we’re reducing democracy.” Despite quickly correcting that last word to “bureaucracy,” the Internet wasn’t in a forgiving mood and the blunder spawned an avalanche of memes that still haunt her.
As the Black Sea nation prepares to take over the European Union’s rotating presidency for the first time, many within the bloc are starting to think Dancila’s original sentiment may not have been far from the mark. Concerns over the rule of law and corruption have triggered warnings from the European Commission and the US, as well as the biggest protests since the fall of communism. Comparisons to populist agitators Poland and Hungary are becoming more frequent.
Steering Romania’s illiberal turn is ruling-party boss Liviu Dragnea, who pulls the strings of government despite being barred from the premiership because of a criminal conviction. It’s his blueprint to corral the judiciary and hobble efforts to punish crooked officials that have irked the country’s Western allies. His success will determine whether Romania joins a list of EU trouble spots.
“The indications are that the EU is losing patience,” said Michael Taylor, a political analyst at Oxford Analytica.
“It may be learning from the way it’s been defied by Hungary and Poland.”

Sanctions Push
The bloc is pursuing unprecedented sanctions against those countries over risks to the rule of law. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the self-styled pioneer of “illiberal democracy,” has curbed independence of the media, the courts and civil society. Polish leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has largely followed the same blueprint, though is more ideologically driven.
Buttressed by strong economies, they’re unlikely to back down.
In Romania, the Social Democrat-led coalition is in the midst of a two-year campaign to bring the courts to heel.
Critics such as President Klaus Iohannis say the aim is to legalise low-level graft and keep party members out of prison. Hundreds have been charged or convicted in malfeasance probes, prompting the government to remove the chief anti-corruption prosecutor. Demonstrations persist, but numbers are dwindling.
While the Constitutional Court has struck down parts of the judicial makeover, its effects are seeping into Romania’s democracy rankings. Romania scored second-worst in the EU in a recent survey by Bertelsmann Stiftung.
Dragnea is himself battling to avoid a jail term following a second conviction, for abuse-of-office. An appeal hearing is scheduled for next month.
“EU leaders hope to have a real partner in Bucharest for the next six months, not another troublemaker like they already have with Mr. Orban and Mr. Kaczynski,” said Victor Ponta, a former PM who’s fallen out with Dragnea and is trying to make a political comeback.
The EU’s gripes have so far been ignored, raising the possibility of cuts in development funds from the bloc’s budget.