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RADOR: News from Romania, 98-04-28The Press Agency of the Romanian Radio (RADOR Society) Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: RADOR Press Agency <http://indis.ici.ro/romania/news/rador.html>April 28, 1998CONTENTS
[01] PNTCD Senator Ulm Spineanu elected as deputy speaker of the SenateFollowing a second round of voting, Senator Ulm Spineanu of the ruling Christian Democrat National Peasant Party (PNTCD) was elected deputy speaker of the Romanian Senate on Monday. RADOR[02] Two state counsellors designatedBy prime minister's decision, Costin Borc was designated as state counsellor, prime minister's counsellor for political affairs and coordinator of prime minister's office while Columban Gabor was designated as state counsellor, prime minister's cousellor for public administration affairs. Costin Borc, now assistant lecturer at the Economics Faculty of the Wisconsin-Madison University, was forAer PNTCD executive secretary. Columban Gabor, a member of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), was the former president of the Council of Harghita County. RADOR[03] The scandal goes on: cigarette smuggling at Otopeni AirportInterior Minister Dejeu: "Flagrant is normal"At a PNTCD press conference on Monday, Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu made some comments concerning the "cigarette case" at Otopeni Airport. He informed that three officers were involved in the case: two army officers and a SPP (Romanian Guard and Protection Services) officer. Three men were arrested: commander Ioan Suciu - former head of the Otopeni military airport, a captain suspected accomplice, and Vasile Negoescu - the owner of the storehouse where the cigarette tracks were supposed to go. SPP colonel Gheorghe Trutulescu is under general pursuit while engineer Dumitru Popescu, former shift chief at Otopeni military airport, is under inquiry. Minister Dejeu said that "the flagrant" wAs an absolutely normal strategy the authorities could use in order to solve a case, and parallel information structures would be subject to careful examination as they became very active in recent days. RADOR [04] Statement of SRI Director Costin GeorgescuIn a statement to the press on Monday, the director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Costin Georgescu has informed that, at the end of last March, his institution has received some reports concerning an international cigarette smuggling operation including Cyprus, Greece and Bulgaria. The network used cargo-planes in international airports and threatened the national security of Romania. The "Cigarette" scandal resulted in a series of investigations. In the evening of April 16, special control measures were taken at Otopeni International Airport. At 11.45 PM and IL plane coming from Athens landed on the international airport and went directly to the military airport. The landing was coordinated against current regulatAons as neither the border police nor the Otopeni customs were announced. As the authorities wanted to intercept the entire network up to its last segment, the cigarette transport was not stopped neither at the airport nor on its way to the storehouse. Further on, Mr Georgescu has explained that his service has efficiently cooperated with the customs police, the Financial Guard and the Ministry of the Interior. A meeting at the Cotroceni Palace took place in the second day of the Easter. Participants included the interior minister, the attorney general, representatives of the Financial Guard and Customs General Directorate as well as SRI officials. According to the SRI director, the operation was extremely spectacular and unvailed an entire network of international smugglers. There is a firm committment to complete the inquiry and punish those involved, Mr Georgescu said. RADOR[05] PDSR senators reactIn the opening of the Romanian Senate session on Monday, the senators representAng the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) have called for a joint session of the two houses in parliament to designate an inquiry commission into the cigarette affair at Otopeni military airport.Statement of Nicolae Alexandru, Chief Commissioner for defence, public order and national security in the Romanian Senate "In my opinion, the main problem is how far this dirty affair is supposed to hit. If only persons are involved, then we know that similar cases could be seen even in more civilised communities; if the affair is hitting too high, then it means that institutions are involved, and all the trouble becomes more serious. Anyway, I am convinced that my colleagues will accept to hear the information provided by those who know what happened at Otopeni. In my opinion, the national security was threatened, and I could explain my reasons. As we are facing difficulties to make up a Budget given the lack of funds, the alleged 17 billion lei damage to the stateABudget could be seen as a threat to our national security. The cigarette smuggling, the money laundring, all this organised crime lead me to that conclusion. Therefore, tough measures should be taken", Chief Commissioner Nicolae Alexandru said on Monday. Statement of PDSR Senator Radu Timofte Referring to the cigarette smuggling operation at Otopeni military airport, PDSR Senator Radu Timofte said that PDSR MP groups in both houses of parliament have asked for an emergency joint session to designate an inquiry commission into all aspects of the operation. "We are sure that only discovering the truth we can prove that PDSR was not the party of the corrupted. The real corruption is among those in power today", Mr Timofte said. The senator has accused President Emil Constantinescu that he did not issued a strong condamnation of such a clear smuggling case: "There are three possibilities: he knew about the smuggling or those close to him fooled him once again or, by all means, heAonly wanted to preserve his image untouched. (...) The duplicity, inconsequence and hypocrisy of his institution are much to our concern". The senator expressed his hope that Romanian media would finally "discover the hidden truth". RADOR [06] PNTCD leadership condemns PRM actionsPNTCD leadership condemns the claims in the document sent by the Greater Romania Party (PRM) to some European institutions. In its opinion, such claims badly damage the image of our country abroad. At a PNTCD press conference on Monday, President Ion Diaconescu said his party wopuld issue a statement on the matter and would call on those intitled to put an end to such moves representing an attack against the Romanian autorities. Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu said the PRM document represents a "last dirty proof of the moral deterioration that some political forces have suffered". He believes that the move proves the inefficiency of the law. "Insult and calumny are crimes punished by the Romania law, but thAy were never sanctioned as they should be", Mr Dejeu concluded. RADOR[07] Romanian defence minister met his Norwegian counterpartAfter his first round of talks in Bucharest on Monday with his Norwegian counterpart on a visit to Bucharest Romanian Defence Minister Victor Babiuc has informed that discussions focused on two topics: bilateral and international relations. The two officials have discussed the positions of the countries invited to join NATO as well as issues concerning the Partnership for Peace, and recent developments in the Balkans and former Yugoslavia. The Romanian minister said Norway was ready to support any candidate meeting the NATO accession criteria. Norwegian Defence Minister Dag Jostein Fyarvoll admitted that both countries had different views on some security policy issues, but, at the same time, they agreed on other issues such as those concerning peace and stability or the strategies of preventing future conflicts. He added that this common task could be hAt through an enlarged international cooperation. RADORThe Press Agency of the Romanian Radio (RADOR Society) Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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