euro|topics - Eliza Francu

21/11/2008

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Francu, Eliza

5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Gândul - Romania | 26/08/2008

A future as "economic reserve"?

Gândul newspaper reflects on the future of the two secessionist provinces: "The outcome of the vote in both Russian chambers of parliament was just like in Soviet times: perfect unanimity, both in the Federation Council and in the Duma. It is indeed telling that even the lifeless Russian opposition believes that recognising the republics is an important step for the Russian federation. The vote is not binding, and Prime Minister Putin continues to have a free hand. But it does give Russia's Prime Minister-President what he needs: a new 'currency' to negotiate with the West and the 'right' granted by the Russian legislature to station weapons and soldiers in the secessionist provinces. ... It is still unclear what the future holds for the two protected regions - the economic reserve of the Russian motherland. For now it looks as if they will become havens for weapons and illegal trade, far from NATO's watchful eye. Particularly worrying is that this is all taking place in the North Caucasus, a key region for Europe's energy security."

Gândul - Romania | 16/07/2008

No threat to the Roma

The registration of the fingerprints of the Roma minority in Italy has triggered a "tsunami of indignation", writes the Romanian daily Gandul, but adds that this resentment is uncalled for: "The Roma have nothing to fear because the registration in Italy is harmless compared to practices in other European states. In the UK illegal immigrants are forced to pay 'bail' for the privilege of not having to live in transit camps like cattle in a pen. Once they have paid they are 'free' but are forced to wear electronic bracelets that allow authorities to trace their every move. ... It is also interesting that the Italian measures are focussed more on gathering general data rather than collecting fingerprints - not only of the Romanian Roma but of all nomads living in Italy. Hence, as far as the Romanian Roma are concerned, the European Commission can accuse Italy neither of ethnic nor racial discrimination. ... The Roma have nothing to fear but nor have they cause for hope. In Romania the president, as well as the head of government and his cabinet, are clearly aware of the measures against the Roma. ... But none of them has lifted a finger to help them. ... On the contrary, public opinion on the Roma in Romania is that it is good 'that something is being done because now perhaps certain people will steal less'."

Gândul - Romania | 30/04/2008

The Italians want to exclude Romanian immigrants

The Italian authorities plan to adopt a tougher stance against Romanian immigrants. In future Romanians will need a visa to enter the country and will have to prove they have a monthly income of at least 970 euros. Eliza Francu criticises the measures: "The Italians apparently approve of these measures but they contravene European norms. They violate the EU regulations on freedom of movement. Normally this would be a case for the European executive to deal with. ... When it joined the EU, Romania was assured that it wouldn't be a second-class member. Now the rights of this country are being ignored. The other members of the EU clearly want to keep Romanians as far as possible from their job markets."

Gândul - Romania | 15/04/2008

Romania's foreign minister and Romanians living abroad

Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu has resigned following the death of a Romanian citizen in a Polish prison. The man went on hunger strike, however the Romanian and Polish authorities failed to react. Eliza Francu comments on the post of the Romanian foreign minister: "The next leading diplomat will inherit not only a great deal of political pressure and pressure from the media, but also an immense bureaucratic machinery which so far has never functioned as it's supposed to. ... Now the prime minister is calling for Western-style diplomacy in which an immense amount of energy is invested in helping citizens in distress. This is embarrassing because the ministry has much more serious problems to deal with. ... [The embassies in] Italy and Spain are working with reduced staffs endowed with inadequate budgets that face the task of solving the problems of a million Romanians living in these states."

Gândul - Romania | 26/10/2007

The debate about Romania's future electoral system

Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu has proposed for his own country an electoral system modelled on Germany's combination of proportional representation and majority voting. The Romanian head of government Traian Basescu, on the other hand, favours Great Britain's majority voting system. Eliza Francu comments: "'Vote for names, not lists' - it sounds good in theory, but in practice the majority vote system proposed by President Traian Basescu is less efficient and therefore less widely used. ... Almost everywhere in Europe a mixed system is preferred. ... Moreover, Basescu's initiative is being attacked in Europe because he wants to ... hold a referendum about the electoral system at the same time as the elections for the European Parliament. This would stifle the discussion about Europe. Romania still hasn't understood that at the moment European problems should take precedence over national problems."

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