During a government session on Wednesday, President Basescu said that the funds allocated for border security projects, amounting to EUR 271 M, should be allocated to small and medium enterprises instead of European concern EADS, given that there is not fixed deadline for Schengen accession.
The comment was widely interpreted by Romanian media as a veiled threat to France and Germany, in response to the two countries’ opposition to Bucharest joining Schengen in March. The main shareholders in EADS are French company Sogeade and Germany’s Daimler.
The president’s statement was slammed by Conservative Party founder Dan Voiculescu who in an open letter yesterday accused the head of state of having thus compromised Romania’s entry into Schengen. “You have destroyed ties with France and Russia. You grossly threatened Germany that you would no longer pay the contracts signed by the Romanian state with German firms,” Voiculescu wrote. He also criticised the head of state for telling ministers to stay away from the “trap” of borrowing money from China. “Now, given that you cannot have a balanced dialogue with any Western partner, you have proceeded to destroying our ties with China as well,” Voiculescu added.
