“Governments are not nominated based on fairytales,” he warned. “The president cannot appoint a PM who doesn’t know what to do for the country”.
President Traian Basescu said yesterday evening, during an address at Cotroceni Palace, that he considers the European Council in Brussels, November 22-23, as a success. “It was a success, not a failure. The 27 states agreed on two important issues: the EU budget for 2014-20 to EUR 933 billion, EUR 100 bln less than the European Commission proposal; the second issue was the fiscal treaty regarding macro-economic stability,” Basescu said. He elaborated on the sanctions agreed by the council. The head of state stressed Romanian reached two important objectives. One of them was increasing EU co-financing from 75 per cent (the proposal coming from European Council president Herman van Rompuy) to 85 per cent. The other one was including the VAT as eligible for being covered by the EU financing. “This would mean EUR 2.2-2.7 bln per year savings for the state budget,” the president said. Traian Basescu said also that another target partially achieved was the increase of co-financing from the EU from 2 per cent (the proposal coming from van Rompuy) to 6-7 per cent. He also mentioned achievements regarding the EU agricultural policy, as 15 per cent might be spent in another pillar than initially agreed. “This means the subventions for the farmers will increase from EUR 112 per ha to EUR 183 per ha in 2016,” Basescu added. Finally, the president lashed at the government, at PM Victor Ponta and politicians running for general elections. “I wish politicians would stop lying,” he said. Basescu called on politicians to stop involving him in the electoral campaign. The president mentioned Ponta, who granted interviews saying he is ready for cohabitation with the president. “Those who recorded the interview also know about the statements made in the country. One cannot make some statements for the foreign media and other kind of statements for the domestic one. Ceausescu did that, not comes another one: Ponta. I call on him to be honest with me and with the Romanians,” Basescu said. He reiterated his plead for the politicians to stop the attacks against the state institutions, mentioning the Superior Council of Magistracy and the national Integrity Institute. #Traian Basescu also warned about amending the Constitution, warning the referendum voted in 2009 to reduce the number of MPs is not being put into practice. “Governments are not nominated based on fairytales,” he warned. “I am expecting to hear the objectives and the means to reach them. The president’s responsibility to naming a PM is a major one. The president cannot appoint a PM who doesn’t know what to do for the country,” he said. President Basescu warned then government should do something on the domestic labour market, as Merkel company is closing down production facilities, while Ford is cutting down the output. “Ponta should have watched closely how some privatisations were made when he was part of the PM’s control body.
