*The draft law on the F 16 aircrafts will be approved by supersonic speed*Regarding procurements, the veto must belong to militaries, politicians must listen
The Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee, the National Liberal Party (PNL) MP Ovidiu Raetchi, stated on Friday in an interview for MEDIAFAX, that SIE and SRI should be led by civil directors, not by people from inside, stating that there is not a sufficiently “mature” civil control in Parliament yet.
“To be honest, no. No, because we don’t have yet a sufficiently mature civil control in Parliament. Such a control exists in the USA, but they have, first of all, very well trained parliamentarians in their fields of activity, and secondly they have an already settled relationship, a working method, where institutions respect each other” stated the Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee , PNL MP Ovidiu Raetchi, in an interview for MEDIAFAX, being asked if the directors of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) and Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) should come from the inside of these services and civil control should belong exclusively to the Parliament.
Ovidiu Raetchi said that we don’t have the same expertise that other states have, regarding the parliamentarians in the specialized committees.
“I don’t think we have the same expertise regarding the parliamentarians in the specialized committees, therefore we don’t have a reserve of the services in sharing elements that are sensitive in a certain extent. Same as sometimes, parliamentarians are attempted to politicize the discussion in their relationship with the services, which is very trendy lately” Raetchi stated.
The Liberal said that there is a Department for Internal Protection, and a General Information Department working within the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), which are led by people coming from the system, but SIE and SRI “were designed as civil services”.
“I think that the best way to ensure control (on SIE and SRI – e.n.) is by civil directors”, Ovidiu Raetchi stated.
The draft law on the F 16 aircrafts will be approved by the supersonic speed; 12 minutes for Piranha
Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee Ovidiu Raetchi (PNL) stated on Friday in an interview for MEDIAFAX that the draft law on the purchase of the F 16 aircrafts will be approved by the Committee “by the supersonic speed”, saying that the budget for Piranha was supplemented with millions of euros i 12 minutes.
“Unfortunately, I tell you from my experience that it will be approved by the supersonic speed, because our system is not sufficiently mature in this area to let the Parliament (pronounce – e.n.), which is the last control body in this matter and not in the plenum, but only at the level of the defense committees. The parliamentary agreement is given only by the defense committees and the plenum is not involved, since there are confidential issues in this framework contract which is approved at first” stated the PNL Vice Chair Ovidiu Raetchi about the parliamentary debates to be held on the purchase of the F 16 aircrafts, in an interview for MEDIAFAX.
Ovidiu Raetchi stated that the budget for the Piranha armored conveyors was supplemented in 12 minutes, reaching hundreds of millions of euros.
“I had two experiences of this kind until today, when the eight programs have been approved in the joint committees, and this week, when a revision of the program for the Piranha armored conveyors has been approved, an extension from a few dozens to a few hundred pieces, an extension of a few hundred million euros. Do you know how much time was needed in order for this revision to be approved? About 12 minutes” Raetchi stated.
The Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee said that the manner by which the approval was made in the Parliament wasn’t sufficiently responsible.
“(…) ten minutes with a Secretary of State, when the papers haven’t been arrived and sent yet, doesn’t seem to me sufficiently responsible for a choice of Romana that will last for decades and which involves hundreds of millions” Raetchi said.
About procurements: The veto should belong to militaries; Politicians must listen
The Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee Ovidiu Raetchi (PNL) stated on Friday that militaries should have the right to veto regarding the procurements, saying that politicians cannot understand certain issues related to weaponry’s functioning.
“We are definitely talking about a balance. There are arguments for the politicians’ area, there are budgetary arguments in the sense that the politicians best understand the balance between salaries, investments, equipment, and there are very important diplomatic arguments (…)” stated the Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee, PNL MP Ovidiu Raetchi in an interview for MEDIAFAX, when asked who should have the final decision in the purchase matter.
Ovidiu Raetchi said that “the veto should belong to militaries”, because their lives depend on the equipment they use.
Raetchi said that there are issues related to the military technique that a politician cannot understand.
“There was a problem with the machine gun at the first Piranha model that we brought, it was overheating, and after overheating, the sighting capacity was significantly lower. A politician never lived such a problem, therefore he cannot understand it. Only the soldier knows it” Raetchi added.
The Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee said that if the military appreciates that a certain equipment is inappropriate, the political factor “must listen to him”.
“If the military appreciates that a certain equipment is inappropriate, putting his life in danger, then the political factor definitely must listen to him and not negotiate an equipment only because it has an interesting price or political interests are involved. Not to mention the criminal matter. When 10 billion are involved, Romania has a tradition that goes centuries ago” Raetchi stated.
Romanian Army, Euro-Atlantic in terms of leadership
The Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee Ovidiu Raetchi stated that Romania Army is Euro-Atlantic in terms of the elite leadership, saying that “people formed in an old way of thinking” leave the system “either they want or not”.
“This is a continuous process after 1989. (…) Romanian Army is Euro-Atlantic in terms of the elite leadership. You have no other option, you are trapped into a system of meetings with the NATO partners in which you are thinking in English, in the NATO way of thinking. (…) I have the same optimism regarding the combatant troops that were in Afghanistan. Militaries are working in teams (…) English language and the Euro-Atlantic way of thinking become a part of you” stated the Vice Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Deputies’ Chamber Ovidiu Raetchi (PNL) in an interview for MEDIAFAX, asked if the Euro-Atlantic spirit is dominant or if it’s a minority spirit in the Romanian soldiers’ mentality.
Ovidiu Raetchi stated that “militaries formed in an old way of thinking” take a step back “either they want or not”.
“Of course there is still a category which is taking this step, but time is on our side. They leave the system either they want or not, they probably took advantage from this pension law in the old system until September 15, and they took one more step back. Romanian Army, even if it still has people formed in an old way of thinking, is led and behaves as an Euro-Atlantic army in the field” Raetchi stated.
Legislative initiative: Liberal MP wants the prohibition of breastfeeding in public spaces to be sanctioned
The deputy of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ovidiu Raetchi initiated a draft law that provides sanctions by fine for the prohibition, by any means, of breastfeeding in public spaces, and the amount of the fine is set from RON 100 to 2,000.
According to the explanatory memorandum, the draft law aims to sanction by fine from RON 100 to 2,000 the eviction from public space of the mothers who are breastfeeding, the refusal to provide services to a person who is breastfeeding a baby or the prohibition, by any means, of the breastfeeding in public spaces.
The initiator mentions that these behaviors affect the right to food and are deemed as discrimination. It is also mentioned that the provisions of the law apply regardless of the fact that the public spaces have “mother and child” rooms or not, the mother being the one who decides if she uses or not.
“Persons in charge working in the institutions and units that administrate public spaces will communicate the provisions of the law to all the employees, and the contraventions will be acknowledged, and the sanctions will be applied by representatives of the National Authority for Consumer Protection or of the Ministry of Internal Affairs” shows the quoted document.
According to the text of the law, the following deeds, committed in any of the following forms, are contraventions and they are sanctioned: the eviction from a public space of a mother who has the right to be in that space and who is breastfeeding a child under 24 months; the prohibition by any means of breastfeeding a child under 24 months in public spaces and the refusal to provide services to a person for the reason that she is breastfeeding a child under 24 months, if the person has the right to benefit from that service.
Thus, the committed deeds are sanctioned by contravention fine from RON 100 to RON 500 for individuals, while legal entities or those who are registered with the Trade Registry are sanctioned by contravention fine from RON 1,000 to RON 2,000.
The draft law is supported by several parliamentarians belonging to PNL and Save Romania Union (USR).
The legislative initiative on the breastfeeding in public spaces was registered at the Senate in order to be debated, and the Deputies’ Chamber is the decisional body.
