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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY
RFE/RL East European Perspectives
Vol. 5, No. 12, 11 June 2003
News and Views on Central and Southeastern Europe
POVERTY, ETHNICITY, AND IDENTITY IN ROMANIA: REFLECTIONS ON THE STATUS OF THE ROMA
By Alexandra Nacu
"In a country where...ever since Romania used to be an authentic totalitarian
state, beggars stretch their hands out to thieves and thieves steal from beggars
in full circle, it is difficult to believe that democracy will bring the light
of justice as long as democracy itself continues to use thieves and beggars." ("Dilema,"
22-29 October 2002). The following considerations on poverty and the Roma in
postcommunist Romania might help one understand this reflection by a Romanian
journalist. The thief and the beggar, the two traditional stereotypes of the
Gypsy in Romania, are here presented as the emblematic characters of Romania's
corrupt postcommunist democracy, whose negative image is, in addition, rooted in
history. This symbiosis between collective humiliation and crime on a national
scale is perceived as being based on corruption -- the latter understood in the
economic but also in the physical and moral senses. Since 1989, a significant
portion of the Romanian population has confronted a process of more or less
acute impoverishment. If poverty lines and thresholds are always questionable,
there is a tangible sense that poverty has become a major reality for a
significant segment of the population, and a potential danger for another
segment (Tesliuc et al., 2001, pp. 21-30). In the process of newly forming
social inequalities -- of status redefinition -- the Roma appear to be the
"loser" of "transition," massively affected by this process of impoverishment.
Statistics and observations confirm this impression: Already in a disadvantaged
position under the communist regime, a significant portion of the Romany
population is now in poverty -- although this does not mean that all Roma in
Romania experience the same kind of poverty or exclusion. Their plight is
manifest in various patterns: In examining the issue more closely, one should
distinguish between Roma living inside exclusively Romany settlements or outside
of them; between settlements where social cohesion has been maintained and where
it has not; and between those who are somewhat integrated into the local town or
village and those that are completely isolated. Nevertheless, despite this great
diversity, Roma are unified by their functional role -- as indeed they are in
most East-European countries -- a factor that allows us to speak of a community
of destiny. Apart from being a social reality, poverty has become a public issue
requiring the identification of responsibilities and programs for solutions,
often blotting out complex intricacies and the great variety of situations and
giving way to ordinary racism. The "Romany question" occupies an important part
in these debates, in which it appears at the crossroads of issues of ethnicity
and poverty. If during the communist period both "poverty" and "Gypsy" were
words banned from the public discourse, they have reappeared since 1989 in close
connection with each other. We should add that the poverty issue does not merely
contribute to creating divisions inside the country, but it also shapes the
country's identity: Having regained a long suppressed freedom of expression,
Romania had to redefine itself in the community of states, and the obvious
conclusion was that it was "a poor country." (We shall return to this theme
later.) The question of Roma and poverty is complex, first of all because there
are notorious definitional problems. Neither the Roma nor poverty is easy to
define. We just have to consider the polysemy of the word "tigan" (Gypsy) in
Romanian, which can be used as a census category representing ethnicity but also
as an everyday element of identification of "the other" -- in a reference to
status or otherwise pejoratively. These forms of classification do not coincide,
and the question of "Who is a Gypsy?" does not lend itself to an unequivocal
answer. But aside from these doubts concerning definition, the question is also
difficult because there is a gap between "objective" features and perceptions.
We shall try to consider some of these problems.
Full Report: http://www.rferl.org/eepreport/
Retirement
The International Labour Organisation has presented a study "Recent trends
in the launch of the retirement reforms in the EU candidate countries" that
indicates that the simple change over in retirement systems managed by the State
to a private system is inadequate in the face of the challenge presented by
paying pensions in the near future.
THREE CPS CONFERENCE REPORTS NOW ONLINE
http://www.ceu.hu/cps/pub/pub_reports.htm
Three new reports from conferences organized by the Center for Policy Studies at
CEU are now available online.
"Nation-building versus State-building in the Balkans: Lessons Learned"
http://www.ceu.hu/cps/bluebird/eve/eve_statebuilding.htm
"Understanding Xenophobia in Eastern Europe"
http://www.ceu.hu/cps/eve/eve_xenophobia.htm
"Social Capital in the Balkans: The Missing link"
http://www.ceu.hu/cps/bluebird/eve/eve_soccap.htm
The Romanian Academic Society (SAR) is pleased to
launch the first issue of the Policy Warning
Reports (PWR) / Papers on Governance -- analytic materials monitoring
the socio-political and economic developments in Romania, aimed at identifying
situations with crisis potential. This series follows the Early Warning Reports
produced by SAR in the last two years with funds mainly from UNDP, after
institutional constraints made impossible for the main sponsor to continue its
commitment to independent monitorization. Our regular reports will appear
on a quarterly basis and continue to analyze trends in the four policy areas you
already know: Economy, Society, Politics and Rule of Law. In addition special
issues focusing on particular topics, including regional affairs, will be
published periodically. You can find below a summary of the topics
included in this first issue; the full text in English and Romanian, as well as
all EWR back issues, at www.sar.org.ro. We
have also launched the Yearly EWR covering 2002, the last issue sponsored by
UNDP. It is also available in Romanian and English from our web page.
Alina Mungiu Pippidi, President
Sorin Ionita, Director
Romanian Academic Society (SAR)
15 Petofi Sandor, Bucharest 1
+40-1-222-1868
office@sar.org.ro
PWR Romania, 1/2003, May
ABSTRACT
Split between its desire to join the EU and the necessities of regional
security that Europe has not been able to address so far, Romania is facing hard
choices in the years to come. However, the Politics section points out that it
will be difficult to deal with these external challenges if the domestic
policy-making and administrative capacity continue to remain low (arguably, the
lowest among candidate countries). SAR used the implementation of the Freedom of
Information Act as a test case of general administrative capacity, and found out
that Romanian public institutions function at about half the efficiency of their
Bulgarian counterparts. Without good and efficient domestic institutions,
even EU financial assistance can hardly make a difference. The issue of
"absorption capacity" of these funds has been debated with much passion, but no
conclusive arguments have been presented to the public so far. For the first
time, we break the silence on this matter and show that the problem is
significant, point out where the real institutional bottleneck is in
administering EU assistance programs, and suggest remedies. Public opinion
section shows trust in government on a slight decrease after a long stagnation.
The current government has managed to cling to its electorate in the past year,
but made no new inroads. Here you can find a synthesis of the public opinion in
the last twelve months read through the CURS-SAR polls.
Economy. Sidex is being restructured, but can other big SOEs follow in its
steps? This section analyzes the results achieved with Sidex by the new private
owners and concludes that on balance the picture looks good. But the
peculiarities of the steel industry make this success hard to replicate elswhere.
Rule of law. With a tradition of state abuse and a weakened media, is Romania
able to cope in the new security-conscious global environment? Looking back at
the last year and a half, SAR warns that freedom of speech and other civil
rights may be under assault. Restrictive legislation, indebted TV channels and
economic pressures on local newspapers reduce the scope for independent opinion.
EBRD Energy in transition economies
In an article entitled, Ť Power sector regulatory reform in transition
economies : Progress and lessons learned ť Daniel Kenedy, a leading economist
for the EBRD establishes a round-up of the energy sector in transition
economies.
CfP: Cluj Journal for
Policy Analysis
The Cluj Center for Policy Analysis is lauching a call for papers in the field
of policy studies with a special focus on European transitional democracies, but
not only. Contributions in English are welcome from policy makers, policy
analysts, academicians, students, as well as journalists and the general
attentive public. Submissions can be in the form of academic articles, policy
analysis, policy commentary, book reviews, as well as summaries of larger
reports or research findings. Interdisciplinarity with regards to the
theoretical and/or methodological approaches employed is especially welcome.
Submissions will be judged on the basis of accuracy of information, originality,
relevance to the chosen policy field and the reality of transitional countries,
as well as clarity of style. Contributions deemed of sufficient quality will be
published on the website of the Cluj Center for Policy Analysis on an on-going
basis. Academic articles, policy analysis pieces and book reviews will
additionally be published in journal format to be distributed electronically
four times a year. While contributors are welcome to concentrate on any policy
issue of their choice, for the first volume of the on-line journal pieces
dealing with anti-corruption policy are particularly invited.
Criteria for submissions are to be followed strictly. Academic articles should
be between 4000 to 8000 words in length. Policy analysis and commentary should
not exceed 2000 words. Book reviews of up to 1000 words will be accepted.
Footnotes may be employed in academic articles only. Under extraordinary
circumstances longer submissions may be considered. Please include a short
biographical note when submitting your work for publication.
Deadline for submissions is open. However, if you wish to be published in the
first issue of the Cluj Journal for Policy Analysis (August 1), please try to
submit your contribution on or around July 1st in electronic format at
cluj-center-for-policy-analysis@go.ro .
Report on
the Human Rights
State Department.
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of expression and of the press, and the
Government generally respected these rights in practice; however, the
prohibitions against "defamation of the country" and "offense to authority"
limited these rights.
Independent media continued to grow in an increasingly competitive market.
Several hundred daily and weekly newspapers were published. Foreign news
publications may be imported and distributed freely, but high costs, compared to
domestic publications, limited their circulation.
Several private television stations broadcast nationwide, with the largest
reaching approximately 45 percent of the rural and 85 percent of the urban
market. There were 117 private television stations and 260 private radio
stations. Approximately 3.4 million households were wired for cable, giving
significant portions of the population access to both private and foreign
broadcasts. State Television (RTV), Radio Romania, and the Europa FM radio
network remained the only national broadcasters capable of reaching the bulk of
the rural population at year's end. Independent stations continued to enlarge
their coverage throughout the country by over-the-air, cable, and satellite
transmissions.
Press and television coverage generally reflected the political viewpoints of
owners, which covered most of the political spectrum. State-owned television and
radio coverage tended to be biased in favor of the Government. In December 2001,
on a party line vote, the ruling party forced out the governing board of the
state owned radio network, which had been appointed by a previous Government.
The new radio leadership reflected the ruling party's views in its coverage.
Media accuracy was not high but has been improving gradually.
The Penal Code has been criticized by human rights organizations and journalists
for including jail terms for those convicted of libel or calumny. In May the
Chamber of Deputies replaced the prison term for insult with a fine. However,
the Government retained a prison term (2 to 24 months) for libel. The sentence
was increased to 3 to 36 months for libel directed at government officials. The
move was widely criticized by press and human rights organizations. Although
President Iliescu stated that insult and calumny must be penalized in some form,
in October he returned the ordinance to Parliament, asking that the prison
penalty for calumny be dropped. The issue was still pending at year's end.
Article 168 of the Penal Code provides criminal penalties for spreading false
information aimed at attacking the country's national security. Using this
article, in January the Government briefly detained two individuals suspected of
publicizing information over the Internet about alleged corruption involving the
Prime Minister. The Government also instituted proceedings against opposition
ultra-nationalist politician Corneliu Vadim Tudor under article 168 after he
asserted, shortly after September 11, 2001, that the Government had trained
Hamas terrorists in the mid-1990s. The Government, responding that they had
trained Palestinian Authority security officers, stripped Tudor of his
Parliamentary immunity and continued to prosecute him during the year on the
grounds that he had disseminated false information which endangered state
security or the country's international relations.
NGOs defending freedom of the press and the media reported that journalists of
the local Ziarul de Vrancea newspaper were victims of various types of pressure
and harassment allegedly orchestrated by the President of the Vrancea County
Council, a member of the ruling PSD party. Financial regulators repeatedly
harassed journalists who were critical of the local government, demolished the
newspaper's kiosks, and evicted them from their offices, even though the rent
had been paid in advance.
Local officials, including the Vrancea Prefect, also filed numerous court cases
against Ziarul de Vrancea journalists.
Harassment
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
indicates in its report "Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace"
that 10% of Europe's working population has experienced physical or
psychological harassment at work.
Drugs
According to the annual report 2002 the International Narcotics Control
Board, a UN agency, the greater part of the profits on narcotics is generated by
the consumer countries. The value of illegal opium poppy and coca harvests only
represent 1.3% of the agricultural revenue of the countries involved.
CfP:
Anti-corruption policy in European transitional democracies
The Cluj Center for Policy Analysis is currently lauching a call for papers
in the field of policy studies with a special focus on European transitional
countries. Contributions in English are welcome from policy makers, policy
analysts, academicians, students, as well as journalists and the general
attentive public. Submissions can be in the form of academic articles, policy
analysis, policy commentary, book reviews, as well as summaries of larger
reports or research findings. Interdisciplinarity with regards to the
theoretical and/or methodological approaches employed is especially welcome.
Submissions will be judged on the basis of accuracy of information, originality,
relevance to the chosen policy field and the reality of transitional countries,
as well as clarity of style. Contributions deemed of sufficient quality will be
published on the website of the Cluj Center for Policy Analysis on an on-going
basis. Academic articles, policy analysis pieces and book reviews will
additionally be published in journal format to be distributed electronically
four times a year. While contributors are welcome to concentrate on any policy
issue of their choice, for the first volume of the on-line journal pieces
dealing with anti-corruption policy are particularly invited.
Criteria for submissions are to be followed strictly. Academic articles should
be between 4000 to 8000 words in length. Policy analysis and commentary should
not exceed 2000 words. Book reviews of up to 1000 words will be accepted.
Footnotes may be employed in academic articles only. Under extraordinary
circumstances longer submissions may be considered. Please include a short
biographical note when submitting your work for publication.
Deadline for journal publication: May 1, 2003.
Deadline for website publication: on-going.
Only submit work NOT PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE, please. E-mail:
cluj-
center-for-policy-analysis@go.ro
Location: Cluj/ROMANIA Website:
http://uiorean.cluj.astral.ro/cjcpa
South East Europe
The Migrations, Refugee and Demography Committee has published a report on
"the displacement of populations in South East Europe: trends, problems,
solutions".
Euthanasia
The Council of Europe has just published a study on the Internet on the laws
and/or practices in terms of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the 34 member
countries and the USA, a country that has observer status within the
organisation.
Romanian Academic Society (www.sar.org.ro)
- Early Warning Reports a project
initiated and financed by UNDP and carried out by the Romanian Academic Society,
aimed at providing the Romanian government with objective advice from
independent sources. The goal of the program is to monitor the socio-political
and economic developments in order to identify the situations with crisis
potential. All issues available online in English at:
www.sar.org.ro/ewr.htm
Early Warning Report Romania, 1/2002, January
Early Warning Report Romania, 4/2002, June
Early Warning Report Romania, 5/2002, July
Early Warning Report Romania 6/2002, September
Early Warning Report Romania, 7/2002, November
Media Monitoring Agency, Academia Catavencu (www.freeex.org)
- Reports available online in English at
http://www.freeex.org/opinionsw.htm
A Report on the Freedom of Speech, October 2002
Press Freedom in Romania, Cases of Harassment on Journalists between January
2001 February 2002
Mediafax Divers Bulletin (www.divers.ro) - Weekly briefs reporting ethnic diversity (news and analysis, newsbriefs available in English)
Ministry of Public Information, The National Office for Roma Indicators Concerning the Rroma Communities in Romania (www.rroma.ro/resources.htm), 2002
Romanian Journal of Society and Politics, May 2002, Vol. 2, No.1, Bucharest (available in English, upon subscription, abstracts available at http://www.rjsp.ro) issue dedicated to �Corruption and Development�
Journal for Study of Religion and Ideology, No. 2, Autumn 2002, Cluj (available online, full text, in English at http://hiphi.ubbcluj.ro/JSRI/)
Sfera Politicii (The Politics Sphere), No. 100, Year X, 2002 (in Romanian, available online full text at http://www.sfera.50megs.com/) - issue dedicated to NATO
Altera, No. 17 18, 2002 (abstracts available online in English, magazine available on paper-based format, http://www1.proeuropa.ro/indexro.htm) - issue on Endangered Minority Cultures
Provincia (The Province), 7 issues available online, full text in Romanian and Hungarian, at http://www.provincia.ro/rindex.html Abstract from the project description (my translation): The publication aims at creating a common Hungarian- Romanian public space in Transylvania, by constructive interpretations of the traditions and common history.
Second Progress Report on economic and social cohesion published
(30 January 2003) Michel Barnier, Commissioner responsible for regional
policy, has today presented the Second Progress Report on economic and social
cohesion.
This report presents an update of the analysis of the situation and trends
emerging in the regions, along with the main topics of the debate during 2002 on
the future of cohesion policy. The report also reflects the results of the
accession negotiations with the 10 countries for which accession has been
confirmed in Copenhagen, and sets out the figures for the eligibility of their
regions under the Structural Funds between 2004 and 2006. In 2003, the debate on
the future of cohesion policy will continue to engage the principal parties
involved in the present and future Member States, in the regions, and in the EU
institutions.
* the text of the report can be also found on the EuroAtlantic Club web site, at
http://europe.org.ro/euroatlantic_club
The Poor and
the Market
The international network Social Watch has published its annual report "The
Poor and the Market" in which it points out that "the net transfer of financial
resources towards developing countries has been negative each year since 1997".
EUMAP: Minority Protection Reports (inter alia on Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia
and Roma)
EUMAP - http://www.eumap.org/
25 November 2002
MINORITY PROTECTION REPORTS RELEASED
"Monitoring Minority Protection in the EU Accession Process"
"Roma and Russian-speaking minorities in EU candidate countries still face
serious problems. Although the accession process has resulted in the adoption of
special policies to address these issues, they do not enjoy broad political or
public support, and implementation has been poor. Roma and Muslims within EU
member States also face disadvantage and exclusion and the EU is not prepared to
meet the additional challenges that enlargement will bring, as it lacks a
comprehensive framework for minority protection."
For the full text of the report "Monitoring Minority Protection":
http://www.eumap.org/reports/2002/
Volume One: "An Assessment of Selected Policies in Candidate States"
http://www.eumap.org/reports/2002/content/07
Volume Two: "Case Studies in Selected EU Member States"
http://www.eumap.org/reports/2002/content/09
Press releases, including a general release and individual country releases:
http://www.eumap.org/whatsnew/pressinfo/
DREE: Social
The DREE has published an edition of the Enlargement Review that indicates
that "the shock of transition and finance problems are weighing heavily on
social protection systems that are still weak."
UNAIDS: AIDS
For the very first time in 20 years of the existence of the AIDS epidemic
the number of women infected is the same as the number of men. The report
indicates that 38.6 million adults and 3.2 million children have contracted the
disease. The number of countries affected is increasing. Whilst there were no
reported cases in Eastern Europe ten years ago all the countries in this zone
are now affected.
EUROPEAN AUDITORS' COURT :
Annual Report
The annual report by the European Auditors' Court for 2001 is available. The
Court President, Juan Manual Fabra Vallés, will present it to the European
Parliament during a plenary session on 4th December.
Corruption
A study published by the Open Society Institute indicates that the corrupt
practices that exist at present in the enlargement countries could continue
after membership if the EU did not take strong steps to improve its
anti-corruption regulations.
Global Development Network
(GDN) announces
Call For Proposals: Country Studies ("Understanding Reform" )
Application deadline: November 15, 2002
Country studies will be selected based on a competitive process. Residents of
eligible countries are encouraged to send in proposals describing how they would
meet the challenge as outlined in the terms of reference. Particular emphasis
should be placed on the composition of the team, the main issues in your
country, testable hypotheses, and the methodological approach(es) to be used.
CVs of all researchers must be attached. The size of the team is not fixed but
should be set so as to meet the terms of reference, taking into account
budgetary considerations. At least 50% of all principal researchers must be
residents of a developing or transition country. Budgets should be included in
the submission. Total budgets should fall between US$30,000 and US$60,000, not
including travel to GDN's annual conference. It is GDN policy to provide
research grants based on local costs.Suggested format for proposals:
Each submission should contain at a minimum:
1. Justification for the study
- A very brief history of major economic and political reforms
- Why is it important to analyze the specific reform program of your country in
light of the General and Specific Objectives of the "Understanding Reform"
Project?
2. Objectives of the study and analytical framework
- Economic Reform Program(s) to be covered.
- Time period to be covered
- Analytical framework to be used
3. Main testable hypotheses
4. Methodology
5. Research output and dissemination
6. The research team
- Composition
- CVs of all researchers, including countries of residence and e-mails
- Why is the research team well suited for this work?
7. Budget and the Research Institution
- Budget
- Background of the research institution and research facilities
More information
gmcmahon@gdnet.org
Justice
The English think-tank has published a short document on Justice and Internal
Affairs (JAI) in which it suggests the majority vote on most questions relating
to the JAI, starting with immigration and the right to asylum.
Health
The "report on World Health in 2002 - reduce the risks and promote a healthy
lifestyle" describes the responsibility of morbidity, incapacity and mortality
attributable to some of the major risks to human health across the world. The
final aim is to help governments in all countries to extend life expectancy and
to improve the health of their populations.
REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE
The European Youth Forum has produced a Report on the Situation of Young
People in South East Europe, which gives an overview of existing research in the
field and which presents possible measures and recommendations for governments
in the region to help them deal with the challenges in the youth sector.
You can find the report in pdf version on:
http://www.youthforum.org
EWR Romania, 6/2002, September
Abstract
Romania's macro-economic performance has been surprisingly good over the last
two years. However, the 'Economy' section warns against some of the threats to
the current economic recovery. The accumulation of soft credits in the energy
sector presents the risk of generating Bancorex-type collapses. Unless public
utility companies undergo deep restructuring, the energy sector will continue to
plague the economy (low productivity, high real wages) and is likely to stifle
its growth. The Government should take determined actions in this respect,
sooner rather than later. Equally in the Economy section, it is argued that the
planned privatization of Romania's largest bank (BCR) and of its national oil
company (Petrom) should be handled with special care to avoid unintended
consequences. These are not just regular privatization deals, but are linked
with Romania's overall economic perspectives for years to come. The shortcomings
of the new Labor Code, and its damaging potential to the economy, are discussed
in the 'Social' section, which also focuses on the problems of the
institutionalized child-care system. The 'Politics' section discusses the
challenges and opportunities that the likely invitation to join NATO at the
Prague summit bring to Romania. Getting the invitation is just a new beginning,
not the end for Romania's efforts to prepare for full NATO membership. On a
controversial matter, the EWR considers that Romania's decision to sign a
bilateral treaty that exempts the US military from prosecution by the
International War Crimes Tribunal was the wisest decision under the
circumstances.
http://www.sar.org.ro/ewrpdf/ewr6ro2002.pdf
Revue Elargissement
Special SME's
Dossier N°26 - October 2002
How have SMEs developed
in Central Europe ?
Conference papers available on
www.dree.org/élargissement or www.oefz.at
Have 10 years of transition led to the birth of an enterprise culture in the
candidate countries? Not really. And yet the maturity of those economies,
together with their ability to withstand the shock of EU membership, will
henceforth be dependent on the development of their SMEs. The aims of the
Ljubljana conference, held last June jointly by the DREE-Enlargement network,
the CFA and IFRI, were to take stock of the situation and the challenges to be
overcome. Four of its contributors have kindly agreed to formulate their own
analysis for this special edition of the Newsletter.
Centre for European Policy Studies
Security
In the aftermath of 11th September a report entitled, "Changing conceptions
of security and their implications for EU justice and home affairs co-operation"
has been published.
World Health Organisation
Violence and Health
Its report "Violence and Health", analyses the European and world
situations.
Eastern Europe
The WHO has published a "Health Status Overview" on the countries in Central
and Eastern Europe who are candidates to join the EU – shedding light on the
weakness of the health indicators in these countries.
Privatization of railways transport
Romania does not consider selling its passenger transport, because of the
subsidies still received. On the other hand, the capital of CFR MARFA,
freight transport, could be opened to an operator in 3 to 4 years ; an
international public tender would then take place.
Enlargement Papers - Romania
The forecast envisages a continuation of recent favourable trends, most
notably sustained GDP growth, declining inflation and disciplined fiscal
behaviour.
