Is Romania a US Colony?

I sincerely hope it isn’t so. Let several of us be mistaken. In other words, let Mr. Cristian Diaconescu, presidential advisor and as a former minister of foreign affairs, be mistaken. Let Mark Gitenstein himself, the U.S. ambassador in Bucharest, be mistaken. Let me be mistaken as well. We could eventually think, through a spectacular exercise of imagination, of Romania becoming another one of the United States, embracing the U.S. constitution and being accepted by Washington. But then we would have equal rights: we, the citizens of this national territory, along with all the other U.S. citizens. In no way, however, could colonial status be accepted.

During several public interventions, His Excellency Mark Gitenstein was outspoken about political conflicts concerning Romania’s sovereignty. To be more explicit, the golden rule of diplomacy is that the representatives of a state do not interfere in the internal politics of the state to which they are assigned. They do not take one side or the other. The United States ambassador proved himself to be taking sides on several occasions, placing himself clearly on the side of the Traian Basescu regime, which he has publicly supported in several key electoral moments. The ambassador has thus broken one of the major rules governing relations between sovereign states.

At the same time, His Excellency Mark Gitenstein attacked the internal politics of Romania even more profoundly, intervening just as bluntly in matters pertaining to the administration of justice. In the first place, the U.S. ambassador manifested his sympathy toward Traian Basescu and his regime during key electoral moments. Secondly, he stated clearly that the person he trusts entirely in matters of justice is his advisor, Monica Macovei. We believed to her represent the interests of Romania while she was a part of the government. Now that she is a part of the European Parliament, Macovei supposedly represents, if not the interests of Romanians, at least those of Europeans. It seems, however, that this lady has yet another status: informal adviser to the United States ambassador. She gives His Excellency advice to support not only the good elements of Romania’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate, but also the abuse and aberrations that the representatives of this institution generate, with Daniel Morar front and center. The same goes for The National Agency of Integrity.

What is really going on?

I believed, until recently, that Ambassador Mark Gitenstein was paying tribute to the precariousness of his training in matters of diplomacy; being a sponsor in the presidential elections in the U.S., he was rewarded with a sinecure in Bucharest. From this position, he is trying to get his payoff by getting on good terms with the current regime. However, Cristian Diaconescu, well-experienced in the science of diplomacy, tells us something different. It is very serious. The U.S. ambassador is only forwarding Washington’s official messages.

If it is so, then we are treated as a colony. If it is so, then the press in the United States that signals the anomaly is right. (See The Julian News newspaper in California, May 30, 2012, page 5.) If it is so, we are faced with a situation that needs to change — immediately.