The Economist: New government, old problems in Romania

Newsroom 10/02/2012 | 12:30

In an ample piece dedicated to the political and social turmoil that Romania went through these past few weeks, the Economist says that “Romanians, weary of tax rises, pay cuts and poor public services, would find austerity policies more palatable if politicians stole less and communicated better.”

Speaking about the country’s president, the business publication says that “Traian Basescu has many qualities, but the good ones (earthy humour, boundless energy) are wearing thin and the tiresome ones (unpredictability, poor judgment) increasingly rile even his supporters. Now Romania’s president has lost his prime minister, the low-key Emil Boc, amid protests over austerity, corruption and general incompetence.”

About the new prime- minister MIhai Razvan Ungureanu, The Economist speaks as “a polyglot Oxford-educated historian who previously headed the foreign-intelligence service” adding that “it will be hard for his fresh-faced new team to regain lost ground before parliamentary elections in November. Mr Basescu’s own mandate lasts until 2014. Most Romanians already seem tired of him.”