As Romania gears up for the second round of its presidential election rerun, the country’s Interim President Ilie Bolojan has told Euronews Romania that there is no escaping the need for extra spending to keep the country safe.
“We have a war on our border, and any rational Romanian has come to understand that defence is no longer a free service,” Bolojan said.
“The fact that we are a safe country is not a matter that comes naturally. Defence also means some costs.”
He pointed out that while the US spends over 3% of its GDP on its defence spending, part of which goes to the defence of Europe under the NATO umbrella in particular, some other European countries have outpaced Romania to spend 2% or more of their GDP on defence.
In his view, Romania’s position next door to Ukraine is simply too dangerous for its spending not to keep up.
“As we are the closest (in eastern Europe) to the conflict zone, along with Poland and the Baltic countries, we certainly feel this threat quite strongly,” he told Euronews Romania. “And therefore Romania, like other countries, will have to increase its defence budget.”
Bolojan also pointed out a wider European problem: a pattern of intractable political division that obstructs decision-making at a time when addressing foreign threats is paramount.
“These states are using what little energy they have left to solve their internal problems, not to make policies that will bring them to their full potential,” he said, recalling that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine immediately represented a threat to his own country.
“It was in our country’s interest that the Ukrainian front did not fall, because any rapprochement with Russia, any advance westwards, along the Black Sea coast, for example, towards the Republic of Moldova, was an aggravating factor for Romania and for the security of Europe,” he said.
“Therefore, I supported (contributing to the Ukrainian defence against Russia’s war) because, first and foremost, it is in the interests of our country and of Europe, but also out of solidarity with Ukraine, because they are not fighting for themselves alone.”
Living within means
Bolojan also told Euronews Romania that the election’s political implications are inseparable from the country’s difficult fiscal position.
“We have been spending more than we could afford for many years,” he explained, “and this budget deficit is financed through borrowing. And the very important stake for us is to continue to finance the deficit.”
“The second important issue is to maintain Romania’s rating at the current level, because that means confidence in our country, for investors, for creditors. And all these things also depend on a certain political stability.”
“The stakes of these elections (are) more important than other elections, when the country was, let’s say, in a stable situation, when we had no external turbulence.”
Bolojan was unambiguous about which candidate he thinks can handle this foreboding situation.
“My vote would certainly go to Mr Nicușor Dan for president,” he said.
“I will do this because I believe that he is the only candidate who can offer firm guarantees regarding the perception of Romania, and that he has the capacity, having also had the great experience of the General City Hall of Bucharest — a rather complex structure — to conduct a civilised dialogue with all political forces, regardless of their views, in such a way that a critical mass can be found to take Romania forward.”
