Article originally appeared in Romanian on Antena3 - read the original and watch the interview here: https://www.antena3.ro/politica/fost-ambasador-al-sua-in-romania-criza-politica-din-tara-este-urmarita-si-la-washington-vad-o-miscare-impotriva-americii-792613.html
Former US Ambassador to Romania Adrian Zuckerman appeared Thursday on Antena 3 CNN, stating that the political situation in Bucharest is closely followed in Washington and that America remains Romania's primary partner. "I've seen other countries that Mr. Bolojan is trying to align with — countries that don't care about Romania. That's a very serious mistake," he added.
Zuckerman also criticized the ongoing government formation deadlock, noting Romania has been without a government for weeks.
"I'd like to look at the things that are affecting the country at a higher level. And what's affecting it is the absence of a government. For about five or six weeks now, Romania has had no government. The people blocking the formation of a new government are, in my opinion, completely irresponsible.
Bolojan's suggestion to form a new government like the previous one — with UDMR and USR, parties that were, as I understand it, voted out — for good reasons, bad reasons, it doesn't matter. He couldn't reach an agreement with the other parties, and I said this before: you need the ability and the vision to strike a deal with others, to move forward on a common path.
Mr. Bolojan couldn't do that, which is why he reached a point where the other parties said: 'No, enough — we need someone else, we don't like what you're doing.' And so they voted against him.
Since then, President Nicușor Dan has tried to form a new government, and Bolojan, UDMR, and USR have voted against everything — which is a serious mistake. These are personal egos at play, and my impression is that they don't care about the Romanian people. There needs to be a government. If the government does something wrong, Parliament can deal with that — but there has to be a government.
Romania is in an economic crisis unlike any it has faced before. Blocking a new government is irresponsible.
People who think the American government, the US Senate, and Congress don't know what's happening here are wrong. Everything is known. I was in Washington last week."
Asked what American partners think about Romania's political crisis, Zuckerman replied:
"That there needs to be a government here, that what's happening isn't right. I see a Soros-aligned movement, I see a drift to the left, I see a movement against America. I see many things here that I believe are more true than not.
This is a serious mistake — because America has been and continues to be Romania's best friend since the Revolution.
We know very well that there are people around Bolojan who say a lot of nonsense about America that simply isn't true, and who are making deals with European countries that are not, in my opinion, in Romania's interest. A country like Germany doesn't care about Romania. We've seen Germany's closeness with Russia in the past. I've seen the other countries Bolojan is trying to align with — none of them care about Romania. That's a very, very serious mistake."
Asked whether the Veștea Government has a chance of passing a parliamentary vote, he said:
"I hope so. I hope every MP will disregard threats from people like Bolojan about expulsion from the party. I'm not even sure such threats are entirely legal — because if you're expelled from a party, under Romania's parliamentary election system, you can't easily be replaced on the list, since lists are set by party leadership.
I think every MP should decide based on what they believe is best for the Romanian people — not based on orders from party bosses. Threatening people with expulsion doesn't seem right to me. I don't know Romanian law in detail, but morally, it doesn't seem acceptable.
