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RADOR: News from Romania, 98-04-28
April 28, 1998
CONTENTS
[01] PNTCD Senator Ulm Spineanu Elected as Deputy Speaker of the Seanate
[02] Two State Counsellors Designated
[03] The Scandal Goes On: Cigarette Smuggling at Otopeni Airport;
[04] Statement of SRI Director Costin Georgescu
[05] PDSR senators react
[06] PNTCD leadership condemns PRM actions
[07] Romanian defence minister met his Norwegian counterpart
[01] PNTCD Senator Ulm Spineanu elected as deputy speaker of the Senate
Following a second round of voting, Senator Ulm Spineanu of the ruling
Christian Democrat National Peasant Party (PNTCD) was elected deputy
speaker of the Romanian Senate on Monday. RADOR
[02] Two state counsellors designated
By prime minister's decision, Costin Borc was designated as state
counsellor, prime minister's counsellor for political affairs and
coordinator of prime minister's office while Columban Gabor was designated
as state counsellor, prime minister's cousellor for public administration
affairs. Costin Borc, now assistant lecturer at the Economics Faculty of
the Wisconsin-Madison University, was forAer PNTCD executive secretary.
Columban Gabor, a member of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
Romania (UDMR), was the former president of the Council of Harghita County.
RADOR
[03] The scandal goes on: cigarette smuggling at Otopeni Airport
Interior Minister Dejeu: "Flagrant is normal"
At a PNTCD press conference on Monday, Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu made
some comments concerning the "cigarette case" at Otopeni Airport. He
informed that three officers were involved in the case: two army officers
and a SPP (Romanian Guard and Protection Services) officer. Three men were
arrested: commander Ioan Suciu - former head of the Otopeni military
airport, a captain suspected accomplice, and Vasile Negoescu - the owner of
the storehouse where the cigarette tracks were supposed to go. SPP colonel
Gheorghe Trutulescu is under general pursuit while engineer Dumitru Popescu,
former shift chief at Otopeni military airport, is under inquiry. Minister
Dejeu said that "the flagrant" wAs an absolutely normal strategy the
authorities could use in order to solve a case, and parallel information
structures would be subject to careful examination as they became very
active in recent days. RADOR
[04] Statement of SRI Director Costin Georgescu
In a statement to the press on Monday, the director of the Romanian
Intelligence Service (SRI) Costin Georgescu has informed that, at the end
of last March, his institution has received some reports concerning an
international cigarette smuggling operation including Cyprus, Greece and
Bulgaria. The network used cargo-planes in international airports and
threatened the national security of Romania. The "Cigarette" scandal
resulted in a series of investigations. In the evening of April 16, special
control measures were taken at Otopeni International Airport. At 11.45 PM
and IL plane coming from Athens landed on the international airport and
went directly to the military airport. The landing was coordinated against
current regulatAons as neither the border police nor the Otopeni customs
were announced. As the authorities wanted to intercept the entire network
up to its last segment, the cigarette transport was not stopped neither at
the airport nor on its way to the storehouse. Further on, Mr Georgescu has
explained that his service has efficiently cooperated with the customs
police, the Financial Guard and the Ministry of the Interior. A meeting at
the Cotroceni Palace took place in the second day of the Easter.
Participants included the interior minister, the attorney general,
representatives of the Financial Guard and Customs General Directorate as
well as SRI officials. According to the SRI director, the operation was
extremely spectacular and unvailed an entire network of international
smugglers. There is a firm committment to complete the inquiry and punish
those involved, Mr Georgescu said. RADOR
[05] PDSR senators react
In the opening of the Romanian Senate session on Monday, the senators
representAng the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR)
have called for a joint session of the two houses in parliament to
designate an inquiry commission into the cigarette affair at Otopeni
military airport.
Statement of Nicolae Alexandru, Chief Commissioner for defence, public
order and national security in the Romanian Senate
"In my opinion, the main problem is how far this dirty affair is supposed
to hit. If only persons are involved, then we know that similar cases could
be seen even in more civilised communities; if the affair is hitting too
high, then it means that institutions are involved, and all the trouble
becomes more serious. Anyway, I am convinced that my colleagues will accept
to hear the information provided by those who know what happened at
Otopeni. In my opinion, the national security was threatened, and I could
explain my reasons. As we are facing difficulties to make up a Budget given
the lack of funds, the alleged 17 billion lei damage to the stateABudget
could be seen as a threat to our national security. The cigarette smuggling,
the money laundring, all this organised crime lead me to that conclusion.
Therefore, tough measures should be taken", Chief Commissioner Nicolae
Alexandru said on Monday.
Statement of PDSR Senator Radu Timofte
Referring to the cigarette smuggling operation at Otopeni military airport,
PDSR Senator Radu Timofte said that PDSR MP groups in both houses of
parliament have asked for an emergency joint session to designate an
inquiry commission into all aspects of the operation. "We are sure that
only discovering the truth we can prove that PDSR was not the party of the
corrupted. The real corruption is among those in power today", Mr Timofte
said. The senator has accused President Emil Constantinescu that he did not
issued a strong condamnation of such a clear smuggling case: "There are
three possibilities: he knew about the smuggling or those close to him
fooled him once again or, by all means, heAonly wanted to preserve his
image untouched. (...) The duplicity, inconsequence and hypocrisy of his
institution are much to our concern". The senator expressed his hope that
Romanian media would finally "discover the hidden truth". RADOR
[06] PNTCD leadership condemns PRM actions
PNTCD leadership condemns the claims in the document sent by the Greater
Romania Party (PRM) to some European institutions. In its opinion, such
claims badly damage the image of our country abroad. At a PNTCD press
conference on Monday, President Ion Diaconescu said his party wopuld issue
a statement on the matter and would call on those intitled to put an end to
such moves representing an attack against the Romanian autorities. Interior
Minister Gavril Dejeu said the PRM document represents a "last dirty proof
of the moral deterioration that some political forces have suffered". He
believes that the move proves the inefficiency of the law. "Insult and
calumny are crimes punished by the Romania law, but thAy were never
sanctioned as they should be", Mr Dejeu concluded. RADOR
[07] Romanian defence minister met his Norwegian counterpart
After his first round of talks in Bucharest on Monday with his Norwegian
counterpart on a visit to Bucharest Romanian Defence Minister Victor Babiuc
has informed that discussions focused on two topics: bilateral and
international relations. The two officials have discussed the positions of
the countries invited to join NATO as well as issues concerning the
Partnership for Peace, and recent developments in the Balkans and former
Yugoslavia. The Romanian minister said Norway was ready to support any
candidate meeting the NATO accession criteria. Norwegian Defence Minister
Dag Jostein Fyarvoll admitted that both countries had different views on
some security policy issues, but, at the same time, they agreed on other
issues such as those concerning peace and stability or the strategies of
preventing future conflicts. He added that this common task could be hAt
through an enlarged international cooperation. RADOR
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