Book of the Year (1995): World Affairs: ROMANIA

ROMANIA

A republic on the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe, Romania has a coastline on the Black Sea. Area: 237,500 sq km (91,699 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 22,740,000. Cap.: Bucharest. Monetary unit: leu, with (Oct. 7, 1994) a free rate of 1,746 lei to U.S. $1 (2,777 lei = £1 sterling). President in 1994, Ion Iliescu; prime minister, Nicolae Vacaroiu.

In January 1994 Romania became the first of 22 countries to sign the NATO Partnership for Peace agreement, and in July the Commission of the European Union (EU) recommended the expansion of its association agreement with Romania, signed on Feb. 1, 1993, to include wider commercial concessions. At the beginning of September the U.S. Congress accepted Pres. Bill Clinton's recommendation to extend Romania's most-favoured-nation trade status for another year.

Economic progress continued to be uneven. The inertia that characterized the government's approach to mass privatization in 1993 led to the shifting of the movement for reform to the International Monetary Fund. As a stimulus for reform the IMF approved a stand-by agreement for Romania on May 11 amounting to $700 million over the next 19 months. This triggered additional external assistance from international financial institutions, with the EU pledging ECU 90 million and the World Bank releasing part of its loan for privatization. In line with the IMF agreement, the government announced its Mass Privatization Plan (MPP) on July 22. The minister for economic reform said that almost 3,000 companies (the majority already profitable) would be privatized. Following the announcement the scheme was amended by the privatization commissions of the national legislature, and it was unlikely that the MPP would be implemented before early 1995.

Doubts about the government's ability to meet the privatization targets stemmed from its dependency for a parliamentary majority on the ultranationalist Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR) and the Greater Romania Party. Both of these parties opposed any significant privatization that involved foreign capital. Foreign companies continued to face legal difficulties in acquiring outright ownership of land, and there was still doubt as to whether even a Romanian-registered company could acquire such ownership. In 1994 more than 30% of the land confiscated by the communists in 1949 remained in the hands of the state. These restrictions, coupled with the continued inconsistency in fiscal legislation and its arbitrary application, kept foreign investment--largely restricted to joint ventures--at a modest level in comparison with that in most of the other former communist nations of Eastern Europe; in September it stood at $953 million.

Notable success was achieved in reducing inflation. Figures indicated that the government should meet its target of 75-80% inflation for 1994 (down from 300% in 1993). Exports for the first half of 1994 rose 41% compared with the same period in 1993. Unemployment, at 10.4% (1.2 million) in September 1994, was rising slowly.

On the political front the behaviour of the PUNR created problems for the government. The fourth largest party in the legislature since the September 1992 elections, the PUNR, under its leader Gheorghe Funar, exploited nationalist sensibilities among the mixed Romanian-Hungarian population in its Transylvanian stronghold of Cluj. One of Funar's most controversial acts was triggered by the collapse of the pyramid investment scheme Caritas, with which his party was closely linked. In an effort to distract attention from the scandal arising from this affair, Funar in July ordered excavations to begin in the town centre that might have resulted in the removal of a statue of the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, a native of Cluj regarded as a symbolic bridge between Hungarians and Romanians in Transylvania. In response, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (HDUR) organized a protest rally in the city. The situation was defused as a result of government intervention, which led to the site of the excavation being moved.

Given the conflicts and tensions in the region, great emphasis was being placed by European governments on the need for Hungary and Romania to normalize their relations. Both countries received numerous signals from abroad to this effect, not least from the EU, which told all Eastern European governments that a resolution of outstanding minority and frontier issues was a precondition of integration into the organization.

Further complicating the situation, hard-liners in the HDUR were driving the party toward a radicalization of its policies. At the beginning of August the HDUR demanded special status for areas of Transylvania occupied by "compact Hungarian population," including greater control over education and culture. The HDUR also requested that Hungary include these demands in the proposed bilateral treaty with Romania. This announcement drew protests from all the major political parties in Romania.

(DENNIS J. DELETANT)

This article updates the Macropædia article BALKAN STATES: Romania.

Events of 1996

Events of 1995

Events of 1993

		ROMANIA A republic on the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe, Romania has a coastline on the Black Sea. Area: 237,500 sq km (91,699 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 22,740,000. Cap.: Bucharest. Monetary unit: leu, with (Oct. 7, 1994) a free rate of 1,746 lei to U.S. $1 (2,777 lei = £1 sterling). President in 1994, Ion Iliescu; prime minister, Nicolae Vacaroiu. In January 1994 Romania became the first of 22 countries to sign the NATO Partnership for Peace agreement, and in July the Commission of the European Union (EU) recommended the expansion of its association agreement with Romania, signed on Feb. 1, 1993, to include wider commercial concessions. At the beginning of September the U.S. Congress accepted Pres. Bill Clinton's recommendation to extend Romania's most-favoured-nation trade status for another year. Economic progress continued to be uneven. The inertia that characterized the government's approach to mass privatization in 1993 led to the shifting of the movement for reform to the International Monetary Fund. As a stimulus for reform the IMF approved a stand-by agreement for Romania on May 11 amounting to $700 million over the next 19 months. This triggered additional external assistance from international financial institutions, with the EU pledging ECU 90 million and the World Bank releasing part of its loan for privatization. In line with the IMF agreement, the government announced its Mass Privatization Plan (MPP) on July 22. The minister for economic reform said that almost 3,000 companies (the majority already profitable) would be privatized. Following the announcement the scheme was amended by the privatization commissions of the national legislature, and it was unlikely that the MPP would be implemented before early 1995. Doubts about the government's ability to meet the privatization targets stemmed from its dependency for a parliamentary majority on the ultranationalist Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR) and the Greater Romania Party. Both of these parties opposed any significant privatization that involved foreign capital. Foreign companies continued to face legal difficulties in acquiring outright ownership of land, and there was still doubt as to whether even a Romanian-registered company could acquire such ownership. In 1994 more than 30% of the land confiscated by the communists in 1949 remained in the hands of the state. These restrictions, coupled with the continued inconsistency in fiscal legislation and its arbitrary application, kept foreign investment--largely restricted to joint ventures--at a modest level in comparison with that in most of the other former communist nations of Eastern Europe; in September it stood at $953 million. Notable success was achieved in reducing inflation. Figures indicated that the government should meet its target of 75-80% inflation for 1994 (down from 300% in 1993). Exports for the first half of 1994 rose 41% compared with the same period in 1993. Unemployment, at 10.4% (1.2 million) in September 1994, was rising slowly. On the political front the behaviour of the PUNR created problems for the government. The fourth largest party in the legislature since the September 1992 elections, the PUNR, under its leader Gheorghe Funar, exploited nationalist sensibilities among the mixed Romanian-Hungarian population in its Transylvanian stronghold of Cluj. One of Funar's most controversial acts was triggered by the collapse of the pyramid investment scheme Caritas, with which his party was closely linked. In an effort to distract attention from the scandal arising from this affair, Funar in July ordered excavations to begin in the town centre that might have resulted in the removal of a statue of the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, a native of Cluj regarded as a symbolic bridge between Hungarians and Romanians in Transylvania. In response, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (HDUR) organized a protest rally in the city. The situation was defused as a result of government intervention, which led to the site of the excavation being moved. Given the conflicts and tensions in the region, great emphasis was being placed by European governments on the need for Hungary and Romania to normalize their relations. Both countries received numerous signals from abroad to this effect, not least from the EU, which told all Eastern European governments that a resolution of outstanding minority and frontier issues was a precondition of integration into the organization. Further complicating the situation, hard-liners in the HDUR were driving the party toward a radicalization of its policies. At the beginning of August the HDUR demanded special status for areas of Transylvania occupied by "compact Hungarian population," including greater control over education and culture. The HDUR also requested that Hungary include these demands in the proposed bilateral treaty with Romania. This announcement drew protests from all the major political parties in Romania. (DENNIS J. DELETANT) This article updates the Macropædia article BALKAN STATES: Romania. Events of 1996 Events of 1995 Events of 1993
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