'Romanians know Russia better than you, so trust us'

Horia-Roman Patapievici is the president of the Romanian Cultural Institute. He is a physicist, essayist and columnist for leading center-left, intellectual papers in Romania.

In the run-up to the European elections, what issues are being debated in your country? Are these national issues or EU-issues?

"The issues debated are almost exclusively national. The political debate in Romania is always self-centred. The most heated debate is focused on the presidential elections, which will probably be held in November of this year, because president Basescu's positions and comments are at the heart of the political struggle."

A key issue in European politics is market ideology. In your country, is there debate about whether the market ideology of Brussels needs amendments, or instead needs to be defended and even strengthened?

"If by market ideology you understand the idea that the freedom of the market is something desirable and good in itself, then I think that in Romania there is a fairly clear consensus that the social order of private property, or capitalism, should be defended. We know too much about the economic monstrosity of socialism, or a state-controlled economy, to think or act otherwise.

"Whether this implies further deregulation or some kind of softer and much more intelligent further regulation is debatable. I think that in the Romanian debate this distinction is rather poor: right-wing and left-wing parties equally endorse the idea that there should be some kind of regulation; they differ mainly when it comes to tax policies."

Another key issue is euroscepticism. Would you say that, in your country, support for the EU has changed? In what way? If so, why? Is there a populist protest against Brussels?

"No, there is neither euro-scepticism in Romania, nor populist protest against Brussels. For Romanians the reintegration of Romania into Europe is a matter of national identity."

How would voters in your country like the EU to develop itself? Do they support the Lisbon treaty? Would they support a joint foreign policy? A more powerful central bank? What are the limits for further European unification?

"The Lisbon treaty is virtually unknown here. Romanian voters, I think, would support a joint foreign policy if and only if the EU, as a matter of principle, would adopt a position towards Russia that would resembles the Eastern Europeans countries' view about Russia. 'We know Russia’s politics better than you, so trust us,' they would say.

"A more powerful central bank would be acceptable because the monetary policy of the Romanian central bank in the last fifteen years has been beneficial for the Romanians, and they tend to trust the idea of a powerful central bank, provided it is competent and accountable.

"As for the limits for unification, it is hard to say because there has been no public debate and no clear positions were formulated. As a general rule, Romanians endorse a concept of unification which preserves national identity and respects their view about their past, which is an essential part of their current self-proclaimed identity."

Could you name an anecdote that captures the atmosphere around the European elections in your country?

"During this European elections campaign Romanians do not discuss Europe or European issues: we only debate endlessly about the candidates for the future presidential elections who, with the exception of the current president, never mention European issues either. So we treat the European elections as a pretext for domestic elections. It is not a funny anecdote, but is does capture the moral temper of the day and the misuse of what might have been an excellent occasion to really join Europe institutionally."