The door of the Airbus plane opens, and the Foreign Minister at Coanda airport beats a humid heat. The weather suits the situation in the country, because the visit of Heiko Maas in Romania's capital is a short visit to a crisis state of the EU. It was only in August that there were protests in Bucharest against the policies of the post-communists, the ruling Social Democratic Party PSD. There were more than 400 injured.
The demonstration, organized by exiled Romanians from Western countries, joined in the protests that since the spring of 2017 against the impending extinction of the separation of powers, against the rampant corruption and impunity policy affected. In the criticism stands, among other things, the already convicted for abuse of office and election manipulation in 2015 presiding judge of the ruling "Partidul Social Democrat" (PSD), Liviu Dragnea. The President of the House of Representatives is seen as the driver of the controversial reform laws, which from the perspective of their critics undermine the judiciary.
The motorcade of Maas, which leads him with his escort to the Ambassador Conference of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a hotel, not only happens to the PSD party headquarters, but also the central Victory Square, on which the protests escalated on 10 August. Only a tent-like accommodation of a determined demonstrator can still be seen. The country is still in the holidays until mid-September. How it goes on is an open question. The PSD leader recently accused even President Klaus Johannis of high treason, because the alleged "with extra-parliamentary means" would overthrow the government. This was preceded by the criticism of Johannis on the policy of the coalition government of PSD and the Alde Party. In Bucharest Maas met not only Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu, but also Johannis, who belongs to the German minority in the country.
Clear words from Maas
Romania will take over the presidency of the EU at the beginning of 2019, for the first time since its membership. At the Radisson Blu hotel, where guests cool off outside in the pool, Maas gives a speech to the Romanian diplomats, praising the role of the country as the main troop leader in the multinational brigade and promising to help shape the Eastern Partnership.
At the same time, however, Maas reminds the leadership in Bucharest of its moderation in the domestic conflict. Europe had to live up to the values it had set for itself - "democracy, the rule of law, human rights and freedom of the press". Every EU member state bears responsibility for this, said Maas, looking ahead to the coming year. This applies to the country that holds the Presidency "but once again in a very special way".
These are clear words for a Foreign Minister. It worries Germany that just a dispute over values, politics and society in Romania has polarized for a year and a half, even led to violent confrontations. He advocates a "middle ground" in the controversial reform of the judiciary, is convinced that it is possible "to find the right balance of separation of powers between legislature, executive and judiciary".
In the morning, Maas had already spoken at the Ambassador Conference of the Foreign Office in Berlin to the top diplomats of his house. There he had again, as later in similar form in Bucharest, presented his strategic concept in the times of the new US policy under Donald Trump: an "alliance of multilateralism". In which, according to Maas in Berlin and Bucharest, there should be a "new, balanced partnership with the USA". Germany and Romania benefited "more than others from rule-based cooperation, from open markets, from cooperation with the US on security issues".
"Not the slightest worry about the course of the Presidency"
In Bucharest, Maas also addresses refugee policy. The largest fission fungus had been the subject of migration in the EU, it would remain a fission fungus, "if we reduce solidarity to the question of fixed quotas for redistribution". European solidarity can also be expressed differently, Maas points to Romania. Bucharest, he praises, has participated in resettlement and resettlement programs for refugees.
In Bucharest, Maas is also concerned with the power options of China, which relies on partners in Eastern European EU countries with its Silk Road project - 1 plus 16. That should not divide the EU, because if "our cohesion will be undermined, we lose in the end all". That, according to Maas, also applies to Russia. Germany shares Romania's concern that Russia is becoming ever more self-confident around the Black Sea. According to Maas, the EU must get more involved - as in the Baltic States - as well as in the southeast, "with Romania as the central pillar".
After the speech, there will be a brief press conference showing the foreign minister how difficult the situation in the country is. Romania's Foreign Minister is being asked by a journalist of the ARD after the controversial judicial reform, what his country could do to dispel concerns during the Council presidency. Melescanu evades, does not specifically comment on the question. He has, he says, "not the slightest concern over the course of the Council Presidency". After all, the Foreign Minister is very clearly against verbal attacks against the German minority in the country. He disapproved of any position that would deny the reputation of the German minority. The Germans in Romania have shown their loyalty in the centennial history of modern Romania.