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Romanian Prime Minister Admits He Has No Idea Why Romania Signed ACTA
- savramescu 15y agoI'm not surprised at all at Boc. I'm glad he resigned, but I don't think there will be a big improvement any time soon. For the rest of HN: there were mass demonstrations lately requesting his resignation; even the President asked him and he kept refusing. In the end it looks like he left.
- dan85 15y agoBe serious. 2000 people protesting in a town of 2 million is not a mass protest. A couple of hundred people people protesting in several other towns, which have a population of 300.000 each, is not a mass protest. Btw, do you remember what happened when one opposition politician tried to join the demonstrators? He had to be dragged out by police for his own safety. And to prove how dumb he is, he tried to do this once again a couple of days later, with the same outcome. Now, about ACTA, I don't think that ANY Romanian politician knows what it means. They just signed according to the instructions received from their EU groups.
- bad_user 15y ago1. People still don't realize that the Boc administration was the best thing that could happen to us. Our national debt is less than 40% of the GDP in a time of a global economic crisis. Of course it grew since 2009 from 25% so the trend is a little worrying, which is why the government implemented austerity measures, because 3 million people (the employees of private companies that pay taxes) cannot pay the bills for the rest without making cuts ... and all the money that came from privatization have been eaten by PSD. During Boc our economy was stable without drowning us in debt (compare with Greece's debt at 173% of GDP, or with Italy's and Ireland's which are at over 100%). Also take the stability of our national currency which historically has never been so stable. 2. I sympathize with the couple of hundred people that went to the streets. I would have gone myself, but instead of bitching about it I just work my ass off and make my own money, instead of begging for it. There's a reason why Germany recovered after 2 world wars in which they were bitch-slapped, plus the fall of the Berlin wall which left them in recession. And now they are again amongst the biggest economies (first in Europe, fourth world-wide) ... they aren't beggars, while we are.
- jakeonthemove 15y ago->2. I sympathize with the couple of hundred people that went to the streets. I would have gone myself, but instead of bitching about it I just work my ass off and make my own money, instead of begging for it. This. I know there are people who believe they have no opportunities, but most of the times they're wrong. There's ALWAYS an opportunity to make money and take care of yourself. Blaming the government and demanding that they take better care of you is just irresponsible.
- ck2 15y agoFunny how all the regrets are AFTERWARDS. Much easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission. "Oh well our bad, we'll just have to be plagued by these pesky rights-stripping laws."
- nknight 15y agoSigning a treaty is not the same as ratifying it. Ratification is necessary for it to go into force, and that hasn't happened yet. Countries fail to ratify treaties all the time.
- bane 15y agoBut it does represent a "convenient" and yet bizarre disconnect between the policy makers and the foreign service.
- mtarnovan 15y agoIs the article really suggesting that there might be a connection between ACTA and Boc's resignation ? Because that would be hilarious. (He resigned for an entirely different reason)
- rprime 15y agoNo, the resignation came after months of pressure from the population and even the president. But I assume (I hope) ACTA has a part too :)
- dan85 15y agoThis is clearly a political move in preparation for the coming elections. For example the resignation took place right AFTER the IMF visit (and I just lost a bet to an older friend who anticipated this since December). The current president is on the 2nd term and he cannot run for any more terms (in Romania you cannot be president more than twice). So a new candidate must be prepared. Because of this, the ex-prime minister made the most unpopular (but needed) reforms, and paved the way for a new person to become prime minister now, and presidential candidate soon. Basically, the ex prime minister will now take all "the bullets", from crap like ACTA, to pension reform, no matter how much it depended or not on him. BTW: let's not forget when the opposition party was in power 10 years ago and they used to send journalists to jail because they dared to uncover their theft (ie: "Armaggedon Reports"). So I doubt that they really are concerned about ACTA. It is more likely something extra to throw in the political battle.
- miahi 15y agoNo, there is no link between ACTA and the resignation. The resignation is a political move trying to calm down the Romanian revolts started in January.
- MichaelApproved 15y agoYes, but I think the OP is saying that the article added an update to the end in a way that makes it seems like ACTA and his resignation are associated. "Update: And... um... just like that, he's no longer Prime Minister, offering up his resignation today."
- rprime 15y agoRomania (its administration) has proved many times that it cannot think by itself, it just fallows others, with the mentality if others say so who are we to say otherwise. PS: I am romanian.
- jan_g 15y agoSadly, the same is true for majority of governments in European countries.
- nodata 15y agoFor the majority of European countries? Can you give some examples?
- Nathandim 15y agoGreece.
- ThomPete 15y agoDenmark, Germany, France
- CWIZO 15y agoSlovenia too. "If it's good for the USA/Germany/Italy/Austria then surly it has to be good for us too." that's how our politicians operate here :\
- genesiss 15y agoSlovenian ambassador in Japan, who signed it, was also sorry afterwards. When protests took place last Saturday, she asked people to be there on her behalf too.
- aerique 15y agoNetherlands
- mutation 15y agoCroatia also. Bunch of dimwits.
- mariusmg 15y agoHe signed because he was a puppet.
- JanezStupar 15y agoI am really glad that eastern European people are so vigilant about censorship and government control. It should still be known, that a lot of bad stuff has crept into EU law. But people are starting to gain awareness on these issues. And East EU people have no enthusiasm about reliving the Iron Curtain days.
- zowens1190 15y agoYes, and awareness is half the battle! The web has quickly become a main culture-driving force. As long as an open information environment exists, our global culture has the capacity to enter an Age of Reason where tactics of oppression and manipulation in the past will rarely be revisited. Making thinkers more proactive is the chief concern, though. Too often, they will philosophize until their tongues almost fall off, but when it comes to preventing future infringements upon their rights, they just assume they will be fine. Next thing they know, someone's cut off their tongue, and they are rendered speechless.
- moonchrome 15y ago>I am really glad that eastern European people are so vigilant about censorship and government control. Ironic that they are "worried" about "government control" given how often their governments control huge chunks of the economy, private sector and the general distrust and vilification of capitalism (you think the OWS is bad, wait till you hear the ex-commies and philosophy professors talking about social justice to the plebs, these guys are in the government here). It's more about them being pissed off about piracy prevention which is common not only for personal use but also in businesses.
- Maro 15y agoI'm not sure why your comment was downvoted, as it's pretty much spot on. I'm Hungarian.
- m_for_monkey 15y agoThe same was said and downvoted last week when the Poles demonstrated: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3515839 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3515839.
- hexagon 15y agoRomania has lobbyists, and i'm sure that RIAA or some Motion Picture association paid for someone's car or vacation or something. Of course, they didn't have to work as hard as in the US for SOPA, because as it was said before, our politicians are little copying puppets.
- hurrycane 15y agoThe Prime Minister actually quit yesterday so it's the "former" Prime Minister.
- Nate75Sanders 15y agoThis is so absurd that it sounds like a headline from The Onion. Truth is stranger than fiction, I guess.
- InclinedPlane 15y agoAbsurd, but not unusual today. Members of the US congress have admitted freely that they have voted for bills without having read them. Indeed, our speaker of the house even once said that it was necessary to "pass the bill to find out what's in it", because apparently reading it was out of the question: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KoE1R-xH5To http://youtube.com/watch?v=KoE1R-xH5To
- bad_user 15y agoJust a note: the resignation of the prime-minister had nothing to do with ACTA.
- rsanchez1 15y agoIt happens when a treaty is drafted in secret and the leading countries behind it don't have open debate on it before signing it.