A little deception with NATO’s Consent / How is it possible for a military alliance to turn a blind eye to such a thing?

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoană, unscrupulously uses his official position within the North Atlantic Alliance to conduct a rampant electoral campaign in Romania. In almost all polls, Geoană invariably comes out on top. Measured against weak leaders, the NATO official seems the strongest. And it’s only natural. Romanians would always choose the NATO uniform, the character who occupies an important position in the hierarchy of the North Atlantic Alliance over the dismal figures in Romanian politics. However, the rankings look entirely different if Geoană competes against heavyweights, no matter how many military decorations he may add to himself.

From his position as a NATO official, Mircea Geoană has intensified his electoral campaign in Romania, sending every possible signal that he aims for the presidency at Cotroceni, but has not yet made an official announcement. Doing so would mean he’d have to resign immediately from a position that brings him numerous image benefits domestically. Once stripped of the NATO cloak, what remains of Geoană are only Vanghelie’s watches and a closet full of skeletons, accumulated over his political career in Romania, at the top of PSD or in other ventures with the mayor of the fifth sector, convicted of corruption.

Cristian Pantazi has extensively written about Mircea Geoană’s candidacy strategy; I won’t repeat that information here. The subject today is different: the deception of the public and, more importantly, NATO’s endorsement of this minor deceit. Geoană tells everyone that he will be the future president of Romania because he enjoys the backing of the Americans with NATO at the forefront. How is it possible for a prestigious military alliance to allow a high-ranking official to use its resources, symbols, and credibility to campaign electorally in his home country.

G4Media.ro has conclusively demonstrated that Geoană is utilizing Alliance resources, given that he has visited Romania, in his capacity as a NATO official, 18 times in just the last year. He has hired a communication team exclusively in Romania, which publicizes his NATO official actions for political purposes. During the same time frame, G4Media identified only two visits to other countries on the eastern flank of the Alliance (one visit to Lithuania, one to Bulgaria, and no visits to Poland, Estonia, Latvia, or Hungary). Inappropriately for a military alliance, NATO has twice refused to answer specific questions posed by G4Media.ro regarding the total number of trips by country, the costs borne by NATO, and other clarifications.

A NATO official, speaking under conditions of anonymity, provided the same standard phrase each time, which clarifies nothing: ‘The Deputy Secretary-General regularly travels to represent NATO, including in the past few months to Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The travel costs for official visits are borne by NATO, while his private travels are self-funded.

Mr. Geoană is entirely free to do as he wishes, but I believe the time has come for him to choose: either he is the Deputy Secretary-General, or a candidate in Romania. He cannot be both. The code of conduct of his organization stipulates that ‘we do not use our position within NATO or information we possess to improperly secure a future job for ourselves’. Yet, this is precisely what Mr. Geoană is doing: attempting to improperly secure a future job, possibly at Cotroceni. Some say he won’t even become a candidate and that he is aggressively negotiating with the PSD for his future job. This scenario cannot be ruled out, although he now seems very determined to fiercely contest next year’s presidential elections.

Contrary to Ion Iliescu’s opinion, Mircea Geoană is not a fool but extremely skilled. It’s not the one who asks who is foolish, but the one who gives. Therefore, the problem primarily lies with NATO, which allows him to play at candidacy in his country under the banner of the Alliance, and only then with Mr. Geoană. A certain complicity between the NATO chief, a former left-wing politician and former Prime Minister of Norway, and his deputy, also a former left-wing politician and briefly President of Romania, can be understood to some extent. However, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General and Mr. Geoană’s boss, should decide what kind of organization he is leading: a military alliance uninvolved in internal political games or an employment agency, respectively a travel agency for candidates without party and resources.