The explosion of incompetence at the top of the Romanian state

The highest representatives of the Romanian state have been talking nonsense in front of the whole world for two days. With half of Europe’s leaders invited to the Cotroceni, where the Three Seas Summit is taking place, Romania has made a big, grand, planetary fool of itself, showing everyone how incapable it is of handling a security incident and how superficially it treats the war next door.

President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday called for „a professional investigation”, the third day after Ukraine informed Romania on Monday that a Russian drone had exploded on Romanian territory. Until today, the Romanian state, led by the president, prime minister, foreign minister and defence minister, vehemently denied the incident.

What did all these senior officials rely on when they misinformed domestic and foreign public opinion? On the hearsay officially circulated by the army led by an English professor, a monument of incompetence who could be seen running on Wednesday through the bushes of Plauru, the area where the Russian drone allegedly exploded? What was the defense minister doing there and why is Angel Tîlvăr still in office?

The incompetence installed at the top of MApN – symptomatic of Romania in recent years – has generated a communication disaster, amplifying distrust in the state and institutions after a long string of internal misfortunes. They all bear the PSD’s signature, from the Horror Care Homes, the Crevedia explosion to this ridiculous defense minister scouring the Delta for drone debris that everyone has seen but him.

„If it is confirmed that these elements came from a Russian drone, such a situation would be completely unacceptable and a serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Romania, a NATO ally,” said the head of state at the opening of the Three Seas Summit, which brings together heads of state and government from all 12 participating states, as well as representatives from the United States, the European Commission and Germany – strategic partners of the I3M.

The day before, the same Klaus Iohannis assured the domestic and foreign public that „we have checked absolutely everything”, that the Romanian state has „total control” over the airspace” and that there are no exploded drones except, at most, in the Ukrainians’ heads.

„There were no parts and no drones and no other parts of any device that ended up in Romania. We have full control over our airspace, we have checked absolutely everything and I can reassure the population. There was nothing that reached Romania, but yes, we are concerned because these attacks are taking place at a very short distance from the Romanian border.”

Impressed by President Iohannis’ German precision, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, present at the joint press conference, exclaimed: „If the president of the country says so, I believe it”.

Now what should Luxembourg PM say? Which Klaus Iohannis should he believe, the one from Monday or the one from Wednesday? Would he feel protected, safe, if he were a Romanian citizen?

I repeat, the security incident treated totally unprofessionally by the Romanian authorities took place under the noses of the heads of state and government of 12 countries invited to Bucharest for a regional summit.

I cannot remember a more shameful moment in the recent history of the Romanian state, a continuous explosion of incompetence, of non-functioning institutions, a danger to itself. Prime Minister Ciolacu is the head of government and he has a decision to make about yet another PSD minister who has given his own proof of incompetence in spades.

Not a week has passed since the same out-of-touch president posed as a tourist in the Delta, inviting his compatriots to visit this mythical place, regardless of the tragedies and war next door.

In the end, the whole Romanian state looks exactly like our head of state: uncaring, neglectful, unprofessional, uninvolved. And the secretiveness and tendency to hide any potential crisis is also a sign of incompetence. Once acknowledged, the crisis must also be solved, and for that someone has to wake up from sleep and put in the work.

PS: It’s to Anten 3’s credit that they sent a team of journalists to the Delta to verify information on the ground about the Russian drone explosion. That’s how they came across Minister Tîlvăr, who was also rummaging in the bushes, otherwise we wouldn’t have known what the head of the Romanian army was doing.