A Romanian court decision has left the country’s army without a leader – and sparked concern among opposition parties about potential risks to national security.
Romania’s army remains leaderless after a Bucharest court annulled a presidential decree that had extended the mandate of the incumbent chief-of-staff.
The ruling on Thursday has raised fears that the conflict between President Klaus Iohannis and the ruling Social Democratic Party might undermine national security.
After a National Defence Council meeting on December 28, Iohannis issued a decree to extend by the mandate of chief-of-staff General Nicolae Ciuca by one year.
Ciuca, who is seen as one of the most experienced leaders of the Romanian army, has held the position since January 2015. His mandate expired on December 31.
Iohannis rejected a new proposal from the Defence Ministry, accusing the ruling party of making reckless administrative appointments.
“The Social Democratic Party is not capable of managing the country’s major affairs. There is no valid proposal for chief-of-staff,” Iohannis said on December 28. He added that he would extend Ciuca’s manadate because “the Romanian Army cannot be left headless”.
The Defence Ministry filed a lawsuit on January 11 against Iohannis and the presidential administration, requesting the suspension and annulment of the decree.
The government argued that Iohannis’ decree was not legal because it was not signed by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and was issued without the approval of the Defence Ministry
The Bucharest Appeal Court on Thursday suspended enforcement of the President’s decree until a ruling in the first instance, thus removing Ciuca from his post.
The court ruling came during a two-day informal EU Defence Council meeting in Bucharest, and has concerned the Romanian opposition parties.
The vice-president of parliament’s defence committee, Liberal MP Ovidiu Raetchi, on Thursday said national security might be put at risk if the army had no chief-of-staff, noting that Ciuca enjoyed a good image in the army and in NATO.
“What the Social Democratic Party is doing is completely incomprehensible, as is its entire policy to stop any attempts by the army to build credible deterrence capacities in the Black Sea by buying ships. Romania needs a functional army and real modernization, not blocked procedures,” Raetchi wrote on Facebook.
On January 11, the Defence Ministry stopped a public tender to commission four multifunctional corvettes for the navy and asked the military prosecutors to investigate the procedure.
The bidders were France’s Naval Group, Damen from the Netherlands and Italy’s Fincantieri. The winner, Naval Group, had submitted an offer for 1.2 billion euros.
