APEL CATRE ALIATI
A CALL
TO NATO GENERAL SECRETARY AND THE DEFENSE MINISTERS OF THE STATE MEMBERS OF NATO
Topic: the existing threat in Romania of the Eastern flank of NATO
Gentlemen:
Registered in 2009 on the grounds of Council of Europe’s recommendation no. 1572/2002 Romania’s Union of Reservist Military (SCMD) is grouping reservist military belonging to all structures of the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Special Services of the country. Most of our members are former participants in NATO operations in the past, or have graduated various courses of defense policies in the USA, Canada, and other NATO member states.
Those who were trained in the North America were insistently asked: “Why the Romanian military trained in Moscow or Garmish are then promoted and given command positions, and those trained in North America, when they get back home, are shifted in the reservist corps?” Related to this story we can mention an investigation made in Romania in 2000 by a mixed Canadian-American team.
Connected with a possible answer to the above mentioned question, we inform you that, beginning the last month of May, a massive image and psychological war began in Romania and other parts against the Romanian military structures. We call it a war without comparison in the past, because the experiment initiated in 2010 by the former president of Romania, Traian Basescu, was far less dangerous.
In 2010, by a wave of propaganda lies, only we, the reservists were downgraded, insulted, publicly slandered, and transformed in socially assisted persons forced to survive on public mercy. Today, in 2017, are equally aggressed and demonized the military, the policemen and the reservists.
In 2010 we were aggressed by only a part of political class and of the media, today they are all aggressing us. No one wants to admit the fact that those much defamed laws on military wages and pensions were written in conformity with other NATO member stats legislation and granted by Romania’s signature on the EU accession treaties. On the contrary, the politicians and the media stubbornly defend the statutes of the old military structures, those from the times of the former Warsaw Pact.
The spearhead of this offensive against the Military and the Police is the minister of Labor. However, since Jan. 1, 2016 this person has no legal authority whatsoever over the military system. Since that date it the Military is the job of the government, namely the Minister of Defense. This is the explanation of the dismissal of the minister of Defense, Mr. Adrian Tutuianu, exactly in those days when his people were negotiating at Washington a meeting of the minister with his American counterpart. The Romanian minister was on his way to do his duty, against the abusive misconduct of the minister of Labor.
By Unitary Wage System Law no. 153/2017 the wages of military and policemen were consistently lowered, and this is now the reason why the young generation is not interested anymore in these professions. A sample: today, the Chief of General Staff of Romanian Army has the wage of a ballet dancer at the State Opera, or a City Hall secretary.
As the former Military Pensions Law was already eliminated by Ordinance 57/2015 imposed upon ex-government Ciolos by some multinational firms, the reservists were totally disconnected from the active structures by the Government’s emergency order no. 59/2017 which is stipulating a manifest discrimination compared with the civilians, and also a double taxation. As this emergency order was announced in last July, to become active by Sep. 2017, practically the professionals in the Army, Police, Secret Services, and gendarme have applied to be listed as reservists. Therefore, the Romanian Army has suffered a true bleeding of men and fighters, thousands went on pensions till Sep. 14. And on Sep. 14 the Russian Army was out in the field for the biggest military exercises in the history, on the Eastern flank of NATO. We consider those emergency orders of the government an unprecedented act of treason of NATO’s interests, by the disintegration of the Eastern flank of the Alliance, precisely at the moment of, and in front of a demonstration of force, a real treat against the Alliance. There are no more functional structures in the Army, Services and Internal Affairs, as a consequence of those massive retirements. For instance, from 961 active colonels two months ago, today are left only 97.
The media insults against the military structures goes on, the minister of Labor secretly prepares another new law of unitary system of pensions, totally at odds with the NATO and EU member states legislation, a new law which will completely destroy the Romanian military reservist structures
As the Union of reservists, we continue to perform our duty. We remind you that such unsuccessful experiments happened in the past in many European states, that in 2010, along with Romania, such a legislation has appeared in Hungary, and the Hungarian Army took the streets in Fe.-March 2011. At that time our Union got in touch with our fellow Hungarians, has proposed a joint plan of action, for the best interest of our both countries, and of NATO, and has organized a series of street demonstrations and has acted in the Courts.
In an infinite more difficult situation we will try again to resist today, and respectfully draw tour attention upon the fact that in case we’ll lose this new battle, and the new experiment will succeed in Romania, it will infest all other NATO armies (see the recent resignation of France’s minister of Defense), and the collapse of NATO will be imminent.
Consequently, we address you the favour to get in touch with the President of Romania, and the Prime Minister on the topic of infringement of former assumed conditions, stipulated in Romania’s Treaty of adhesion to NATO, and also on the matter of the replacement of European and north-American legislation with one of Soviet-populist inspiration, one may say worse than the Stalinist legislation.
We believe that the legislative fluctuation and indecision in the field of Military and Police fields endanger any NATO strategies and investment in Romania, as it generates a lack of prognosis for the military and police corps, the ones who have efficiently collaborated with the Alliance, during their participation in the NATO missions.
Honor et patria! Vae victis!
S.C.M.D., Chairman
Col. (r) dr. Mircea DOGARU
