Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has suspended the Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) sitting on Tuesday and has stated that the budget rectification proposed by the Viorica Dăncilă cabinet did not receive a favourable opinion, as the Government could not explain why significant funds have been cut from the national security institutions, although the budget rectification is a positive one. He urged the Government to come up with a new draft.
“The only item on the agenda was the budget rectification proposed by the Government for the national security institutions. The CSAT opinion is mandatory when discussing the budget of the national security institutions.
The Government published in August a draft budget rectification, a highly positive rectification.
Surprisingly, on a strong positive rectification, the Government proposed significant cuts of the budget of national security institutions. This has not been explained.
Although the law provides for a 30-day deadline for discussing these documents by the CSAT, given the urgency and demands of some ministers, we have scheduled the meeting for today.
Meanwhile, the Government has published a new, even more optimistic draft: RON 3.5 billion in addition to the first variant. It has not been explained why it has continued to insist on diminishing the funds of the national security institutions.
The directors of the institutions have shown that, under these conditions, the goals set by the CSAT for 2018 cannot be achieved.
Under these circumstances, there was no consensus and the positive opinion for the budget rectification could not be issued. Given this situation, I have suspended the CSAT sitting. The budget rectification is necessary, it must be done, but we must not disregard the principle of cooperation between state institutions.
I have created the possibility for the Government to return with a new rectification draft, to give up the cuts of funds from the national security area, which can only be explained by the phrase ‘political chicanery’.
I expect the Government to return with a new budget rectification draft that eliminates these unexplained cuts if we want to be serious people. If we want to stay on these political chicaneries, we would only prolong this situation.
Romania is a safe country, Romanians are well defended, but these things do not come by themselves, but because we have performing institutions,” Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday after suspending the CSAT sitting.
The announcement regarding the CSAT sitting was made on August 24 by the Presidential Administration, three days after the Government asked the head of the state to convene the CSAT sitting in emergency procedure to approve the proposals to rectify the budgets of the institutions with attributions in the field of national security.
The Finance Ministry published on Monday, 24 hours before the CSAT sitting, a new draft budget rectification, with substantial amendments.
The revenues of the state budget are increased by RON 948.4 million. The state social security budget kept the same increase of RON 897.1 million, as well as the one for unemployment with the addition of RON 245.9 million.
However, there are decreases in the budget of the institutions/activities financed entirely and/or partially from own revenues – RON 330.9 million.
FinMin retorts, warns over deadlocks on salaries, investments
In retort, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said the Government has the obligation to ask and not to wait for the CSAT’ s go-ahead, claiming that the adjournment of the CSAT sitting has no legal ground.
“The adjournment has practically no legal ground, is not stipulated by any legal provision,” FinMin Teodorovici argued.
He also announced the Government is asking for the declassification of the Tuesday’s CSAT sitting , “to clearly see which was the stance for every CSAT structure”.
Teodorovici claimed that if the rectification is not approved, the payment of the salaries for some public entities is at risk.
“If such a deadlock is maintained the investments will be also affected, both on local and central level,” the minister argued, adding that the countering of the African swine fever will be also affected, and that deadlocks might come up in agriculture and on healthcare.