Zsolt Bayer, one of the leading conservative publicists in Hungary looks at the recent criminal scandals in Romania, with both cases having much deeper implications.
It looks like the atrocities committed by the Caracal serial killer (who abducted and killed at least three teenage girls) have in fact been a Godsend for the ruling coalition, because these helped mask the real, much larger scandal.
So what is the bigger issue about? A Romanian newspaper found out that a group of criminals “delivered” underage girls to the soldiers of the Deveselu military base – the U.S. has a rocket base there – and in some cases to wealthy Austrian businessmen, with the knowledge and sometimes help of the police and local authorities.
Once the girls lost their appeal, they were sold into prostitution abroad by criminal gangs. The “meetings” took place at a motel near the base and several girls said they begged not be mistreated as they are still minor.
Former Romanian President Traian Băsescu recently said a truly revolting thing, that Transylvania will have an autonomy exactly like the one in Caracal. In light of the recent cases, it is clear that this is the autonomy of the collusion of Romanian mafia and authorities against the country’s laws.
But what led to this state of affairs? Băsescu, while still President, iterated the perennial national geopolitical doctrine – and this is an exact quote: “Of the two fireflies – the U.S. and Germany – one should always s..k the bigger one”.
He went on the create and anti-corruption agency that regularly targeted ethnic Hungarian mayors, who later proved to be innocent, but their careers have been destroyed nevertheless.
And the fireflies keep buzzing, with no one in sight to slap them down, least of all the powers that be. Nor will the underage girls receive the closure they so deserve. So this is today’s Romania, the poster child of the Hungarian opposition.
Title image: Romanian demonstrators carry a national flag
