Romania’s reformist USR proposes closing down “fake academic institutions”

The lawmakers of reformist Save Romania Union (USR, ruling) have signed and promoted for approval six bills calling for the abolition of several institutions, which they claim to be “fake academies,” according to G4media.ro, citing senator Cristian Ghinea. The institutions were set up to create sinecures for politicians, USR claimed.

According to Ghinea, the legislative initiatives aim to abolish the Academy of Scientists of Romania, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Academy of Technical Sciences of Romania, the Levant Institute, the Romanian Institute for Human Rights, and the Institute of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989.

“All these institutions are called academies, but they are fakes. They are NGOs created in the 90s by people with political connections, former politicians, some with criminal convictions, people who probably wanted to be academics, but they didn't succeed, and then they created these so-called academies through special laws,” Ghinea stated in a press conference.

According to him, "all these institutions consume RON 27 million (EUR 5 million) annually" from the budget.

“On the other hand, we cannot save the budget deficit with this money alone, but it is a signal that the political class must give to the population," the senator reasoned.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)