The floods in Romania happened at a particularly inopportune moment for the present coalition government in Bucharest, which has just announced a 25 percent cut in salaries, combined with a rise of VAT from 19 to 25 percent, amid a natural tendency among the population to blame even natural disasters on bad governance.
In Brussels, Kristalina Georgieva, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis response, coming as she does from the same region (she is Bulgarian), knows only to...
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Already a member? Login hereAndrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.