26
votes
Accepted
Why did the presidents of US and Romania contradict each other about the Visa Waiver Program?
There's a couple of things at play here
Donald Trump shoots from the hip (meaning he doesn't consider the political ramifications before he speaks). Seriously. I could speculate all day about why he ...
- 53.1k
19
votes
Accepted
What are the main reasons for capping interest rates in Spain?
This would appear to be part of Spain's usury legislation.
Usury is the practice of lending at unreasonable levels of interest. Lenders offer loans at a very high rate of interest when they have a ...
- 124k
19
votes
Accepted
Why are Bulgaria and Romania still not accepted into the Schengen area?
Nothing has changed since Why are Romania's and Bulgaria's reasons for postponing entering the Schengen area considered non-technical? The process is complete and both countries are deemed ...
- 32k
15
votes
Why does the Romanian prime minister's death threat against a national minority elicit so little reaction in the EU?
Disclaimer: Please do not take the following as condoning Mihai Tudose (Romania PM)'s words.
From the links provided in the edit, it is very clear that the title of the question is a notable ...
- 33k
15
votes
Accepted
What is the rationale for a government trying to block one of its citizens for becoming EU prosecutor?
Retribution
The rationale of the Romanian government in this case is that the individual in question, in her role as head of the Romanian Anti-Corruption agency, has launched investigations on more ...
- 3,108
13
votes
What are the main reasons for capping interest rates in Spain?
James K's answer is correct about the reasons in favor of limiting interest rates1.
That said, since Spain's laws are specifically quoted, I would like to give some additional data.
First, there are ...
- 33k
12
votes
Accepted
Does EU freedom of speech allow a license plate that taunts a political party?
I'll admit I'm not up to date on Romania specific, but the purpose of Free Speech is to criticize public policy and politicians. Any government that does not allow citizens to use colorful language ...
- 16.1k
11
votes
Why did the presidents of US and Romania contradict each other about the Visa Waiver Program?
I just read the transcript and the answer is very obvious. It is very easy to understand the President because he is not keeping anything back. What he says is what he is thinking. When President ...
- 3,964
11
votes
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Are there any examples of politicians within EU countries that have been elected after being convicted?
Since you ask for specific examples, being French, I will pull the Alain Juppé card.
In 2004, Alain Juppé was tried for the felony of abuse of public funds, when he was head of the RPR and the RPR ...
- 821
10
votes
Accepted
How does one official know that a foreign country representative is the proper person to discuss some matters?
One of the roles of a diplomat is to be an expert on the country to which they are sent.
It would be the job of the diplomats to advise the Israeli Prime Minister if there were any topics that should ...
- 124k
10
votes
Accepted
Did IMF grant a loan with no (reform) conditions to Romania in 2009?
Apparently the answer is "no". There's a database with conditions attached to loans, and the 2009 Standby Agreement (SBA) with Romania had plenty of those, including pension (legislation) reform, ...
10
votes
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Under what conditions can US influence legislative process in another country?
Whenever it wants to.
Governments often avoid comment on purely internal affairs of other countries, such as election campaigns. But this is no more than a polite convention of diplomacy, and it has ...
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10
votes
Why are Bulgaria and Romania still not accepted into the Schengen area?
The short answer is: because some of the other member states are blocking their full integration.
Despite Bulgaria and Romania fulfilling the necessary criteria and repeated calls from the European ...
- 201
9
votes
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Is separation of powers broken, if a government changes a law with irreversible effects?
How Do Emergency Ordinances Work?
Romania's emergency ordinances (discussed here, but also in the Romanian constitution Art.115 (3) - (8) ) have the full force of ordinary laws. Unlike a normal law, ...
- 24k
8
votes
Accepted
Can a EU member merge with a non-EU one without previously setting up/changing some agreements at EU level?
The obvious precedent would be the German Reunification. However, there were some differences:
The division of Germany was tied into the Four Power agreements after WWII. West Germany always took ...
- 116k
8
votes
What are the reasons behind discriminating between votes inside the country and those from diaspora in regard of proportional representation?
I think most countries do not allow expatriates to vote at all. The idea is that you are not affected by most of what the government of your home country does, so you should have little or no say ...
- 349
7
votes
Accepted
What is the rationale for hosting CIA secret jails by Romania and Lithuania?
First, these secret jails are still shrouded in secrecy, even years after they have closed down. Washington has acknowledged it held al Qaeda suspects in jails outside U.S. jurisdiction, but it has ...
- 428
7
votes
Are there any examples of politicians within EU countries that have been elected after being convicted?
Europe is full of this kind of "specialists".
While not that high ranking an official this one is so outrageous that he has to be included in such a list: Otto Wiesheu from Bavaria.
In 1983 while ...
- 5,009
7
votes
Accepted
Which countries have largely copied article 49 para 3 of the French constitution?
In addition to the countries you mention in your question, this provision, or something very similar, appears in a few other countries' constitutions - mostly African countries which achieved ...
CDJB♦
- 109k
7
votes
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Can intentional foreign accent in a negative context be considered as xenophobia?
It can certainly be considered as xenophobia by some - one prior example that springs to mind is in 2009 when David Cameron, then Leader of the UK Opposition, adopted a German accent to mock the ...
CDJB♦
- 109k
7
votes
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What else did Zhou Enlai say about the Czech-Soviet situation (Romanian embassy in Beijing on 23 August 1968)? Is an English translation available?
A transcript is indeed available, and was published in the supplement to the 34th edition in Volume 11 of the Peking Review, on August 23rd. This issue may be found here.
I won't reproduce the whole ...
CDJB♦
- 109k
6
votes
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Why are Romania's and Bulgaria's reasons for postponing entering the Schengen area considered non-technical?
The quote you included contains a clue: The fact the Council blocked it (rather than the Commission) is prima facie evidence that it was a political decision. The Council is certainly entitled to take ...
- 32k
6
votes
Accepted
Can political protests have a significant impact immediately after the general elections?
While anything is possible, if the ruling party feels secure enough to pass such a blatantly corrupt law then the protest on its own will probably not deter them. While plotting on how to pass a law ...
- 7,445
6
votes
Accepted
How can European Union influence political decisions in a member country?
Article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union deals with how the EU can sanction member-states which violate the general ethical principles of the EU.
When 80% of the European Council (member-states) ...
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6
votes
Accepted
Are the other countries besides Romania that automatically reduce prison sentences for bad prison conditions?
In Germany, there are two factors at work:
Prosecutors, judges, and parole boards have some discretion if they send or keep a suspect or convict in prison. While they are supposed to look only at the ...
- 116k
5
votes
Accepted
Is it possible for an EU country to incorrectly report annual deficit in order to obey Maastricht Treaty threshold?
It is possible, but would mean reporting a fake budget to national parliaments by governments at the national level.
Current budget rules
With Maastricht (1992) and European Fiscal Compact (2012) ...
- 198
5
votes
Accepted
Was there a change about how US embassies should be constructed?
SHORT ANSWER
Yes there was. You can see it in this fact sheet.
in 2002, in anticipation of increased funding, OBO developed a design prototype of a standard embassy, modeled after the recently ...
- 5,542
5
votes
Does EU freedom of speech allow a license plate that taunts a political party?
The Romanian constitution has in Article 30:
(1) Freedom of expression of thoughts, opinions, or beliefs, and freedom of any creation, by words, in writing, in pictures, by sounds or other means of ...
- 124k
5
votes
Accepted
What are the reasons behind discriminating between votes inside the country and those from diaspora in regard of proportional representation?
There are three factors here. I'll call them theoretical, practical and political factors.
The theoretical factors are that people living outside of a countries borders are not directly subject to ...
- 124k
5
votes
State institution possibly interfering with foreign policy
More abstractly, given two states, how can they make legally bidding agreements, if in one of the countries a deep state exists, which can make any agreement of the elected political leadership ...
- 13.6k
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