The mayors of Timișoara, Cluj, Oradea and Arad established on Saturday in Timișoara a so-called “Western Alliance” to coordinate large infrastructural developments in their respective regions.
While they mostly avoided to point this out, the underlying reason for the alliance is the unequal redistribution of taxes collected locally. While all state dues collected in a city or county are transferred to the central budget, the more developed regions usually only get back less than half of it – typically around 40 percent.
The mayor of Cluj, Emil Boc even stressed that the alliance is not geared against the government nor does it represent a move for separatism from Bucharest but it “wishes to help the government by attracting large-scale projects.
Among the more ambitious projects announced at the meeting of the mayors is the construction of a motorway and a high-speed train line linking the four cities. In addition they also want to complete motorways linking Romania with neighboring Serbia and Hungary.
The mayor of Timișoara, Nicolae Robu said that the alliance is not a closed one but any other city wishing to join it will have to adhere to the principles and values of its founders. All four founders of the alliance are from the opposition Liberal Party (PNL).
The alliance – Alianța Vestului in Romanian – is abbreviated AVE, a traditional Roman welcome greeting.
Title image: The mayors of Oradea, Cluj, Timișoara and Arad, (L to R) Ilie Bolojan, Emil Boc, Nicolae Robu and Gheorghe Falcă. (photo: tion.ro)
