Barely has the Western Alliance been established, but its founders are already forced to explain themselves. Romanian extremist nationalists claim this is an attempt to dismantle the “single and indivisible nation state”.
The mayors of the four major cities from the western part of the country – Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca, Temesvár/Timisoara, Nagyvárad/Oradea and Arad – have created an alliance that aims to improve the cities’ connectivity through highways and high-speed railways, as well as to improve their collaboration on other large-scale projects.
The supporters in the Romanian capital of Bucharest of the over-centralized state believe that even the construction of a rural toilet should be decided in the capital. But why exactly? The answer is obvious: because this way all associated bribes will land in the proper pockets.
The Western Alliance was born of the realization that its members can only sustain their development if they circumvent Bucharest and receive project financing directly from Brussels. The alliance has a series of goals which all serve the benefit of its citizens: sharing economic, technical and organizational experience. The more tangible ones are to improve the cities’ connectivity through highways and high-speed railways, as well as to improve their collaboration on other large-scale projects.
Whether this initiative will be able to take roots or it will slowly die as many other projects of good intention, is something time will decide. But we already know one thing: a fifth town, Resica has already asked to join their ranks.
Title image: The mayors of Nagyvárad, Kolozsvár, Temesvár and Arad, (L to R) Ilie Bolojan, Emil Boc, Nicolae Robu and Gheorghe Falcă. (photo: Virgil Simonescu)
