Romania: will civil partnerships suddenly be recognised?
With the votes of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the right-wing nationalist AUR party, the Romanian Chamber of Deputies has approved the new Integrity Law, which stipulates that the spouses and civil partners of high-ranking politicians will be required to disclose their assets and income. However, civil partnerships are currently not legally recognised in Romania.
An unintended but important step
Journalist Dan Tăpălagă comments on the G4Media website:
“Aided by the PSD, the self-styled defenders of the traditional family – the extremists of the AUR party – have taken a significant step towards legalising civil partnerships with the new integrity rules. Of course, this was not their intention. Rather, they wanted President Nicușor Dan's partner, Mirabela Grădinaru, to be required to disclose her assets, and they presumably also have their sights set on the partner of acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. ... Romania is probably the last EU member state that still hasn't recognised civil partnerships – due to enormous pressure from the Orthodox Church.”
Double standards exposed
On the Cotidianul website, journalist Elena Crângașu asks:
“Is it not the AUR politicians who have long been stressing that if you don't have a 'family' as defined by the Civil Code, you are failing to fulfil your main role in society? People who live together in a non-marital relationship currently have no right to joint assets, a pension or a say in medical decisions pertaining to their partner. ... But now that declarations of assets are on the agenda, cohabiting partners have suddenly become important. That is a double standard.”