Romania: In EU, party politics unite and divide

In European Union politics, party loyalties play less of a role than they do at the national level. But affiliation with the left or right can still have an effect in Brussels - as in the current case with Romania. 

The EU Commission is keeping a critical eye on the current policies of Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the socialist leader who wants to boot conservative President Traian Basescu from office.

The view from Brussels is that the quarrel between the country's two political camps is being conducted with rather questionable legal methods. Elmar Brok, a conservative German member of the European Parliament, has criticized Ponta's attempt as a "coup" - while Hannes Swoboda, leader of the Socialists, has rushed to Ponta's defense, complaining that the Brussels debate on Romania was being governed by "party politics."

Read more: In EU, party politics unite and divide | Europe | DW.DE | 19.07.2012