( adding list of resources from Q Research General posts... a few are already noted above)

some search topics:

Players: Gabriel Popovicui (Romanian), Hunter Biden, VP Biden, Devon Archer, Natalie Jaresko (US/Ukraine Minister of Finance), Chris Heinz, Coffer Black, [No_Name], Evelyn Farkas, PrivatBank founders (?names)

Burisma Holdings, Ukraine/Cyprus

PrivatBank, Ukraine/Cyprus

Rosemont Seneca / Rosemont Seneca Bohai (China)

US Embassy in Romania

Latvia investigation into PrivatBank

Russia South Stream Gas Pipeline

Atlantic Council / Council on Foreign Relations

Rudy Giulini podcasts, interviews, investigation

Glen Beck’s Ukraine videos

Items currently shared on qresearch, sauce included on those posts:

Bread #10394 >>8119872, >>8119879, >>8119890, >>8119897, >>8119904, >>8119911 >>8119927

Gabriel Popoviciu, US Embassy in Romania and the Bidens

articles posted:

U.S. Embassy to Romania moves to new headquarters in Baneasa area of Bucharest (Sept 6, 2011)

United States Dedicates New Embassy Compound in Bucharest, Romania (March 22, 2012)

Defense Secretary visits Romania, says U.S. will maintain a regular naval presence in the Black Sea (June 5, 2014)

USTDA Strengthens Support For Energy Security In Romania (Sep 24, 2015)

Profile: Puiu Popoviciu – one of Romania’s most discrete moguls (June 23, 2016)

Convicted Romanian investor sues Romania at Washington court (Aug 28, 2018)

Romanian court rules that the land under Bucharest’s biggest retail area and U.S. Embassy returns to the

state (Dec 28, 2018)

Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu — The businessman with a finger in every pizza pie (Aug 23, 2017)

Giuliani: Hunter Biden Reportedly Involved with Romanian Locked Up for Corruption (Oct 10, 2019)

Giuliani article video: https://youtu.be/vkQZ-mxUUEI

(note: the Rudy Giuliani article is No. 8119911 … 119-911 … coincidence? >>8119911 )

Hunter Biden Was Hired To Run Interference For A Corrupt Romanian Tycoon (Oct 24, 2019)

Bread #10371 >>8102328

Biden, Soros, Burisma Holdings, and Ukraine perspective from Russia Insider News

Bread #10368 >>8099844, >>8099850, >>8099862

Biden, McCain, and a gas Pipeline bypassing Ukraine in 2014

Timeline, sauce, articles posted:

Bulgaria halts Russia's South Stream gas pipeline project after visit by US senator (RT News June 8, 2014)

Bulgaria halts work on gas pipeline after US talks (BBC News June 8 2014)

Bread #10351 >>8086979, 8066996

article posted:

Natalie Jaresko - “How Ukraine’s Finance Chief Got Rich” (Nov 10, 2015)

Bread #10350 >>8085853

article links:

Hunter Biden Scandal Expands Into Romania – Involves Corrupt Land Deal, Shady Real Estate Tycoon (Oct 24, 2019)

Hunter Biden's legal work in Romania raises new questions about his overseas dealings (Oct 24, 2019)

Bread #10350 >>8086246, >>8086259, >>8086274

article posted:

Jaresko, VP Biden and Excuse for Ukraine Coup (Nov 2, 2016)

Bread #10350 >>8086347

Natalie Jaresko Wikipedia profile

Bread #10409 >>8131229

US Embassy-Romania Promoted Islam and Soros Foundation 2009-2012

Bread #10410 >>8132049

Romanian Oligarch Popoviciu’s Manhattan Real Estate During Bloomberg Years

>>8132256 meme

Bread #10410 >>8132049

Romanian Oligarch Popoviciu’s Manhattan Real Estate During Bloomberg Years

meme based on the article

G Popoviciu's real estate firm registered in Cyprus

Feb '09 would imply the Romanian embassy land deal occurred after that date. No press releases forund in the US State Dept Romania archives.

BANEASA HOLDINGS LIMITED

Registered Feb 2009

https://i-cyprus.com/company/372794

ANNA KOKKINOS , Director

ADRIAN LINDSAY JONES , Director

ΑΡΛΗΝ ΝΑΧΙΚΙΑΝ (ARLIN NACHIKIAN) , Director

ΚΩΣΤΑΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΦΟΡΟΥ (KOSTAS CHRISTOFOROU) , Director

CYMANCO SERVICES LIMITED , Secretary

Looked at Burisma also, no overlap in names for 2020.

Burisma Holdings (Oct 2006)

https://i-cyprus.com/company/305542

ΑΝΔΡΕΑΣ ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ (ANDREAS SOFOKLEOUS) , Director

KARINA ZLOCHEVSKA , Director

ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ (CHRISTINA SOFOKLEOUS) , Director

ALEKSANDER KWASNIEWSKI , Director

ALAN BRET APTER , Director

ΡΗΓΙΝΟΣ ΧΑΡΑΛΑΜΠΟΥΣ (RIGINOS CHARALAMPOUS)

ΜΑΡΙΝΑ ΣΑΒΒΙΔΟΥ (MARINA SAVVIDOU) , Secretary

Comprehensive history and details of the Israel-Cyprus-Greece pipeline.

Article has numerous links to supporting documents.

Turkey Muscles-In on the Israel-Greece-Cyprus EastMed Gas Pipeline Deal (Jan 13, 2020)

Gatestone International Policy Council (part 1 of 4)

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15424/eastmed-pipeline-conflict-turkey

The bilateral agreement between Turkey and Libya — which establishes a new Turkey-Libya economic zone that the EastMed pipeline would now have to cross — appears aimed at giving Turkey more leverage over the project.

"The recent Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean Sea infringes upon the sovereign rights of third States and does not comply with the Law of the Sea and cannot produce any legal consequences for third States." — Charles Michel, President of the European Council, Consilium.Europea.eu, January 9, 2020

In May 2019, Turkey announced that it would begin drilling for gas in waters claimed by Cyprus…. In October 2019, Turkey defied the European Union by sending another drilling ship, the Yavuz, to operate inside waters claimed by Cyprus. Cyprus accused Turkey of a "severe escalation" of violations of its sovereign rights.

Israel, Greece and Cyprus have signed an agreement for a pipeline project to ship natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean region to Europe. The deal comes amid increasing tensions with Turkey as Ankara seeks to expand its claims over gas-rich areas of the Mediterranean Sea.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, along with their energy ministers, signed the so-called EastMed pipeline deal in Athens on January 2.

The 6-billion-euro ($6.6 billion) project envisages the construction of a 1,900-kilometer (1,180-mile) undersea pipeline that would carry up to 20 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Israeli and Cypriot waters to Crete and then on to the Greek mainland. From there, the gas would be transported to Italy and other countries in southeastern Europe.

Israel, Greece and Cyprus hope to reach a final investment decision by 2022 and have the pipeline completed by 2025. The EastMed project, which would bypass Turkey, could eventually supply up to 10% of Europe's natural gas needs.

The signing of the EastMed pipeline project came a month after Turkey and Libya reached a bilateral agreement on maritime boundaries in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea. The deal, signed on November 27 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the UN-backed leader of Libya, Fayez al Sarraj, attempts to redraw existing sea boundaries so that Libya ostensibly can claim exclusive rights over 39,000 square kilometers of maritime waters that belong to Greece.

The bilateral agreement — which establishes a new Turkey-Libya economic zone that the EastMed pipeline would now have to cross — appears aimed at giving Turkey more leverage over the project. Referring to the Turkey-Libya deal, Erdoğan said:

"Other international actors cannot conduct exploration activities in the areas marked in the Turkish-Libyan memorandum. Greek Cypriots, Egypt, Greece and Israel cannot establish a natural gas transmission line without Turkey's consent."

In mid-December, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reportedly summoned Israel's top diplomat in Ankara to inform him that Israel's plan to lay down a natural gas pipeline to Europe would require Turkey's approval.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said there was no need to build the EastMed pipeline because the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline already exists. "The most economical and secure route to utilize the natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean and deliver them to consumption markets in Europe, including our country, is Turkey," he said in a statement.

>>8149911

Turkey Muscles-In on the Israel-Greece-Cyprus EastMed Gas Pipeline Deal (Jan 13, 2020)

(part 2 of 4)

The European Union dismissed the Turkey-Libya deal was inconsistent with international law. In a statement issued on January 8, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said:

"The recent Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean Sea infringes upon the sovereign rights of third States and does not comply with the Law of the Sea and cannot produce any legal consequences for third States."

Egypt condemned the Turkey-Libya deal as "illegal and not binding or affecting the interests and the rights of any third parties."

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias noted:

"Any maritime accord between Libya and Turkey ignores something that is blatantly obvious, which is that between those two countries there is the large geographical land mass of Crete. Consequently, such an attempt borders on the absurd."

On December 11, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu hinted that Ankara could use its military to prevent gas drilling in waters off Cyprus that it claims as its own. "No one can do this kind of work without our permission," he said in an interview with the newspaper Habertürk. "We will, of course, prevent any unauthorized work."

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island. Turkey, which does not have diplomatic relations with the southern Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, claims that more than 40% Cyprus's offshore maritime zone, known as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), is located on Turkey's continental shelf and therefore belongs to Ankara or to Turkish Cypriots.

Cyprus is perched on the maritime edge of several large gas finds in the Levant Basin, including Leviathan off Israel and Zohr off Egypt. In the past, Turkey has used military force to obstruct progress on drilling activities waters it claims as its own.

In December 2019, for instance, the Turkish navy intercepted an Israeli ship in Cypriot waters and forced it to move out of the area. The ship, Bat Galim, of the Israeli Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institution, was conducting research in Cyprus's territorial waters in coordination with Cypriot officials, according to Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water.

In February 2018, two weeks after the Italian energy giant Eni announced that it had found "a promising gas discovery" in Cyprus's EEZ, Turkish military ships stopped a ship hired by Eni to drill for gas off the Cyprus coast.

In October 2018, the Turkish navy interdicted a Greek frigate that was monitoring the Turkish seismic vessel "Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa," which Greek authorities said was operating in waters claimed by Cyprus. A few days later, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez announced that the drilling ship "Fatih" would begin drilling for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus.

In May 2019, Turkey announced that it would begin drilling for gas in waters claimed by Cyprus. "The legitimate rights of Turkey and the Northern Cypriot Turks over energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean are not open for argument," Erdoğan said. "Our country is determined to defend its rights and those of Cypriot Turks," he added.

The United States subsequently warned Turkey against offshore drilling operations in waters claimed by the Republic of Cyprus. "This step is highly provocative and risks raising tensions in the region," said State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. "We urge Turkish authorities to halt these operations and encourage all parties to act with restraint."

In July 2019, EU foreign ministers formally linked progress on Turkish-EU accession talks to Cyprus. A measure adopted by the European Council on July 15 stated:

>>8149917

Turkey Muscles-In on the Israel-Greece-Cyprus EastMed Gas Pipeline Deal (Jan 13, 2020)

(part 3 of 4)

"The Council deplores that, despite the European Union's repeated calls to cease its illegal activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey continued its drilling operations west of Cyprus and launched a second drilling operation northeast of Cyprus within Cypriot territorial waters. The Council reiterates the serious immediate negative impact that such illegal actions have across the range of EU-Turkey relations. The Council calls again on Turkey to refrain from such actions, act in a spirit of good neighborliness and respect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of Cyprus in accordance with international law….

"In light of Turkey's continued and new illegal drilling activities, the Council decides to suspend … further meetings of the EU-Turkey high-level dialogues for the time being. The Council endorses the Commission's proposal to reduce the pre-accession assistance to Turkey for 2020."

In October 2019, Turkey defied the European Union by sending another drilling ship, the Yavuz, to operate inside waters claimed by Cyprus. Cyprus accused Turkey of a "severe escalation" of violations of its sovereign rights. Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi subsequently said that his company will not drill wells off the coast of Cyprus if Turkey sends warships to the area: "If someone shows up with warships I won't drill wells. I certainly don't want to provoke a war over drilling wells."

On November 11, European Union foreign ministers agreed to a package of economic sanctions over Turkey's drilling off the coast of Cyprus. In a statement, the Council of the EU said:

"The framework will make it possible to sanction individuals or entities responsible for or involved in unauthorized drilling activities of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"The sanctions will consist of a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze for persons, and an asset freeze for entities. In addition, EU persons and entities will be forbidden from making funds available to those listed."

On November 15, Turkish authorities again defied the EU by announcing that the Turkish oil-and-gas drilling ship Fatih had started operating off the coast of northeastern Cyprus.

Despite the tensions with Turkey, supporters of the EastMed pipeline project remain upbeat. At the project's signing ceremony in Athens, Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

"This is a historic day for Israel, because Israel is rapidly becoming an energy superpower, a country that exports energy.

"This is a tremendous change. Israel was always a 'fringe' country, a country that did not have any connections, literally and figuratively. Now, in addition to our foreign relations, which are flourishing beyond all imagination and everything we have known, we have a specific alliance towards these important goals in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"This is a true alliance in the Eastern Mediterranean that is economic and political, and it adds to the security and stability of the region. Again, not against anyone, but rather for the values and to the benefit of our citizens."

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis said that the pipeline was of "geostrategic importance" and would contribute to regional peace. Greek Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis called it "a project of peace and cooperation" despite "Turkish threats." Cypriot President Anastasiades said that his aim was "cooperation and not rivalry in the Middle East."

Meanwhile, Israel's $3.6 billion offshore Leviathan field, the largest natural gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean, commenced production on December 31, 2019, paving the way for multi-billion-dollar gas export deals with Egypt and Jordan.

Natural gas from the Leviathan field began flowing to Jordan on January 2, 2020, in accordance with a $10 billion deal signed in 2016. Egypt will begin importing Israeli gas by the middle of January.

>>8149924

Turkey Muscles-In on the Israel-Greece-Cyprus EastMed Gas Pipeline Deal (Jan 13, 2020)

(part 4 of 4)

The amount of gas extracted from Leviathan, located 130 kilometers west of the port city of Haifa, is expected to reach 105 billion cubic meters (bcm) over 15 years, while the nearby Tamar field will export nearly 30 bcm in the same period. The value of the exports is estimated at $19.5 billion, with $14 billion coming from Leviathan and $5.5 billion from Tamar.

"For the first time since its establishment, Israel is now an energy powerhouse, able to supply all its energy needs and gaining energy independence," said Yossi Abu, the CEO of Israel's Delek Drilling, one of the partners in the Leviathan project. "At the same time, we will be exporting natural gas to Israel's neighbors, thus strengthening Israel's position in the region."

The President of the Texas-based Noble Energy, Brent Smolik, summed it up this way: "We think it's a huge day for Israel and the region."

Gatestone Institute “right-wing” conservative think tank [no wonder I found this informative and detailed]

[KEK] Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatestone_Institute

Website: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/

About Gatestone Institute

"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."

— John Adams

Gatestone Institute, a non-partisan, not-for-profit international policy council and think tank is dedicated to educating the public about what the mainstream media fails to report in promoting:

Institutions of Democracy and the Rule of Law;

Human Rights

A free and strong economy

A military capable of ensuring peace at home and in the free world

Energy independence

Ensuring the public stay informed of threats to our individual liberty, sovereignty and free speech.

Gatestone Institute conducts national and international conferences, briefings and events for its members and others, with world leaders, journalists and experts – analyzing, strategizing, and keeping them informed on current issues, and where possible recommending solutions.

Gatestone Institute will be publishing books, and continues to publish an online daily report, www.gatestoneinstitute.org, that features topics such as military and diplomatic threats to the United States and our allies; events in the Middle East and their possible consequences, and the transparency and accountability of international organizations.

Gatestone Institute is funded by private donors and foundations. We are grateful for your support. Gatestone Institute is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, Federal Tax ID #454724565.

Main Gas Fields of the Eastern Mediterranean

Israel-Cyprus-Greece gas pipelines shown in red

Proposed Persian Gulf Gas Pipelines:

Islamic Gas Pipeline – backed by Russian foreign policy

Qatar-Turkey Gas Pipeline – backed by US foreign policy

Gas Pipelines of Europe and Turkey Map

(for reference purposes)

Note: some research has indicated the Qatar-Turkey gas pipeline proposed earlier this decade, is part of the reason for the [Hussain] incursion into Syria. For the pipeline to be built, secure access agreements need to include Syria. (work in progress)

Is Somebody trying to tell us something ???

first the Rudy Giuliani article.

>Giuliani: Hunter Biden Reportedly Involved with Romanian Locked Up for Corruption (Oct 10, 2019)

>Giuliani article video: https://youtu.be/vkQZ-mxUUEI

>(note: the Rudy Giuliani article is No. 8119911 … 119-911 … coincidence? >> 8119911 )

And now the Turkey Muscles-In on the Israel-Greece-Cyprus article, No. 8149911 … 911

Joint Statement on the Ministerial Meeting of the United States, Greece, Republic of Cyprus, and Israel Regarding Cooperation in the Field of Energy

(US State Dept media notes Aug 7, 2019)

https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-the-ministerial-meeting-of-the-united-states-greece-republic-of-cyprus-and-israel-regarding-cooperation-in-the-field-of-energy/

The text of the following statement was released by the governments of the United States of America, the Hellenic Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, and the State of Israel regarding cooperation in the field of energy.

Begin text:

“The Energy Ministers of the Hellenic Republic, Kostas Hatzidakis, the Republic of Cyprus, Georgios Lakkotrypis, the State of Israel, Yuval Steinitz and the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources of the United States of America, Francis Fannon, met today in Athens regarding cooperation in the field of energy, while affirming their shared commitment to promote peace, stability, security, and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Mr. Fannon underlined the increasing and tangible support of the US government for the establishment of a structured quadrilateral mechanism for cooperation that focuses on energy matters.

The Ministers and the United States identified several significant areas of common interest, including, inter alia, infrastructure projects, renewable energy and energy storage, emergency preparedness, environmental protection and cyber security, while agreeing to establish a High Level Working Group (HLWG) that will highlight specific energy projects and propose ways of promoting their implementation. The Ministers have agreed to work towards signing an agreement for a joint emergency preparedness and response mechanism for offshore oil and gas operations. The HLWG will report its progress to the Ministers of Energy on a regular basis.

The Ministers and the United States agreed to support their countries’ energy independence and the establishment of an Energy Corridor of the Eastern Mediterranean, contributing thus to the energy security of the European Union by actively promoting the diversification of import sources and routes.

The Ministers and the United States reiterated their full support and solidarity for the Republic of Cyprus in exploring and developing its resources in its Exclusive Economic Zone and express their concern with recent provocative steps underway in the Eastern Mediterranean. The United States also reaffirmed its position that the island’s oil and gas resources should be shared equitably between both communities in the context of an overall settlement.

The Ministers expressed strong support for sovereign states’ rights in order not to endanger peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

The Energy Ministers of the Hellenic Republic, the Republic of Cyprus and the State of Israel, reaffirmed the support of their countries for the implementation of the East Med gas pipeline, a project of major significance for the energy security of the European Union, that also establishes a strategic link between Europe and Israel.

The Ministers recalled that the relevant Intergovernmental Agreement, has been finalized by Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Italy in December 2018 and approved by the European Commission in February 2019 and shall be signed at the earliest possible convenience by all interested parties.”

End text

Remarks With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

(US State Dept, Sec Pompeo remarks – no date) (part 1 of 2)

https://www.state.gov/remarks-with-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-president-of-the-republic-of-cyprus-nicos-anastasiades-and-greek-prime-minister-alexis-tsipras/

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Good evening. I want to welcome to Jerusalem our dear friends the president of Cyprus, President Anastasiades, Nicos; the prime minister of Greece, Prime Minister Tsipras, Alexis; and the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It’s good to see you all here.

This is the sixth summit meeting between Israel, Cyprus, and Greece. We began this a few years ago and it’s blossomed into one of the best regional associations in the world. We cooperate in everything, from firefighting now to energy. We are planning to lay down a pipeline called the EastMed pipeline from Israel, through Cyprus, through Greece, to Europe. Something that will benefit our economies greatly, provide stability for the region and prosperity to our peoples, but also we think would diversify the energy supplies to Europe.

The fact that we are joined in this meeting by the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo I think is significant. It signifies the fact that the United States supports this regional effort, and it has many, many facets that we’re going to discuss, and I think that it says that this is something for the long haul. Obviously, we would welcome the association not only of the United States but other countries, something that we’re going to discuss as soon as we complete the open part of this meeting.

So welcome, friends. It’s good to see you again. And we’re planning our next meeting as we speak.

Nicos, please.

PRESIDENT ANASTASIADES: This is indeed a great moment, and I want to thank my very good friend the prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu – Benjamin Netanyahu, my dearest friend Bibi, for convening this very historic meeting in Jerusalem. We are delighted to have the American Secretary of State, Mr. Mike Pompeo, joining us today. His presence is a tangible proof that our three countries constitute reliable partners to the United States, particularly in the fields of energy and security, and an anchor of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Our region (inaudible) of an Eastern Mediterranean energy corridor is an excellent example in this respect. I want to assure Cyprus unwavering commitment to this reliable and strong partnership that aims through tangible actions to generate much-needed security, stability, and prosperity in our (inaudible) in the region. This is our grand-scale vision, and we are extremely happy that the Secretary of State is here to endorse its geopolitical value on behalf of the United States, and I look forward to a productive discussion of issues of common interest such as energy security with respect of sovereign rights and the protection of energy and marine activities, and of course diversification of energy.

Once again, thank you, Bibi.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Thank you. Thank you.

>>8160073

Remarks With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

(part 2 of 2)

PRIME MINISTER TSIPRAS: So I want to thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is not the first time – I cannot count how many times I have been in Jerusalem. This is the sixth time that we’re meeting together in this strategic trilateral cooperation. So I’m feeling so familiar here in Jerusalem. I think that in the last few years, the role of our countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, together and individually, has become stronger. Our cooperation has become strategic – our trilateral cooperation has become strategic – and particularly in the fields of energy and security.

The participation of Secretary of State Mr. Pompeo in the alliance, the United States support in our strategic cooperation, and his participation, I think that it will strengthen our efforts and our dialogue, especially on the field of energy but not only – security and economy as well – are challenges that we have ahead, and I think that the region have a lot of challenges but also important opportunities.

Our basic ideas – idea is very simple but very significant as well. The idea is to create a safe and secure network to transport the energy resources of the region of the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe through Israel, through Cyprus, through Greece, to Europe. And I think that the establishment of the EastMed pipeline can help both security dialogue and economic development of the region.

So I look forward to our discussions in this regard, and I think that our discussion could be beneficial not only in the energy field, but about security, safety, stability, and the economic development of the region. Thank you.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for hosting us here in Jerusalem. I’m looking forward to our discussion. Prime Minister Tsipras, President Anastasiades, you don’t know but about a week ago I spoke in Houston, Texas, to a big group of energy leaders from all around the world, talking about opportunities and projects just like this, about how energy connects up with our security interests in America and how the opportunities to create energy in places that we hadn’t had it before and transport it and create the infrastructure in places that we’ve not had it before is an enormous benefit. I think this is incredibly timely. Revisionist powers like Iran and Russia and China are all trying to take major footholds in the East and in the West, and we view the United States and Israel and the Republic of Cyprus and Greece as great, key partners in security and prosperity.

So I’m very much looking forward to our conversation this evening. As we cooperate on these important energy issues, I know we’ll improve our security and prosperity even more broadly between our four nations. We believe this deeply. When free countries with free markets act together and work to develop infrastructure for energy, greater security always follows. And I know this too: If we do this right, we will attract the investment that will maximize these resources in a way that good infrastructure and open markets always do.

I’m looking forward to cooperating with each of you in this opportunity in the Eastern Mediterranean. Thank you for allowing me to be here tonight.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Thank you. Thank you, Mike, and thank you all. Thank you.

Turkish Drilling in Cypriot Claimed Waters

(US State Dept press statement July 9, 2019)

https://www.state.gov/turkish-drilling-in-cypriot-claimed-waters-2/

The United States remains deeply concerned by Turkey’s repeated attempts to conduct drilling operations in the waters off Cyprus and its most recent dispatch of the drillship Yavuz off the Karpas Peninsula. This provocative step raises tensions in the region. We urge Turkish authorities to halt these operations and encourage all parties to act with restraint and refrain from actions that increase tensions in the region. Energy resource development in the Eastern Mediterranean should foster cooperation, increase dialogue between the two communities and among regional neighbors, and provide a foundation for durable energy security and economic prosperity. We continue to believe the island’s oil and gas resources, like all of its resources, should be equitably shared between both communities in the context of an overall settlement.

Turkish Drilling in Cypriot-Claimed Waters

(US State Dept press statement May 9, 2019)

https://www.state.gov/turkish-drilling-in-cypriot-claimed-waters/

https://www.state.gov/turkish-drilling-in-cypriot-waters/ (May 5 similar)

The United States is deeply concerned by Turkey’s announced intentions to begin offshore drilling operations in an area claimed by the Republic of Cyprus as its Exclusive Economic Zone. This step is highly provocative and risks raising tensions in the region. We urge Turkish authorities to halt these operations and encourage all parties to act with restraint.

note: Further search of US State Department press releases and briefings, CAATSA sanctions were imposed against Turkey for disputed drilling in Cypriot waters. This may result in denying Turkey F-35 aircraft.

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-july-16-2019/#post-89627-TURKEY

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-november-15-2018/#CYPRUS

Steinitz's EastMed gas pipeline stirring up regional conflict

(Globes Dec 15, 2019) (part 1 of 2)

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-steinitzs-european-gas-pipeline-could-provoke-regional-conflict-1001311086

The European pipeline project initiated by the Israeli Energy Minister is provoking regional tension after Turkey claims economic waters to thwart it, angering Egypt, Cyprus and Greece.

Will Israel be dragged into a regional conflict developing in the Eastern Mediterranean between Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Cyprus? Israeli sources sought to make it clear that Israel had no desire for a conflict with Turkey over the issue of the economic waters in the region.

Turkey instigated the current escalation by claiming extensive maritime territories as its exclusive economic waters. The international community recognizes these areas as belonging to Greece and Cyprus.

The Turkish measures were interpreted as being aimed at thwarting the Poseidon project - construction of the undersea EastMed pipeline from the natural gas reservoirs of Israel, Egypt, and Cyprus to southern Italy. Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources Dr. Yuval Steinitz is regarded as the proponent of the idea and the supporter and promoter of the venture, although there are major questions about its economic and engineering feasibility.

The Israeli government has yet to respond to Turkey's maritime annexation. Two weeks ago, however, government sources said that the gas pipeline project would soon begin.

Turkey's actions: Extension of the economic border

On December 11, Turkey notifed the UN that it was seeking to register the maritime border between the economic areas of Turkey, Libya, and Egypt as set in the agreement between Turkey and Libya. The new borderline passes through the Mediterranean Sea southward to Cyprus, and in effect annexes the entire sea area between Cyprus and Crete to Turkey's exclusive economic zone.

Turkey made it clear that once it had reached agreement with Libya, any activity by any other country in its exclusive economic zone would require its consent. Turkey also warned that it would use military force against any oil and gas exploration in the area around Cyprus.

Turkey's actions did not occur overnight; it began in late November with the signing of the agreement with the Muslim Brotherhood government in Tripoli, a government not recognized by Western countries. In a lightning-fast bit of legislation on December 5, the Turkish parliament approved the agreement, which thereby became Turkish law.

Responses to Turkey: General anger

Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus declared that the agreement between Turkey and the government in Tripoli was completely invalid and contrary to international law. Greece announced that it was expelling the Libyan ambassador from Athens. Egypt and Greece decided to expedite the talks between them for signing an agreement dividing the maritime zones between them. Greece filed a complaint about Turkey's action with the UN Security Council.

Attention is now shifting to the European Union (EU). According to "The New York Times," EU ministers discussed late last week a draft announcement severely condemning Turkey's action.

Background to the dispute: An increase in Egyptian power

"Turkey, which regards itself as a hub for the transition of energy from Asia, has been losing its status to Egypt in recent years," says independent energy consultant Gina Cohen. Among other things, Cohen cites the signing of an inter-governmental agreement to export gas from Cyprus and Egypt; the signing of agreements between commercial companies to export gas from Israeli reservoirs Tamar and Leviathan to Egypt; and the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, with participation from all the countries in the region except for Turkey and Lebanon.

>>8160350

Steinitz's EastMed gas pipeline stirring up regional conflict

(Globes Dec 15, 2019) (part 2 of 2)

Price of the dispute: An expensive and difficult to execute project

The plan, Steinitz's pet project, is to lay an undersea pipeline for exporting gas from the reservoirs in Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt to Italy. The EU supports the project, and has also agreed to finance feasibility tests. Statements recently appeared in Israeli media that the project was about to get underway, but the situation is rife with large question marks about its practicality.

In order for the Poseidon project to begin, almost unsurmountable engineering, economic, environmental, and political obstacles must be overcome. The proposed pipeline will be the longest of its type in the world. The planned route from Cyprus via Crete to Italy passes through deep waters where it has hitherto been impossible to lay an undersea pipeline. The project's cost is estimated at $7 billion or more, meaning that it is not worthwhile at the gas prices currently prevailing in Europe.

Since the plan is for commercial companies to construct the pipeline, it is unclear how the project can be financed without gas agreements with anchor customers in Europe. Another focus of opposition that has recently developed is environmental. Opposition to the continued use of gas because of its contribution to global warming has been growing in Europe. David Kornbluth, an expert on energy law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that even without the recent Turkish declaration, there is no real possibility of laying the pipeline without Turkish consent, because of the proximity of the Turkish coast. In addition to Turkey, Russia opposes the project because it wants to ensure the continued dependence of European countries on Russian gas.

Israel's position: Keep a low profile

Israel is trying to keep a low profile. Government sources told "Globes," "Israel has no conflict with Turkey. The gas pipeline project is a strategically important project for Europe, and is also important for Israel. We have excellent cooperation with Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt, among other things concerning the gas project, and we'll be glad if Turkey also wants to take part in it."

Israel's interest in avoiding being dragged into a conflict is clear: such a conflict will jeopardize Israel's maritime trade routes. This is a difficult problem, given that an absolute majority of Israel's incoming and outgoing trade passes through the Mediterranean Sea. "Israel must weigh its steps in this conflict with great caution," Kornbluth says.

Armed drones deployed in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus to escort drilling vessels

(Eastern Mediterranean Monitor, Dec 18, 2019)

http://eastmedmonitor.com/?p=1949

A Turkish military drone has begun patrolling off Cyprus in support of Ankara’s natural gas exploration and drilling activities, which are regarded as illegal by the European Union and the United Nations.

Armed and unarmed drones deployed at an airport near the walled city of Famagusta in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus will escort two drill vessels, the Fatih and Yavuz, which already have the protection of Turkish naval ships. Ankara has warned it will use force to halt any gas exploration or drilling in areas claimed by it.

Two weeks ago, Turkish warships forced an Israeli research vessel operating with Cypriot permission to leave the island’s waters.

Cypriot defense minister Savvas Angelides has said the government will cautiously continue to address Turkish provocations and claimed Turkey is seeking to destabilize the region.

While Turkish Cypriot officials welcomed the drone deployment, it was criticized by Turkish-Cypriot opposition parties. The Cyprus Socialist Party said the island should be cleared of foreign forces, while the Communal Democracy Party argued that Turkish-Cypriot parties should have been consulted before the decision on drones was taken.

Defending interests

Opposition newspaper Afrika quoted the head of the Turkish-Cypriot Teachers’ Union, Sener Elcil, as saying “Drone go home”, and criticizing the government for allowing the airport to be used for military purposes.

The UN- and EU-recognised Cypriot maritime zone has been delineated in accordance with the law of the sea and international law and in agreement with Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt.

The dispatch of the drones follows the conclusion of a pact with the UN-recognised Libyan government based in Tripoli. This deal extends Turkey’s unilaterally declared maritime economic zone to the border that of Libya, effectively bisecting the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey’s claim impinges on the economic zones of Cyprus and Greece and cuts off Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Palestine from Greece and Italy and would impede the construction of undersea gas pipelines from east to west.

Turkey’s latest actions appear to be in response to the recent creation by these countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum with the aim of asserting members’ rights to natural resources and co-operating in the exploitation of regional gas reserves.

There is a concern in Cyprus that Turkey is using the dispute over hydrocarbons to gain leverage in or to torpedo potential negotiations to reunite Cyprus, which has been divided since Turkey occupied the north in 1974 following a failed Athens military coup.

As Turkey’s expanded zone infringes on the coastal shelf of the Greek island of Crete, Athens says it will defend its rights and argues the pact with Libya is unenforceable since the Tripoli government, which is tied to Muslim fundamentalist militias, is challenged by a rival regime in Tobruk as well as rebel forces. Cairo has issued an official protest.

It is feared Turkey seeks to change the balance of forces in the eastern Mediterranean. In addition to defining expanded economic zones with Libya, Turkey has pledged to send troops to Tripoli to defend the government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj against Egyptian and Emirati-backed rebels led by Gen Khalifa Haftar.

Mr. Sarraj met Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, last weekend in Istanbul.

As Ankara has already supplied drones and arms to Tripoli, direct military intervention would amount to a serious escalation in Libya’s prolonged civil conflict and stir existing regional rivalries. Turkey has military bases in northern Cyprus, Qatar, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, and Syria.

The Mad Geopolitics of Israel’s EastMed Gas Pipeline

(New Eastern Outlook Jan 19,2020) (part 1 of 2)

https://journal-neo.org/2020/01/19/the-mad-geopolitics-of-israel-s-eastmed-gas-pipeline/

At just a time when the world holds its collective breath over risk of a World War over the US assassination of Iran’s leading general and other provocations, Israel has chosen to sign a natural gas pipeline deal with Greece and Cyprus that is the equivalent of tossing a loaded hand grenade into the hyper-tense region.

Until some months ago it was doubtful whether Israel’s long-touted EastMed gas pipeline deal with Cyprus and Greece would see the light of day. Despite being backed by the US and the EU as an alternative to Russian gas, the EastMed as it is known, is dubious on many grounds, not the least its high cost compared with alternatives. The January 2 signing by the governments of Israel, Greece and Cyprus is directly connected to provocative moves by Turkey’s Erdogan to conspire with Libya to illegally declare almost all of the Eastern Mediterranean waters to be a Turkish and now Libyan Exclusive Economic Zone.

If Mideast tensions were not already at the breaking point, the Israeli move throws a huge monkey wrench into the region’s troubled geopolitics.

As recently as December, 2019 the Israeli companies involved in their offshore Leviathan gas field were openly discussing further options for export of the gas following an export agreement with Egypt and Jordan. The EastMed pipeline was not mentioned in Israeli media.

What has changed the situation was the announcement by Turkey’s President Erdogan that he was sending Turkish troops to defend the Tripoli UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli of Fayez al Sarraj, on their request, to counter the forces of General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).

Libya has the potential to become a major new explosion point in the rapidly-deteriorating Middle East terrain. Haftar is backed by Russia, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and yes, France, and secretly since 2017 by Israel. Since April 2019 Haftar has been moving to take Tripoli from his stronghold in the oil-rich east. The GNA in Tripoli in turn is backed by Turkey, Qatar and Italy. The EU is desperately trying to mediate a truce between the GNA and Haftar after Putin failed some days ago.

The Mediterranean energy clashes

As Cyprus has discovered rich offshore fields of natural gas in addition to those of Israel at Leviathan, Turkey, who so far lacks its own major gas resources, began to aggressively interfere in Cyprus offshore waters. On January 1, 2020 Turkey and Russia opened the Black Sea Russian TurkStream with first deliveries of gas to EU member Bulgaria.

On December 11, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu hinted that Ankara could use its military to prevent gas drilling in waters off Cyprus that it now claims. “No one can do this kind of work without our permission,” he said. Since early 2019 Turkish ships have entered Cyprus exclusive waters claiming rights to drill. In December 2019, the Turkish navy intercepted Bat Galim, an Israeli ship in Cypriot waters and forced it to move out of the area. The ship was of the Israeli Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institution, doing research in Cyprus’s territorial waters in coordination with Cypriot officials. The US State Department warned Turkey to back off and the EU imposed sanctions on Turkish persons, to little effect so far.

Turkey’s recent interest in Libya is directly related to blocking Cyprus gas exploration and declaring vast Turkish offshore space legal for its drilling ships.

On November 27, 2019 Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a bilateral agreement on maritime boundaries in the southeastern Mediterranean. It would redraw existing recognized sea boundaries to give Libya exclusive rights for some 39,000 square kilometers of maritime waters belonging to Greece. The new joint zone of Tripoli-Turkey runs directly between the both countries and completely ignores the fact it violates Greek waters off Crete. Conveniently, it would cut directly across the planned Israel-Cyprus-Greece EastMed pipeline route. Without Turkey’s approval, Turkey has suggested the Greek EastMed pipeline would be a non-starter.

>>8166341

The Mad Geopolitics of Israel’s EastMed Gas Pipeline

(New Eastern Outlook Jan 19,2020) (part 2 of 2)

The ongoing war between Haftar and Tripoli’s GNA becomes even more complex, as Israel is also backing Haftar who now controls Benghazi and much of Tobruk along the Mediterranean coastline. Since 2017 the Israeli military have secretly been supporting Haftar in his attempt to gain control of Libya.

The EastMed Project

The just signed agreement between Israel, Greece and Cyprus is more fantasy than reality at this point. It calls for a hugely expensive $7 billion 1,900 km (1,180 mile) subsea pipeline, “the longest and deepest gas pipeline in the world,” that should initially bring up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Israeli and Cypriot waters to Crete and then on to the Greek mainland and ultimately to Italy. That would amount to roughly 4% of total EU gas consumption, far less than Russia’s present 39% share, let alone Gazprom’s increased share once NordStream 2 and TurkStream are fully completed in the coming months. TurkStream, where the first of two pipelines opened on January 1, 2020, will supply a total of more than 31 bcm, with half available for the EU gas market and NordStream2 will add another 55 bcm annually to the EU gas market.

It has been ten years since gas was discovered at Israel’s Leviathan. The first gas deliveries only began early this month to Egypt and to Jordan leaving 80% available for export following numerous delays. However prospects of finding finance for the huge project are grim at best. The EU, while greeting a rival to Russian gas, has made clear it has no money for the project. Greece financing is hardly possible after the 2010 Greek crisis and Cyprus is similarly depleted after its 2013 banking crisis. According to a statement from the Israeli Finance Ministry it will be financed by “private companies and institutional lenders.” To find private financing for such a politically risky undertaking at a time of growing risk aversion in finance is dubious. With a current glut of gas on the world market and the increasing availability of LNG sources it is not at all clear that a politically risky Israeli EastMed undersea pipeline makes economic sense.

Notably, Greek state television channel ERT refers to the EastMed project as a “protective shield against Turkish provocations.” That makes clear Greece sees it as a response to the recent rapprochement between Turkey and the government in Libya and Erdogan’s announcement he is sending troops to support the GNA in Tripoli to make pressure against Haftar. Were Haftar to ultimately take Tripoli, clearly the Turkish-Libya bilateral agreement on maritime boundaries would be repealed.

As if the conflict was not already messy enough, the Greek government just announced that it is willing to send Greek troops in order to monitor the ceasefire between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). The offer was put forward after Greek Foreign Minister Dendias met with LNA leader General Khalifa Haftar. This potentially pits NATO member Greece against NATO member Turkey in the widening geopolitical power plays over control of Eastern Mediterranean and other gas flows to the EU. And the prospect of a revived Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline has not even entered the calculus.

The EastMed gas pipeline of Israel, far from being a positive energy alternative, is rather a geopolitical intervention into an already conflicted region adding new levels of tension that only increase prospects for military escalation on all sides.

Additional article:

Israel's Leviathan Energy Prize: Where Will The Gas Go? (Forbes, Feb 19,2019)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2019/02/19/israels-leviathan-energy-prize-where-will-the-gas-go/#52c3452a8194

EU to fund planning of pipeline from Leviathan to Europe (Globes Jan 29, 2018)

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-eu-to-fund-planning-of-pipeline-from-leviathan-to-europe-1001221467

The EU has allocated €34.5 million to complete planning, so that a decision can be made about the pipeline.

The European Union (EU) will fund the detailed planning for laying a natural gas pipeline from Israel's Leviathan offshore gas reservoir to Europe. On January 25, the European Commission in Brussels published a list of its priority clean energy projects for 2018 that will receive €873 million in aggregate funding.

The project, called EastMed, is for an undersea pipeline from Leviathan through Cypriot waters to Crete and Italy. The EU has allocated €34.5 million to complete planning, so that a final decision can be made about investing in the project in 2019.

Financing will be transferred through IGI Poseidon, a subsidiary of French company Edison, which is conducting the engineering feasibility tests for the project. The EastMed project, which was first proposed two years ago by Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz, involves laying a natural gas pipeline from Israel's Leviathan gas reservoir and Cyprus's Aphrodite gas reservoirs through Crete to southern Italy, where it will be connected to the European gas market.

According to the current timetable, construction of the project will begin in 2021 and take four years. At the same time, discussions are continuing between the directors general of the energy ministries of Israel, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy for a political umbrella agreement for the project. The EU regards EastMed as a strategic project that will enhance the energy security of European countries by giving them access to a supply of gas through another pipeline besides Russia's and the dwindling gas resources of Norway and the Netherlands.

This ambitious project, however, is still far from implementation. The engineering difficulty in this complex infrastructure project lies in its undersea route, which reaches a depth of 3.3 kilometers, and the volcanic activity on the sea bottom between Cyprus and Greece. Such activity is liable to cause damage to the pipeline that will be very hard to repair. Another equally important difficulty is the project's economic viability. The average price of gas in Europe over the past year was $5.50-6 per Btu, while the price is not much cheaper in Israel - $5.3 per Btu. In order to justify the considerable expense of building the undersea pipeline, the difference should be $2-3 per Btu.

Even if the pipeline is laid, Israel will not replace Gazprom, which supplies an estimated 200 BCM of natural gas a year, but Israel will definitely become an important supplier of gas in the region. The pipeline will be able to carry 5-10 BCM a year.

Government involvement

"Globes" recently reported that involvement of government company Israel Natural Gas Lines in the project was being considered. Involvement of a government company in this huge project makes its implementation more likely.

Energean company expects the results of “North Thekah offshore” exploratory well in a few weeks

(Eastern Mediterranean Monitor, Feb 13, 2019)

http://eastmedmonitor.com/?p=2367

Energean company expects the results of “North Thekah offshore” exploratory well in a few weeks

Energean has begun drilling an exploratory well in the deepwater of the Egyptian EEZ, the area is nearby from other giant east Mediterranean gas fields, the CEO Energean said on Wednesday during EGYPS.

“We’re drilling right now in “North Thekah”, a deepwater exploration … it started a couple of weeks ago,” Energean CEO Mathios Rigas told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Cairo.

Drilling would continue for 40-60 days, he said, depending on its success. “So the next 4-6 weeks we should have results.”

North Thekah lies close to Egypt’s giant Zohr field, Cyprus’s Aphrodite and Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan fields.

Italian giant Eni’s Zohr field, with an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, is the largest ever discovered in the Mediterranean. It started production in late 2017.

The NTO block covers an area of about 3750 km2 in the Eastern Sector of Egypt’s offshore at about 150 km from the shore and in water depths ranging from 400-1400 m. The block is located in the area between the prolific Nile Delta Cone and the Levantine Basin. Edison owns a 100% interest. The interpretation of the newly acquired 3D seismic data has already revealed the presence of relevant potential.

Edison owns 100% interest and is the operator of the block. A first exploration period is granted by the concession agreement (Law No. 7, 2014) until February 11, 2017, and requires the acquisition of a 2D/3D seismic program and drilling of 2 exploratory wells. In November 2016, EDISON started the 2D/3D program of seismic acquisition and is planning the spud of the first exploratory well in Q1 2017.

The Thekah North fields are located offshore, in the East Nile Delta. The Thekah field was discovered by BG in 1997. Subsequently, BG decided against developing the dry gas discovery and relinquished the acreage.

Tharwa Petroleum was awarded the Thekah block in the 2002 EGPC Bid Round. The award was ratified and became effective in 2004. Eni farmed-in in 2005 and the partners made the Thekah North discovery in 2006.

The fields were brought onstream in Q1 2009 with combined production peaking at 81 mmcfd during the year.

Gas is piped onshore via the neighboring Port Said facilities to the El Gamil gas processing plant. Gas is bought by EGAS for delivery to the domestic market.

Noble Energy modifyed Aphrodite gas field contract

(Eastern Mediterranean Monitor, June 1, 2019)

http://eastmedmonitor.com/?p=977

Noble Energy is modifying Aphrodite gas field contract, with the Cyprus government, they have clinched a deal with the Aphrodite gas field stakeholders to modify the production sharing contract, with energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis expected to brief political parties next week.

Daily Politis reports that the government has reached an agreement revising the production sharing contract (PSC) with Noble Energy and its joint venture partners, Delek Group and Shell.

The key revision in the PSC will result in a redistribution of profit, increasing the share of the joint venture when oil prices are low, but conversely, when global oil prices rise, Cyprus’ share will increase.

The government had pledged to keep the parties in the loop about the talks. The following week the energy minister will be meeting with representatives of the parties to gauge their reaction to the revised PSC.

Assuming most parties are on board with the modified deal, it would give the government the green light to proceed with signatures.

The government also has in its hands the companies’ plan to develop and monetise Aphrodite. It’s understood this will involve piping the gas to an LNG facility in Idku, Egypt.

The only political party that is opposed to this option is Akel, insisting that the Aphrodite gas be set aside and used for a future LNG plant in Cyprus.

The government has dismissed this, arguing that an LNG facility is untenable at the moment as it would require anywhere from 10 to 15 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas to be viable.

It also says that delaying an export deal with Egypt might close the current window of opportunity to develop Aphrodite.

According to energy analyst Charles, Illinois, the combined recoverable gas resources offshore Cyprus, with a 90 per cent probability, are: Aphrodite 3.1 tcf, Glafcos 4 tcf, and Calypso 3 tcf.

Also next week the energy minister will be briefing parties in negotiations to grant ENI and Total the joint concession to explore offshore block 7.

Israel extended its second East Med gas licensing bid round to mid-July

(Eastern Mediterranean Monitor, June 7, 2019)

http://eastmedmonitor.com/?p=1017

Israel extended its second East MED gas licensing bid round to mid-July due to the requests from interested parties.

The round is offering licenses for 19 blocks within five zones as Israel looks to move forward with upstream developers to help feed an offshore gas pipeline to southern Europe.

“Due to the number of requests received from companies that purchased the documents of the competitive process, they are allowed another month to prepare for submission,” the energy ministry said.

The round was launched in November by energy minister Yuval Steinitz who said he hoped to attract new international energy companies to the country’s already proven offshore.

Any company holding over 20% of an existing production license will not be able to participate in the current bid round following criticism of the work, offshore Israel to date, which has been dominated by a handful of companies, including the US’s Noble Energy and Israeli explorers Delek and Ratio.

Each of the 19 blocks measure up to 400 square km and each zone, consisting of multiple blocks, is as large as 1,600 sq km.

The zones are located in the southern extent of Israel’s economic waters, an area which has been previously licensed in part and had previous seismic research and limited exploration activity.

The new Israeli round follows a first round that began in 2016, which granted six new licenses.

The second round is intended to continue the development of the gas market in Israel, correlated with progress on the planned subsea pipeline between Israel and Europe.

Israel is part of plans to build a pipeline to link its offshore gas resources with southern Europe — the EastMed pipeline — under development by Italy’s Edison and Greece’s DEPA.

The 10 Bcm/year, 1,300 km pipeline would stretch from gas fields offshore Israel and Cyprus via Crete to Greece from where it could link into the planned Poseidon pipeline to Italy.

Israel and Cyprus’s existing finds in the region — Tamar, Leviathan, Aphrodite and several other fields — are expected to serve the Israeli domestic market and the Egyptian market.

Any new major gas discoveries offshore Israel would therefore be ideal as feed gas for the EastMed pipeline.

EU earmarks bill for East Med Pipeline

(Eastern Mediterranean Monitor, Nov 21, 2019)

http://eastmedmonitor.com/?p=1767

London — The EU has agreed to earmark Eur1.28 billion ($1.4 billion) of its 2020 budget to support priority energy infrastructure projects under the Connecting Europe Facility, the European Commission said Tuesday.

This is up 35% on the CEF energy allocation agreed for 2019, as part of EU efforts to prioritize funding for tackling climate change, for example by supporting infrastructure to integrate large-scale renewables, the EC said.

How much CEF funding the EC will actually award in 2020 depends on the projects bidding for it. Only projects with formal “EU projects of common interest” status are eligible to apply.

The EC offered up to Eur750 million of CEF energy funding in a call for projects in 2019, and in October awarded Eur556 million to six power and two gas projects.

The bulk — Eur530 million — went to the proposed 700 MW Celtic Interconnector between France and Ireland, which will be Ireland’s only direct link to the EU’s internal power market once the UK leaves the EU.

The Eur1 billion 575-km subsea cable will connect the Knockraha substation near Cork to La Martyre near Brest. It is planned to be online in 2026.

The 2019 call also funded electricity storage projects in the Netherlands (Eur4.4 million), Estonia (Eur1.2 million) and Lithuania (Eur205,000).

BIGGER BUDGET FROM 2021

The EU allocated Eur5.35 billion to the CEF energy fund for 2014 to 2020, and the EC has proposed increasing this to Eur8.7 billion in the next EU budget from 2021 to 2027.

From 2014 to 2019 the CEF awarded nearly Eur4 billion in total to PCI energy projects.

PCI LIST DELAY

The EC sent its latest draft PCI list to the European Parliament and EU Council, representing national governments, at the end of October for approval within two months.

The parliament, however, requested a four-month extension to this scrutiny period, so now has until the end of April to say if it objects or not.

The EC has stressed that the latest PCI list — which is updated every two years — focuses on electricity and smart grids. This reflects the increasing share of renewables in the EU’s energy mix and the need for grid reinforcements and cross-border trade, it said.

The early PCI lists focused on gas supply security projects, prompted by the 2009 disruptions in Russian gas supplies to the EU via Ukraine.

“The EU gas grid has become more robust and if all ongoing PCIs are implemented, the EU should have a well-interconnected and shock-resilient gas grid by the early 2020s,” the EC said on October 31.

The latest draft PCI list includes the Krk LNG project in Croatia, projects enabling the Balkan Gas Hub, the BRUA gas link between Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, and the EastMed pipeline to Greece.

ExxonMobil, Qatar Petroleum sign Cyprus gas deal

(Eastern Mediterranean Monitor, Dec 18, 2019)

http://eastmedmonitor.com/?p=1952

ExxonMobil, Qatar Petroleum sign Cyprus gas deal

US giant ExxonMobil with Qatar Petroleum on Wednesday signed a license to explore for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus, and they expect to start drilling next year.

The venture was selected as part of the island‘s third licensing round to explore block 10.

Cyprus Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis described as “immense” the firms‘ presence in his country‘s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and, for the first time, in the eastern Mediterranean.

“One of our primary goals during the third licensing round was to advance the exploration of our EEZ” aimed at discovering hydrocarbon reserves, he said at the signing ceremony.

“This is precisely what we have achieved.”

The minister said a total of 12 exploration wells would be drilled in the newly licensed blocks: 6, 8 and 10.

Exploration and production sharing contracts are to be signed on Thursday by Italy‘s ENI and France‘s Total for block 6, and by ENI for block 8.

Cyprus would receive a total of 103.5 million euros ($110.5 million) in signature bonuses from the contracts, said Lakkotrypis.

ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum said they had begun planning for drilling operations and intend to drill the first exploration well in 2018.

“We look forward to working with the government of Cyprus to evaluate and realize the country‘s hydrocarbon potential,” said Andrew Swiger, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Corporation.

The blocks on offer are close to where ENI made a huge find in Egypt‘s offshore “Zohr” field that could hold 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The field sits adjacent to a Cyprus block licensed to Total.

The record Zhor find has raised hopes that there is more untapped wealth to be found off Cyprus.

US firm Noble Energy made the first find off the island‘s southeast coast in 2011 in the Aphrodite field (block 12), which is estimated to contain around 127.4 billion cubic meters (4.54 trillion cubic feet) of gas.

Israeli firms Delek and Avner have a 30 percent stake in the venture.

Noble has handed over a 35 percent share to Britain‘s BG International.

Block 12 has been declared commercially viable but an action plan on the next steps has yet to be finalized.

Italian-South Korean venture ENI-Kogas has so far failed to discover any exploitable gas reserves in deep-sea drilling off the island.

ENI has the right to exploit blocks 2, 3 and 9 in Cyprus‘ exclusive economic zone that borders Egypt‘s gas fields.

ENI and Total, which have an equal share in block 11, are preparing for exploratory drilling off Cyprus‘ southern shore sometime this year in these blocks.

Cyprus needs to find more gas reserves to make a planned onshore terminal financially viable as it seeks to become a regional energy player.

It had planned to build a liquefied natural gas plant that would allow exports by ship to Asia and Europe, but the reserves confirmed so far are insufficient to make that feasible.

Cyprus and energy-starved Egypt are looking into the possibility of transferring gas from the Aphrodite field to Egypt via an undersea pipeline. Cyprus hopes to begin exporting gas, and maybe oil, by 2022.

Additional Articles:

EastMed Pipeline: The Mediterranean Mega-Project That Will Change Europe’s Energy Map Forever

(The Greek Reporter Dec 23, 2019)

https://greece.greekreporter.com/2019/12/23/eastmed-pipeline-the-mediterranean-mega-project-that-will-change-europes-energy-map-forever/

• • • • • • • • • *

Dig Summary for “Energy, Levant, Cyprus”

Greece – Cyprus – Israel EastMed Gas Pipeline and political confrontations with Turkey

• • • • • • • • • *

Gas Fields:

Leviathan & Tamar . . . Israel

Aphrodite . . . . . . . . . . Cyprus

Zhor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Egypt

Pipelines:

EastMed . . . . . . Leviathan/Aphrodite gas fields to Cyprus

IGI Poseidon . . . Italy-Greece Intertie

IGB . . . . . . . . . . Italy-Greece-Bulgaria Intertie

In Greece, pipelines will tie into the European gas network’s Matagiola-Massafra pipeline and the Adriatica Line

Notable contractors and developers:

Edison Italy

Noble

Exxon-Mobile

Energean

Qatar Petroleum

Politics:

EU and US support the EastMed pipeline project

EU allocated 34.5mil Euro for planning in 2019; 1.28 billion Euro for 2020 construction

Turkey and Cyprus are in dispute over international boundaries

Timeline:

late 2018 Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Israel reached inter-government agreement and sent to European Commission for assessment

early 2019 Turkey entered Cypriot waters for drilling

mid 2019 US threatened Turkey with sanction for violating Cypriot waters

Aug 2019 US State Dept Greece Cyprus Israel press briefing “Cooperation in the Field of Energy”

Nov 2019 EU earmarked 1.28 billion Euro for pipeline construction in 2020 budget

Nov 2019 Turkey signed agreement with Libya Muslim Brotherhood

Dec 2019 Turkey using drones to escort drilling vessels

Dec 2019 Greece filed complaint with UN Security Council over Turkey’s actions

Dec 2019 Turkey notified the UN seeking to register the maritime border

Dec 2019 Israel seeking gas export agreements with Egypt and Jordan

Jan 2020 Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Israel inter-government agreement signed

2021 final investment decision (Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy)

mid 2021-2025 construction start to first gas delivery (Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy)

Sauce:

Government oversite in Greece is DEPA

DEPA Greece

https://www.depa.gr/?lang=en

https://www.depa.gr/international-infrastructures/?lang=en

THE EAST MED PIPELINE

Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy slideshow

https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/east_med_presentation.pdf

Edison Italy

https://www.edison.it/en/gas-infrastructures

Italian company Edison

US State Department

https://www.state.gov/turkish-drilling-in-cypriot-waters/

https://www.state.gov/turkish-drilling-in-cypriot-claimed-waters/

https://www.state.gov/turkish-drilling-in-cypriot-claimed-waters-2/

https://www.state.gov/remarks-with-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-president-of-the-republic-of-cyprus-nicos-anastasiades-and-greek-prime-minister-alexis-tsipras/

https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-the-ministerial-meeting-of-the-united-states-greece-republic-of-cyprus-and-israel-regarding-cooperation-in-the-field-of-energy/

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-july-16-2019/#post-89627-TURKEY

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-november-15-2018/#CYPRUS

• • details also from the articles with links already posted * *

EastMed Pipeline Details

IGI Poseidon (webpages)

http://www.igi-poseidon.com/en/eastmed

EastMed

A direct link to new sources for Europe

The Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline project relates to an offshore/onshore natural gas pipeline, directly connecting East Mediterranean resources to Greece via Cyprus and Crete that could: i) enhance Europe’s gas security of supply via diversification of counterparts, routes and sources; ii) develop EU indigenous resources such as the offshore gas reserves around Cyprus and Greece; and iii) promote the development of a South Mediterranean Gas Hub.

The project is currently designed to transport initially 10 Bcm/y (billion cubic meters of gas per year) from the off-shore gas reserves in the Levantine Basin (Cyprus and Israel) into Greece and, in conjunction with the Poseidon and IGB pipelines, int to Italy and other South East European countries. Furthermore, the pipeline would allow to feed Cyprus internal consumption with additional 1 Bcm/y.

The route

The EastMed project current design envisages a 1.300 km offshore pipeline and a 600 km onshore pipeline. The pipeline, starts from the new natural gas discoveries in the East Mediterranean region and comprises the following sections:

•200 km offshore pipeline stretching from Eastern Mediterranean sources to Cyprus;

•700 km offshore pipeline connecting Cyprus to Crete Island;

•400 km offshore pipeline from Crete to mainland Greece (Peloponnese);

•600 km onshore pipeline crossing Peloponnese and West Greece.

The EastMed pipeline is preliminarily designed to have exit points in Cyprus, Crete, mainland Greece as well as the connection point with the Poseidon pipeline.

European support

In 2015, with the support of the Cypriot, Greek and Italian Governments and as a result of the benefits that the project brings to Europe, the EastMed pipeline has been confirmed as Project of Common Interest (PCI), being included by the EU Commission in the second PCI list among the Southern Gas Corridor projects.

The EastMed project has also been included in the last Ten Years Development Plan (TYNDP), in line with the objective of the European Network Transportation System Operators of Gas (ENTSOG) to create a single European market for gas and a reliable and safe transmission network capable of meeting Europe's current and future needs.

The project has been awarded in 2015 with European grants of 2 million euro through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program necessary for the co-finance of the Pre-FEED activities.

In April 2017, during the Ministerial Summit held in Tel Aviv, in the presence of European Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, the Ministers for Energy of Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Israel signed a Joint Declaration to reaffirm their support to the swift implementation of the Project.

Development status

During the period 2015-2016, IGI Poseidon has finalized, also thanks to EU financial contribution under the CEF program, with the support of first class international engineering (Intecsea and C&M consortium) and global consultancy (IHS-Cera) firms, the PRE-FEED studies, definitively confirming that the EastMed Pipeline Project is:

•technically feasible: relevant industry players have confirmed availability of several pipe mills and of multiple laying vessels capable of securing project realization;

•economically viable: current estimate of project capital expenditures requirements evidences that the total project cost results lower than similar-capacity import projects to EU and sustainable in view of EU gas prices scenarios;

•complementary to other export options: current discoveries from the region would sustain approximately 30 Bcm/y exports to global markets, without accounting for future discoveries in a widely underexplored region, and would therefore support multiple export schemes, including to global markets via LNG and to Europe via EastMed pipeline.

EastMed Pipeline Project development activities are now focusing on performing marine surveys along the route, in order to improve routing accuracy and to finalize preparation of the tender packages for initiating the proper development phase, that would allow the project to reach Investment Decision status.

>>8166411

Poseidon Pipeline Details

IGI Posiedon (webpages)

http://www.igi-poseidon.com/en/poseidon

Poseidon

A multi-source project

The Poseidon Pipeline is a multi-source natural gas interconnector stretching from the Turkish-Greek border to Italy. It forms the backbone of a broader system of interconnectors in South East Europe, designed to link European markets with new gas sources and diversified routes. The Poseidon Pipeline represents the evolution of the former design of the project promoted by IGI,the IGI Project, the offshore section between the Greek and Italian coast.

With an Initial Capacity 15 Bcm/y at the Greek-Turkish border and Expansion Capacity of up to 20 Bcm/y, the Poseidon Pipeline links Greece with the Italian, the Bulgarian and the European gas system providing access to the gas infrastructure and sources available at Greece's Eastern borders, including via connections with the EastMed Pipeline and the IGB Pipeline projects, offering Europe an opportunity to strengthen energy security.

The route

The Poseidon Pipeline will extend for approximately 760 km on Greek territory (the onshore section) from the Turkish-Greek border in Kipi to the landfall in Florovouni and for approximately 216 km crossing the Ionian Sea up to the landfall in Italy and the receiving terminal in Otranto (the offshore section), where it will be connected to the Italian national gas transport system.

The project's new configuration will enable access to gas from the Caspian Basin, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean Basin.

European status

The strategic role and benefits of the Poseidon Pipeline have been recognized by several agreements and decisions at both the national (Italian and Greek) and European levels, including by key Intergovernmental Agreements between respectively, Greece and Italy as well as Greece, Italy and Turkey that support its realization.

The Poseidon Pipeline complements the IGB and the EastMed pipelines which, along with the offshore section of Poseidon are EU Projects of Common Interest (PCI), in recognition of their contribution to Europe’s diversification and competitiveness goals for a secure and integrated market that reduces the reliance of South East Europe on limited sources and supply routes.

The Poseidon Pipeline is in the list of projects to be included in the 2018 Ten Years Development Plan (TYNDP) of the European Network Transportation System Operators of Gas (ENTSOG) in support of the EU’s targets for a single European gas market and the development of a reliable and safe transmission network to meet Europe's current and future needs.

The Poseidon Pipeline, in its former configuration, has been included in the Trans-European Networks Energy (TEN-E) and European Economic Recovery Programs and it has benefited from funding.

Development status

IGI Poseidon aims to reach the conditions required for the Final Investment Decision within the 1st half of 2019 and it's engaged in the fast track development process.

The Poseidon Pipeline is already a mature project with most technical activities completed, the major construction permits for the Italian section obtained and the finalization of the permitting procedure in Greece significantly advanced.

IGI Poseidon's EU notices for the main EPC & Supply contracts for the Poseidon Pipeline are published in the Official Journal of the European Union Supplement (OJ/S).

On June 6, 2018 IGI Poseidon submitted its application for an Exemption from certain provision of EU Directive 2009/73/EC in accordance with art. 36 therein to the relevant regulatory authorities.

On July 31, 2018 IGI Poseidon submitted the Enviromental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the onshore section, to the Greek Ministry of Enviroment and Energy.

EU Agrees To Sanction Turkey For Drilling In Cypriot Waters

(Zero Hedge July 15, 2019)

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-15/eu-agrees-sanction-turkey-drilling-cypriot-waters

A surprisingly muscular response beyond mere threatening rhetoric out of the European Union over Turkey's violations of Cypriot territorial waters related to offshore drilling operations: the EU has agreed to bring financial and political sanctions against Turkey after repeat warnings of the past weeks.

European Union officials on Monday agreed political and financial sanctions against Turkey after Ankara went ahead with drilling operations off Cyprus despite repeated warnings, European diplomats said. — AFP

"The conclusions on Turkey have been adopted and they will be made public in the coming hours," the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters following a meeting of foreign ministers.

Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg also announced prior to Mogherini's remarks Monday from Brussels:

"Today, we will adopt a number of measures against Turkey — less money, fewer loans through the European Investment Bank, freeze of aviation agreement talks. Naturally, other sanctions are possible."

"We [the] are fully behind Cyprus," Schallenberg added while addressing the crisis, which has involved Turkey laying claim to a waters extending a whopping 200 miles from EU member Cyrprus' coast, brazenly asserting ownership over a swathe of the Mediterranean that even cuts into Greece's exclusive economic zone.

Last week the Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz sailed to an area off Cyprus’ east coast — the second to follow a first drilling vessel, Fatih, which had already been exploring in Cypriot waters. Notably, the vessels have been accompanied by the Turkish military, including drones, F-16 fighters, and warships.

Cyprus has long condemned Turkey's aggressive oil and gas explorations as a "second invasion" in reference to the creation in 1974 of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus after a military takeover.

The AFP reports the following after the EU ministers' meeting and announcement of impending sanctions:

“The details are not due to be published until 10:00 pm (2000 GMT), but the most serious measure is understood to be a cut of 145.8 million euros ($164 million) in the European funds allocated to Turkey for 2020.

The European Investment Bank has been asked to revisit the conditions set out for providing financial support to Ankara, according to several European sources.

The EU is also expected to downgrade its dialogue with Turkey, without cutting it off completely.”

Turkey's actions and expansive claims inside Cyprus' exclusive economic zone have been condemned by the US, European Union, and Egypt, with NATO officials recently signalling to Turkey that it was out of line.

Ankara has not only confirmed the drilling operations but has positively boasted about its oil and gas expansion in the eastern Mediterranean. The only compromise it's offered, even while sending warships and military planes to "protect" its drilling vessels, has been to offer dialogue over a "cooperation" proposal between the Turkish-held part of the island and internationally recognized Cyprus.

Should the Turkish military attempt to enforce its drilling claims and run up against Cypriot and Greek vessels, it could spark a deadly encounter which would force the EU and NATO to finally weigh in more forcefully

Cyprus: Turkey's new gas drilling bid 'severe escalation'

(abcnews Oct 4, 2019)

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cyprus-turkeys-gas-drilling-bid-severe-escalation-66053786

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Cyprus on Friday lashed out at Turkey's new attempt to drill for gas in Cypriot waters where European energy companies are already licensed to conduct a search, calling it a "severe escalation" and vowing to fight the move.

In a strongly worded statement, the Cypriot government denounced the arrival of the Turkish drillship Yavuz in an area licensed to France's Total and Italy's Eni as "utterly provocative and aggressive behavior," in defiance of international calls to respect the east Mediterranean island nation's sovereign rights.

It said the Turkish government is putting regional stability and security at risk by choosing to "irreversibly depart from international legality," adding it would not yield to "threats and bullying tactics" of a bygone era.

"Illegality, no matter how often it's repeated, does not generate law," the Cypriot government said, adding that it would step up its legal and diplomatic fight, especially within the European Union.

Turkey doesn't recognize Cyprus as a state and claims some 44% of the island's exclusive economic zone as its own, saying it's acting to protect its interests and those of breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

The EU has already imposed sanctions against Turkey for earlier drilling activities in waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights but that aren't licensed out to energy companies. The Yavuz is the second warship-escorted drillship that Turkey has dispatched to drill off Cyprus, joining the Fatih and other research vessels.

The Cypriot government has issued international arrest warrants against top executives from energy companies assisting the Turkish drillships.

The Yavuz has sailed into an area some 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the town of Paphos on Cyprus' southwestern coast, which is licensed to Eni and Total but which Turkey claims partly falls within its own continental shelf.

Cyprus was split along ethnic lines following a 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a coup aiming at union with Greece. Although the island joined the EU in 2004, only the southern, internationally recognized part enjoys full membership benefits.

Britain's Minister for Europe, Christopher Pincher, said his country "deplores" any unlawful drilling off Cyprus. Speaking after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Pincher said the U.K. supports Cyprus's right to extract hydrocarbons from inside its exclusive economic zone and that any potential wealth from such activities go toward the benefit of all Cypriots.

Anastasiades spoke to European Union Council President Donald Tusk who repeated the bloc's condemnation of Turkey's actions and reaffirmed EU solidarity with Cyprus, according to a Cyprus government statement. Tusk said the matter will be taken up at the next EU leaders' summit later this month.

The Cypriot president also agreed with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to take coordinated action within the EU and the U.N. to counter Turkey's activities.

Greece's foreign ministry earlier Friday said Turkey's actions "totally contradict any meaning of legality."

Eni and Total have teamed up to expand their oil and gas search off Cyprus and currently hold licenses for seven of Cyprus' 13 blocks inside the island's economic zone.

Other licensed companies include ExxonMobil and Texas-based Noble Energy along with partners Shell and Israel's Delek.

Turkey Deploys Drillship to Waters Off Southern Cyprus

(Maritime Executive Jan 20, 2020)

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/turkey-deploys-drillship-to-waters-off-southern-cyprus

On Sunday, Turkey upped the ante in its dispute with Cyprus over drilling rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. For the first time, it has deployed a drillship to an area south of the island, the region where the Cypriot government has bid out gas exploration leases to international companies like Eni and ExxonMobil.

“Our drillship, Yavuz, was relocated on [January 17] to the Block G in the south of the island in order to conduct its third drilling activity as part of the licenses given to Turkish Petroleum in 2011 by the [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus] government,” wrote the Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement. “The EU has remained silent to the usurpation of the rights of our country and Turkish Cypriots in the eastern Mediterranean since 2003. It has not mentioned the Turkish Cypriots in any of its statements and ignored the rights and presence of the Turkish Cypriots."

The international community does not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which has governed the north half of the island since its conflict with the (predominately Greek) southern half in the 1970s. The Cypriot capital in Nicosia is the internationally-recognized government for the island and its EEZ.

The government of Cyprus vigorously opposes Turkey's drilling activity on the Cypriot shelf. Last June, it issued arrest warrants for multiple crewmembers aboard the Turkish drillship Fatih for their involvement in the drilling campaign. Turkey's Foreign Ministry denounced the warrants as "null and void" and threatened to carry out a "necessary response" if any of the Fatih's crewmembers were arrested.

Turkey also opposes Cyprus' drillng activity in Cypriot waters. In February 2018, Turkish warships physically blocked the Eni-chartered drillship Saipem 12000 from transiting to Cypriot Lease Block 3, which is located off the island's east coast. Eni purchased the exploration rights to the block from Cyprus, but the area is also claimed by Northern Cyprus with support from Turkey.

Soros in Romania Series

(by Jacob Grandstaff, Capital Research Center Dec 21, 2017 – April 8, 2018)

https://capitalresearch.org/tag/soros-in-romania/

[ copy of 10 part series is approx. 30 pages (without article pics) ]

Part 1 How the Open Society Foundations’ NGO network tries to influence politics in Eastern Europe

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soross-romanian-ghosts/

Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soross-romanian-ghosts-part-two/

Part 3 How Soros-affiliated NGO’s threaten democracy in Romania https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-colectiv-horror/

Part 4 How the Open Society Foundations’ NGO network tries to influence politics in Eastern Europe

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-explaining-the-democratic-society/

Part 5 Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to the countries of Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-corruption-and-eu/

Part 6 Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-macoveis-way/

Part 7 How Soros’ open society allies use U.S. democracy promotion for political power

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-diplomacy/

Part 8 The role of the Obama State Department in Romania's Impeachment Vote

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-an-american-outpost-in-the-balkans/

Part 9 George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts

https://capitalresearch.org/article/soros-in-romania-part-9/

Part 10 George Soros’s Romanian Ghosts

https://capitalresearch.org/article/soros-in-romania-part-10/

Part 10 video by Capital Research Center “George Soros's European Uprisings | Jacob Grandstaff”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8CBBn0YxQA&feature=emb_title

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8CBBn0YxQA

Capital Research Center Youtube Channel Videos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp7NBbx93BDRMe2jM2h-Wpw/videos

Description

The Capital Research Center, 'America's Investigative Think Tank,' was established in 1984 to examine how foundations, charities, and other nonprofits spend money and get involved in politics and advocacy, often in ways that donors never intended and would find abhorrent. From the start, CRC has exposed how those organizations are 'captured' by interest groups and used to undermine Americans’ freedoms. Today, we study unions, environmentalist groups, and a wide variety of nonprofit and activist organizations. We also keep an eye on crony capitalists who seek to profit by taking advantage of government regulations and by getting their hands on taxpayers’ money. We believe in free markets, Constitutional government, and individual liberty, but facts are facts, and our journalists and researchers go where the facts lead therm. CRC is tax-exempt and fiercely independent; we depend on voluntary contributions, not contract work or government, to fund our research and publications.

Soros in Romania Series

by Jacob Grandstaff, Capital Research Center Dec 21, 2017 – May 4, 2018

https://capitalresearch.org/tag/soros-in-romania/

[ copy of 10 part series is approx. 30 pages (without article pics) ]

Soros in Romania Series

Part 1 How the Open Society Foundations’ NGO network tries to influence politics in Eastern Europe

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soross-romanian-ghosts/

Capital Research Center has exposed liberal billionaire George Soros’ funding of left-wing movements and organizations in the United States, including Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the communist-connected Color of Change. But the billionaire’s goals have always been bigger than one country. In fact, in 2017, the U.S. only received 15 percent of his Open Society Foundations’ (OSF) dedicated funding—the rest went to foreign countries and global projects.

Soros has given particular focus to exporting political unrest to the former communist countries of Eastern Europe, including his native Hungary. In fewer than 25 years, OSF has poured $1.6 billion into the region for “democratic development.”

But why would the organization spend such a sum on countries that are already democratic?

Soros’ motto, “If I spend enough, I will make it right,” provides an answer, as well as insight into his philanthropic activity, almost all of which entails political—not humanitarian—ends.

During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Soros spent at least $25 million supporting Hilary Clinton and other Democratic candidates. But when all that spending didn’t “make it [the election] right,” Soros declared in an op-ed, “Democracy is now in crisis.”

Apparently, Soros’ definition of democracy means people electing only candidates of whom he approves.

In the op-ed, Soros lamented that the U.S. under President Donald Trump will become so embroiled in internal fighting and trying to protect its own minorities from violent attacks that “it will be unable to… promote democracy in the rest of the world.”

For Soros, however, democracy abroad—as in the U.S.—isn’t free if it doesn’t follow his ideology.

Uncle Sam joins Team Soros

The U.S. State Department often teamed up with Soros and OSF to “promote democracy” in Eastern European countries. This often consisted of targeting nationalist governments by infusing socially liberal propaganda through NGOs and Western-sponsored media—often going so far as to influence those countries’ elections.

One example is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s reported meddling in Macedonia’s elections in 2016. According to USAID’s website, between February 27, 2012 and August 31, 2016, the agency gave $4,819,125 to Open Society Foundations – Macedonia. In April, the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the State Department and USAID, for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records and communications dealing with the funding and political activities of OSF’s Macedonian arm. Judicial Watch reported that with the help of then-President Barack Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jess L. Baily, the U.S. government spent “millions of taxpayer dollars to destabilize the democratically elected, center-right government in Macedonia by colluding” with Soros.

One NGO funded by the USAID-Soros alliance paid for the translation into Macedonian of far-left activist Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, which CRC Vice President Matthew Vadum calls “the seminal book for community organizers.” A Macedonian government official even referred to the American-funded activists as the “Soros infantry.”

In a 2006 Organization Trends detailing leftist NGOs’ influence in Romania, Neil Maghami observed that “in a sense NGOs are filling a power vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet Union.” Many of these NGOs are funded by Western philanthropists like Soros, “whose dreams of leftist solidarity … die hard,” work to thwart investment from Western capitalists, while infusing their host countries with liberal social values.

>>8171690

Soros in Romania Part 1 How the Open Society Foundations’ NGO network tries to influence politics in Eastern Europe

(continued)

The West has cause to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the end of communism in Eastern Europe. Western investors, business people, and consumers enjoy increased living standards in no small part because Eastern Europe embraced economic freedom. But while many Westerners took advantage of the economic opportunities that the economic opening brought, others, including Soros, saw an opportunity to wield enormous political influence in the region.

In the next installment of “George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts,” we’ll look specifically at how Soros has infiltrated Romania since the fall of communism and how OSF’s progeny dominates much of the political discourse in that country.

Soros In Romania Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soross-romanian-ghosts-part-two/

Mirel Palada, one of thousands of young Eastern Europeans to receive a scholarship from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF), said the only requirement was that recipients return home after their study abroad ended. When Palada finished his year (1997-98) at Kalamazoo College in Michigan, he went back to his country of Romania, obtained a Ph.D in sociology, and—among other occupations—served as press secretary for former Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

At the time, Soros did me a favor. [He hoped] to see the favor returned—that I would feel indebted, and become one of his minions.

Today, however, Palada holds mixed feelings about the opportunity that Soros provided him.

In an interview with DC News, he credited Soros’s “praiseworthy scrupulousness” in building an influential Eastern European network, but argued that it works against Romania’s national interests.

[Soros] took novice, naïve, young folks, showed them America, paid for their studies, patiently building a network of people that would be grateful—that he could use when their time comes, and they become influential.

“Thank God, I’m not part of Soros’s network,” said Palada. “I’m part of those who love their country.

Many Romanians feel the same about Soros.

“This man and the foundations and structures he has set up … since the ’90s … have furthered evil in Romania,” said Social Democrat (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea last January.

The country’s PSD-controlled Senate passed a law in November, joining a number of Eastern European governments seeking to curb Soros’s influence in their internal affairs. The law requires non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to report in detail their revenue sources biannually, and strips their eligibility for taxpayer funding as “public utilities” if they have engaged in political advocacy in the past two years.

Romanian opposition parties and NGOs accuse the PSD of using anti-Soros rhetoric as “cheap propaganda” from which to benefit politically. Although this represents a legitimate concern, do the accusations hold merit? Did Soros establish a Romanian network of NGOs so they could someday remake their country in his image?

The Soros Footprint

Romania’s communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena died by firing squad on Christmas Day, 1989. The day they were buried, on December 30, Romania’s first NGO, the Group for Social Dialogue (GDS) formed on the steps of the Bucharest Intercontinental Hotel.

Less than a week later, Soros paid the group a visit.

GDS’s founders included leading professors, philosophers, journalists, activists, and most notably, former editor of the Communist Party’s official newspaper Scînteia (The Spark) Silviu Brucan. Historian Alex Mihai Stoenescu refers to Brucan—a confidant of Soviet premier Mihail Gorbachov—as “the brains” behind both the revolution and the National Salvation Front’s (FSN) rise to power after Ceausescu’s downfall.

“I think I was the first civilian plane that landed in Bucharest,” Soros told Robert Turcescu on a Romanian television talk show in 2005.

>>8171811

Soros In Romania Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

(continued)

Shortly after landing, Soros made his way to the GDS headquarters—the former Romanian Communist Youth building that the new FSN regime lent to the group—where he met with Brucan and other charter members.

Despite its title, however, the GDS intellectuals had little chance of sparking social dialogue among the blue collar, rank and file Romanian citizens. The organization’s would-be elite ruling class watched in dismay in May 1990, as Romanian voters voted for the FSN ex-communists by more than 80 percent in the country’s first post-Ceausescu election.

The following month, however, Soros launched his own NGO in Romania, the Soros Foundation, with an initial budget of nearly $1.5 million. Until at least the late 90s, it remained the country’s only grantmaking NGO. Its mission became to develop programs that would provide for the country’s lack of civic initiatives and educational alternatives.

Over the next four years, the Foundation worked with the Romanian Ministry of Education to introduce textbooks authored by its own members into Romanian schools.

By the mid-1990s, its annual budget had grown to $10 million, and the group had expanded its mission to include communication, culture, and health initiatives.

In 1997, it changed its name to Foundation for an Open Society (FSD), mirroring the name of Soros’s new U.S.-based Open Society Foundations (OSF).

Although FSD’s Romanian staffers gained a reputation for arrogance, it arguably accomplished more with an average annual budget of $10-$12 million than the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) did with $30 to $40 million. USAID sought to rapidly democratize and liberalize the post-communist country; Soros, meanwhile, understood that before a young, white collar, liberal elite can guide a country toward the kind of open society that he prefers, that young, white collar, liberal elite must first exist.

In addition to sponsoring Romanian students to study in Western Europe and the U.S., Soros founded Central European University (CEU) in his native city of Budapest, which attracted students from across Eastern Europe, including Romania. FSD also sponsored hundreds of Romanians to attend conferences on non-profit formation and administration, both at home and abroad.

By the turn of the century, FSD’s budget had peaked at almost $16 million. The Foundation then transitioned its programs into 12 splinter NGOs that found additional sources of Western funding to supplement their Soros dollars—Soros’s goal being to eventually make them self-sustaining. Their missions and methods, however, remained the same, and a new umbrella organization, Soros Open Network – Romania (SON), formed in 2000.

From Civic Education to Political Action

As Romania moved closer to European Union membership, or democratic maturity in the eyes of Soros’s NGOs, the Soros network began engaging in more overt political advocacy.

Rosia Montana marked the highest profile case of direct political activism that Soros joined in the country.

The Canadian gold mining company Gabriel Resources struck a deal with the Romanian government in 2000 to mine near the village of Rosia Montana in the Transylvanian Apuseni Mountains. However, as word spread in the West, leftist NGOs and journalists swarmed the area to rally opposition, despite most locals’ supporting it.

For instance, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation of Flint, Michigan, poured millions into the NGOs’ crusade, including $426,800 for the Environmental Partnership of Romania through the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Much of this funding went toward anti-mining propaganda aimed at Romanians who lived nowhere near Rosia Montana, who, after spending four decades under communism, already viewed private ownership of large industries skeptically.

>>8171822

Soros In Romania Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

(continued)

European activist journalist Stephanie Roth likened the project to imperialist exploitation, and called Gabriel and another company “modern-day vampires.” For her attempts to slay her “vampires,” Roth received the $125,000 Goldman Environmental Prize from the San Francisco-based Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund. Meanwhile, the village miners whom the project would have helped, lived on around $300 a month.

But did the NGOs offer any environmentally-friendlier alternatives to Gabriel’s mining to help the villagers? As one foreign activist said via email:

Why should any NGO come forward with alternative projects? That is not the job of civil society. We are not a humanitarian organization, but a militant environmental NGO. If the whole community is in favor of the project, we simply put it on the list of our enemies.

In June 2006, Soros vowed that OSF would use “all legal and civic means to stop” the mine, and proceeded to back the anti-mining NGOs to the tune of millions of dollars.

This won Soros some sympathy from many in both the Romanian pro-nationalization Right and the environmentalist Left because the media widely reported that the selfless, environmentally-conscious Soros owned stock in Gabriel (Soros’s partially-owned Newmont Mining held about a fifth of the company.). Although any gains that Soros would have received would likely have been insignificant for him, the impoverished Romanians had few points of comparison from which to draw. Furthermore, for Soros, money has always been a mere means to political ends.

Meanwhile, many of Soros’s Romanian colleagues and allies gained prominent influence within the Romanian government, particularly following the 2004 elections.

Sandra Pralong left her position as communications director at Newsweek in 1990 to organize and lead the Romanian Soros Foundation, becoming its first executive director. In 1999, while working as an advisor to Romanian president Emil Constantinescu, she published her first book—a homage to Soros’s mentor—aptly entitled: Popper’s Open Society after Fifty Years: The Continuing Relevance of Karl Popper.

GDS’s first president, Alin Teodorescu, also served as president of the Soros Foundation Romania Council from 1990-1996. He later became Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase’s (2000-2004) chief of staff, and later won a seat in the Romanian Parliament in 2004.

Renate Weber led the Council in two stints between 1998 and 2007, and took an especially active role in the Rosia Montana activism. When NGO-friendly President Traian Basescu won in 2004, Weber served as his constitutional and legislative adviser. In November 2007, with the country’s entry into the EU, she won a seat in the European Parliament, which she holds today.

The Great Recession

Throughout Soros’s career, he has exhibited a near schizophrenic fear of political extremism—albeit, nearly exclusively of extremism from the Right.

After Romania entered the EU, Soros saw his vision for the country largely accomplished. But when the economic crisis of 2008 hit, Romania’s GDP, which had been the fastest growing in Europe, fell by 20 percent. After a string of nativist parties started making noise—although they largely failed at the ballot—Soros feared that populism could undo his nearly two decades of investment. So he spent another $100 million dollars on NGOs in the region, justifying it to the Financial Times as necessary to combat the disturbing “rise of the chauvinistic, xenophobic far right.”

He also urged the EU to prop up not only its countries’ welfare states, but to do the same for non-EU countries like Ukraine.

“In the crisis period, the impossible becomes possible,” he told Newsweek at the beginning of 2012. “The European Union could regain its luster.” He insisted that the key to avoiding disaster would be to not let the crises go to waste.

>>8171826

Soros In Romania Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

(continued)

Despite his generous, regional donation at the onset of the crisis, Soros reduced his direct funding of FSD and other Romanian NGOs, beginning in 2012. “He said now we are members of the EU,” Gabriel Petrescu, head of Romania’s Serendinno Foundation, an FSD spin-off, told Foreign Policy. “He had accomplished his mission of opening up these countries.”

In 2013, Petrescu (then FSD’s executive director) said that Soros planned to fund his Romanian organization directly through 2014, after which it would only receive OSF funds on a project basis.

In addition to direct funding from OSF, however, Soros has given millions to Romanian NGOs indirectly through the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). In 2001, his Open Society Institute (OSI), along with five other liberal philanthropies, namely: the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Atlantic Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, and the previously-mentioned Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and German Marshall Fund of the United States created CEE to channel funds to Central and Eastern European NGOs.

In addition to the 12 NGOs that originally formed SON, dozens of Romanian NGOs have sprung from them, seeking to transform Romania’s conservative, Orthodox Christian culture, by promoting socially liberal values.

Roxana Martin, an LGBT activist who received a Soros grant to study in Scotland in the 90s told Foreign Policy, “It changed my outlook on teaching and society and crap. And it was the first time I ever left Romania.” She added that “Everybody [who was on such a grant] goes, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember my Soros grant, my Soros trip.’”

Soros could reduce his direct involvement in Romania because he left in his wake a loyal army of grateful, civil society soldiers.

Why Such Staunch Opposition from the PSD?

It makes sense that foreign nationals might resent their fellow citizens who received American opportunities that they missed, or even resent a foreign billionaire’s meddling in their politics and attacking their traditional values. But why does the PSD, like many other Eastern European political parties, feel the need to castigate Soros, his NGOs, and their allies for being pure evil?

One likely explanation is that the party sees more at stake than simply bad publicity through Soros-friendly media outlets like Vice News Romania.

In the U.S.—as with most seasoned democracies—popular protests serve a purpose only if the protesters remember their cause next election cycle, or at least convince elected officials that they will remember. If the public is genuinely angry at its government, a peaceful change of power will follow through the ballot box (See the Tea Party movement in 2010).

The events of 1989, however, seared into the Romania’s national mythology the concept of popular street protests as a means to overthrow a corrupt government.

“We have this tradition in Romania of mass movements,” political scientist and commentator Cristian Pirvulescu told the New York Times during recent, anti-corruption demonstrations. “This was not just a movement against corruption. It’s a fight in defense of democracy.”

Such a culture provides fertile ground for Soros’s world view. If democracy doesn’t work as it should (i.e. voters don’t vote the right way), “democracy is in crisis.” Incidentally, Pirvulescu led the Romanian NGO Asociaţia Pro Democraţia (APD) as its president from 1999 until 2013. APD formed in the early 90s with the help of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which loosely affiliates with the American Democratic Party. After SON formed in 2000, APD entered the Soros Network, and has remained one of its most prominent organizations.

>>8171831

Soros In Romania Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

(continued)

Soros: Regime Change Catalyst

“My foundations,” brags Soros in his book The Bubble of American Supremacy (2004), “contributed to democratic regime change in Slovakia in 1998, Croatia in 1999, and Yugoslavia in 2000.”

Throughout the 1990s, the Clinton administration worked hand-in-glove with Soros to mold Eastern European policy. “I would say that [Soros’s policy] is not identical to the foreign policy of the U.S. government—but it’s compatible with it,” Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott told the New Yorker in 1995. Talbott served as President Bill Clinton’s Ambassador-at-Large to Russia and the New Independent States, causing Business Week to dub him the “Russian Policy Czar.” According to Talbot:

It’s like working with a friendly, independent entity, if not a government. We try to synchronize our approach to the former Communist countries with Germany, France, Great Britain—and with George Soros.

In countries with little accumulated capital, deep-state corruption, and a shaky rule of law, it became cliché among many of the politically aware in Eastern Europe that closer ties with the U.S. and EU would solve their economic problems. Many believed that acquiescing to the desires of NATO would lead to a mutual back-scratching. Thus, many common Romanians expressed genuine disappointment that the U.S. did not pave their roads after Romania contributed manpower to the American-led invasion of Iraq.

This lack of national responsibility also gave many left-wing idealists like Soros a window to lend their weight to favorable EU candidates, political parties, and movements. Soros bragged to the New Yorker’s Connie Bruck in 1995 that because of his amazing wealth and influence, even Romania’s corrupt President Ion Iliescu “suddenly became very interested in seeing me.”

But Soros was just warming up with Serbia in 2000. The first decade of the 21st century would witness three more consecutive, non-violent revolutions in the former Eastern bloc—revolutions the West would come to know as the Color Revolutions because of the colorful flowers that the revolutionaries used as symbols.

In 2003, large-scale protests in Georgia, which came to be known as the Rose Revolution, led to the resignation of democratically-elected President Eduard Shevardnadze. Mikheil Saakashvili, who took over after Shevardnadze’s resignation, received coaching from U.S. Ambassador Richard Miles, who was also ambassador to Serbia in 2000. Soros’s OSI also openly supported Saakashvili and even paid for Georgian student activists to travel to Serbia to learn from veterans the art of non-violently overthrowing a democratically-elected government—a pilgrimage that Saakashvili himself made a year before his succession to power. The Guardian’s Ian Traynor noted:

In the centre of Belgrade, there is a dingy office staffed by computer-literate youngsters who call themselves the Centre for Non-violent Resistance. If you want to know how to beat a regime that controls the mass media, the judges, the courts, the security apparatus and the voting stations, the young Belgrade activists are for hire.

After gaining power, Saakashvili awarded Soros’s former Open Society Georgia Foundation executive director Alexander Lomaia a seat in his Cabinet.

The following year, history repeated itself—this time in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution. Foreign Affairs reported that

Ukraine had benefited from more than a decade of civil society development, a good deal of it nurtured by donor support from the United States, European governments, the National Endowment for Democracy, and private philanthropists such as George Soros.

Soros’s Ukrainian wing, the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), reported in October 2004 that it had given $1.2 million to Ukrainian NGOs for “election-related projects.”

>>8171838

Soros In Romania Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

(continued)

Those projects paid dividends during Ukraine’s 2004 presidential run-off election, which pitted incumbent Russophile Viktor Yanukovich against the Western-oriented Victor Yushchenko. When the results showed a slight lead for Yanukovich—contrary to exit polls funded largely by Soros and his Western allies—hundreds of thousands of young adults staged protests, sit-ins, and strikes with the Yushchenko campaign’s blessing. Ukraine’s Supreme Court ordered a re-vote, which Yushchenko then won.

Writing in the Washington Post, Stanford political science professor Michael McFaul—whom President Obama later appointed as ambassador to Russia—defended American governmental and non-governmental interference in Ukraine’s election.

Did Americans meddle in the internal affairs of Ukraine? Yes. The American agents of influence would prefer different language to describe their activities — democratic assistance, democracy promotion, civil society support, etc. — but their work, however labeled, seeks to influence political change in Ukraine.

. . .

In the run-up to Ukraine’s presidential vote this fall, these … organizations concentrated their resources on creating conditions for free and fair elections. … Yet most of these groups believed that a free and fair election would mean victory for Viktor Yushchenko. And they were right.

Less than three months later, the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society (CDCS), an NDI-funded NGO in Kyrgyzstan, helped launch that country’s Tulip Revolution, which—like the Rose and Orange Revolutions—overthrew a democratically-elected president by paralyzing society through mass demonstrations. The head of CDCS, Edil Baisalov called his stint as an election observer the previous fall in Ukraine “a very formidable experience,” telling the Wall Street Journal, “I saw what the results of our work could be.”

Soros’s OSI provided funding to the leading Kyrgyz opposition newspaper “MSN,” led by American Freedom House project director Mike Stone.

London School of Economics and Political Science graduate Phaik Thien Poh identified four criteria for Color Revolutions:

1.The incumbent leader must be very unpopular and face ‘lame-duck syndrome.’

2.The anti-regime forces must be enforced by mass-media and foreign influences.

3.The revolution must non-ideological, and champion platitudinal causes like freedom, democracy and economic development.

4.The corrupted government must be perceived as supported by a foreign state which the people do not want, thereby bolstering the anti-regime forces.

In Romania’s case, Poh’s first criterion rests on shaky ground. Since the previously-mentioned Iliescu, Romania’s presidents have enjoyed Western support. However, NGOs have increasingly attacked the PSD-led Parliament with the same tactics that Soros-supported allies in Georgia and Ukraine attacked their heads of state before overthrowing them. With Soros’s extensive network and his Western-educated, well-funded Romanian repatriates in the country’s media and politics, Poh’s second and third criteria fully apply. On the fourth criterion, the Romanian Left has increasingly tried to tie the PSD to Russia, grasping at—among other straws—the PSD’s support for traditional marriage.

Poh noted that Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan all avoided Color Revolutions by barring foreign funding for media and politics—Uzbekistan going so far as to outright ban all foreign NGOs like Freedom House.

With the recent history of mass demonstrations overriding democracy, it is little wonder that Romania’s PSD might look at harsh-but-necessary means to avoid becoming the next notch in Soros’s belt.

>>8171840

Soros In Romania Part 2 How Soros-funded NGOs and their Western allies in government push for revolution in Eastern Europe

(continued)

But despite Soros’s attempts to bring greater transparency, democracy, and liberalism to Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan, more corruption, poverty, heightened ethnic conflict, and civil war followed their Color Revolutions.

Georgian voters in 2012 decimated Saakashvili’s party after tapes surfaced of prison guards sodomizing prisoners with broom handles, allegedly with his ruling party’s knowledge. Saakashvili left Georgia for Ukraine in 2015, and gave up his citizenship to become governor of Odessa. Today, he faces criminal charges in both countries.

In Ukraine, Yanukovych became prime minister in 2006, and won the presidency again in 2010, completely undoing the results of the Orange Revolution. Yushchenko won just five percent of the vote. Ukrainians celebrated the Tenth Anniversary of the Orange Revolution with a reenactment—this time a violent one. The Ukrainian Parliament eventually forced the corrupt Yanukovych out and a Ukrainian-Russian race war ensued, along with Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Meanwhile, in Kyrgyzstan, corruption, cronyism, and economic stagnation accompanied Tulip Revolution benefactor Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s rule. Bakiyev had to flee to Belarus when his people staged another revolt—this time a violent one.

“It’s always easier to mobilize the public against something than for something,” Soros has said—clearly from experience. But with revolution the goal, mobilizing the public against the government is all one needs.

In the third installment of Soros in Romania, we’ll look specifically at how for the past two years, Soros’s powerful Romanian ghosts have relentlessly tried to undermine, and ultimately overthrow their own government—all with the backing of American leftist NGOs, left-of-center Western media, and even Obama administration holdovers in the U.S. State Department.

>>8171850

Soros In Romania Part 3 How Soros-affiliated NGO’s threaten democracy in Romania

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-colectiv-horror/

How did 60,000 well-organized protesters in a country of 20 million manage to force the government of Romania to resign? It all started with a fire.

Colectiv, the former Bucharest factory-turned nightclub, had an 80-person legal capacity. But on October 30, 2015, over 400 people—most in their teens and twenties—packed the century-old building, as heavy metal band Goodbye to Gravity released “Mantras of War,” its first album with Universal Music’s Romanian subsidiary.

At 10:00 PM, the band took the stage, and with two shots of pyrotechnics, opened with its lead single “The Day We Die.”

A girl in the audience, who refused to give her name because her parents didn’t know she was there, told the news website Magyar Nemzet that around 10:30 PM she felt sick, and she asked her boyfriend to take her out to get some air. As they headed toward the club’s only exit, two more, larger shots of fireworks sprayed from the stage.

“That wasn’t part of the show,” joked lead singer Andrei Găluț, as a pillar with acoustic foam lit up from sparks that landed too far. He calmly asked for a fire extinguisher—but no one had time to find one.

In mere seconds, the fire climbed to the top of the post. Panic spread, as the ceiling exploded into a gulf of flames, dropping burning debris on the attendees, as they trampled each other to escape. When the crowd forced the club’s double doors open, the gust of oxygen produced an explosion that drove the fire’s temperature over a thousand degrees. Within a minute and 19 seconds, the fire had engulfed the entire dance floor—carbon monoxide and cyanide quickly filling the club, killing many within minutes before they had a chance to reach the door.

The girl who felt sick to her stomach and her boyfriend, meanwhile, waited outside the entrance for their two friends to come out.

“I was the luckiest one there,” she told the paper. “People were barely walking. One of them told us that at the exit, a pile of bodies about [five feet] high had formed that he had to get over.”

One of their friends had burns on 70 percent of his body; the other never made it out. In the end, 64 died, including four of Goodbye to Gravity’s five members and its sole survivor’s fiancée.

In the days that followed, mourning turned to outrage toward Bucharest’s Sector 4 mayor’s office, as many believed that bribes had allowed the club’s owners to operate over capacity and ignore safety codes. But singer Andy Ionescu told Digi 24, a major Romanian television station, that he believed if authorities conducted serious inspections, every club in Romania would be shuttered. Bianca Boitan Rusu, PR manager for an alternative rock band, attributed this to the fact that all the clubs in Bucharest had been converted from former factories.

On November 3, however, tens of thousands took to the streets demanding not only the mayor’s resignation, but also that of Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his entire cabinet for what they saw as the country’s entrenched kickback culture. Many waved the national flag with a hole in the center–reminiscent of the 1989 revolution when demonstrators cut out the communist emblem.

>>8171859

Soros In Romania Part 3 How Soros-affiliated NGO’s threaten democracy in Romania

(continued)

“Corruption kills” became their battle cry, as demonstrators in multiple cities blamed politicians for the tragic deaths. One protester held a sign with the Prime minister, Sector 4 mayor, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and Romanian Orthodox Patriarch in flames, with the message: “You all should have burned.”

On November 4, Prime Minister Ponta gave in to their demands, along with the entire cabinet.

“I hope my resignation … will satisfy those who protested,” he said, adding that it’s impossible to positively govern in a climate of political instability. “I’m not referring to anyone in particular … from my experience, those who bet politically on people’s suffering, sooner or later, will pay a heavy price.”

His opponent Klaus Iohannis, meanwhile, took a victory lap: “My election was the first great step towards this kind of new, clean, and transparent politics [that you wanted],” he told viewers during a televised press conference. “People had to die for this resignation to happen.”

But two days later, the first poll after the tragedy showed a sharp disconnect between the Romanian population and those protesting in the streets.

Only seven percent of respondents said that they held the government responsible for the tragedy, the same percent that blamed the deceased band members. Furthermore, just 12 percent blamed “the political class” in general. 69 percent even rated the government’s response to the tragedy favorably.

A month later, a different polling firm found a similar result, with only 14.8 percent blaming the central government. This poll included the option of blaming the fireworks company, but that inclusion appeared to take more blame away from the mayor’s office than from the central government.

Somehow, in a country of 20 million people, less than 60,000 protesters, with the sympathy of less than 15 percent of the population, managed to force the government to surrender. Who was behind it?

In the fourth installment of Soros in Romania, we’ll look specifically at how Soros’ powerful team of Romanian activist “ghosts” rose from to political power.

>>8171862

Soros In Romania Part 4 How the Open Society Foundations’ NGO network tries to influence politics in Eastern Europe

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-explaining-the-democratic-society/

Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to the countries of Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

“The president of the country calls, and you don’t even answer?” an acquaintance asked Monica Macovei over the phone, on Christmas Day 2004. An unknown number had obnoxiously harassed her cell while she was trying to spend quality time with her parents and son. But she had no idea it could be the president-elect of Romania, Traian Băsescu—or why he was calling her, for that matter. She knew the acquaintance from legal advocacy that she had done in Parliament. The newly-elected president must have got her number from him.

When Băsescu called her again, he asked if she would be his Minister of Justice. Stunned, she needed time to think about it, and asked if she could call him back at any time. “The Minister of Justice can call the President at any time,” he assured her.

Macovei’s mother urged her to politely decline the offer. She spent a lot of time away from her family already. In fact, at that moment, most of her things were in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where she was working on justice reform with the Council of Europe. Macovei also served as president of a nonprofit in Romania—something else that she would have to give up if she entered government. She needed to discuss it with someone else before deciding.

Macovei had graduated fourth in the country in 1982 from the University of Bucharest Law School. She then worked as a prosecutor both during and after the fall of Romania’s communist regime, headed by Nicolae Ceaușescu. After the Iron Curtain fell, she became one of many young Eastern European professionals who benefitted from American philanthropy—funded in large part by the Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, aimed at “democracy development” in the region.

In Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism, political scientist Joan Roelofs identifies “leadership training” as one of the main ways in which Western NGOs (along with hundreds of millions of dollars) provided “technical assistance” to post-communist Eastern Europe. She lists the National Forum Foundation, the Pew Economic Freedom Fellows Program, and the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships as three examples of institutions that educated “future elites” in the 1990s and brought them into international networks.

>>8171867

Soros In Romania Part 4 How the Open Society Foundations’ NGO network tries to influence politics in Eastern Europe

(continued)

In 1992, Macovei received a full scholarship to Soros’ Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary, which he had created one year before to provide a platform to spread his ideology. She graduated two years later, with a Master of Law. She would later join CEU’s Board of Trustees.

After graduating from CEU, Macovei consulted for several NGOs, including Soros’ Open Society Institute (OSI), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Soros-funded Defense of Human Rights in Romania – The Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH), and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). ERRC blogger Adam Weiss sums up Soros’ connection to the latter in his retelling of a time when the philanthropist paid the organization a visit:

Impressing Mr Soros is important; his Open Society Foundations helped set us up and continue to support us. I imagine everyone was told months in advance he was coming. My messiest colleagues probably cleaned their desks. Some people surely spent a few extra minutes picking out their clothes that morning.

In a 1995 interview, Soros gave two simple reasons for his massive funding of foundations in Eastern Europe: “I care about the principles of open society, and I can afford it.”

“I recognize that I am not an organization man,” he said. “But I retain the right to formulate strategy.”

Soros’ strategy has remained the same since 1984, when he established first Eastern European foundation in his native Hungary: locate people who share his vision of an “open society,” and provide them with the means to spread it. Asked what exactly his foundations do, he responded, “It’s impossible to say.”

In each country, I identified a group of people—some leading personalities, others less well known—who shared my belief in an open society and I entrusted them with the task of establishing the priorities.

When asked how he defines “open society,” Soros said that the philosopher Karl Popper taught him that “concepts shouldn’t be defined; they should be explained.” In his philosophy, open society is grounded in “imperfect understanding. Nobody is in possession of the ultimate truth.”

Macovei’s NGO involvement and reform-minded work attracted attention in the West, which led to speaking opportunities on the Romanian legal system.

In 1996, she criticized her country’s laws to the Brussels Subcommittee on Human Rights for providing broad immunity to office holders and government officials. She argued that “the lack of criminal investigation of Members of Government and Parliament leads to the population’s mistrust in the political and judicial system.”

In 1997, she received an Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship, meant for mid-career “men and women of outstanding achievement who are expected to assume positions of national influence” after Eisenhower Fellow Manuela Ştefănescu, who worked for APADOR-CH, nominated her.

After completing the Fellowship, Macovei resigned from her position as prosecutor. In her resignation letter, she cited differences in understanding of the role of the Prosecutor’s Office in a democratic society.

She soon went to work full-time for APADOR-CH, co-directed by Open Society Institute president Renate Weber. Weber would later become the longest-serving president of the Romania Soros Council. Macovei, meanwhile, took over APADOR-CH as president in 2001.

Now, faced with her greatest career challenge, yet also the greatest opportunity of her life, she decided to call Ştefănescu for advice.

“Don’t go!” her friend urged. The job of civil society was to hold government accountable, not to join it. Crossing over would be akin to treason.

Unconvinced, Macovei called another Soros-funded NGO president and close friend, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi.

>>8171871

Soros In Romania Part 4 How the Open Society Foundations’ NGO network tries to influence politics in Eastern Europe

(continued)

Mungiu-Pippidi, who sits on the Open Society Foundations (OSF)’s European Advisory Board would make a solid candidate for Ideologue-in-Chief of Romania’s Soros society. A political scientist, she has been widely published in English, French, and Romanian, and has lectured frequently at Ivy League universities on Eastern Europe’s transition to a market economy. She contributed early on to the magazine 22, the publication of the Group for Social Dialogue (GDS), with whom Soros met less than two weeks after Ceaușescu’s execution. In 1996, she founded Romania’s premier think tank, the Romanian Academic Society, which has received hundreds of thousands in grant dollars in the past decade alone from the Soros-founded and funded Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Mungiu-Pippidi has also tried her hand at playwriting. Her greatest hit, “The Evangelists,” presented a pornographic, balkanized retelling of the story of Jesus. A highly misogynist Apostle Paul dictates the Gospels to a philosopher and his students, four of whom are named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. At the Last Supper, Paul poisons the students, and when Jesus objects, Paul kills him too. After rising from the dead, Jesus then looks at one of his girlfriends and says, “today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

After most of Romanian society and press criticized the play strongly, but civilly, Mungiu-Pippidi revealed her real intentions behind it. She told the French newspaper Le Monde,

I was expecting a violent reaction, but I would have preferred that my play not reveal the primitivism of our society. We live in a hypocritical society just like in the days of dictator Ceaușescu. At that time, we were all communists, today we are all Orthodox. Our showboat Christianity hides an incredible backwardness.

When Macovei asked her for her advice on the Ministry of Justice, unlike Ştefănescu, Mungiu-Pippidi cut her off mid-sentence, and flatly told her to accept the offer. If she didn’t accept, it would make the civil society network look cowardly. “You’re going,” Mungiu-Pippidi insisted.

Băsescu’s Truth and Justice coalition reminded many of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution happening at the time. Most Western observers and NGOs viewed his victory as the triumph of Western reform over post-communist corruption.

In the National Review, former Romanian defector to the U.S. Ion Mihai Pacepa praised Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, and claimed that because of it, Ukrainians were finally free. With Băsescu’s election, Pacepa said that Romania “for the first time in 60 years–has a government without any Communists in it.”

No one can blame the elation over Băsescu’s election both in Romania and internationally. He had run on a populist, anti-corruption, pro-NATO, pro-U.S. platform. His opposition, the Social Democrats, had helped usher Romania into NATO, but they still had the stench of Iliescu’s National Salvation Front (FSN) all over them.

Băsescu was an outsider, and he was looking for outsiders to surround him with. The NGO network that Soros and other American philanthropists had funded provided a great pool from which to choose candidates. Most of them were Western-trained, Western-connected, and best of all, hadn’t been corrupted by outside politics—yet.

The fifth installment of Soros in Romania details how Soros agents worked to target members of the Romanian government.

>>8171878

Soros In Romania Part 5 Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to the countries of Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-corruption-and-eu/

George Soros’ campaign to promote his vision of “open society” democracy picked up speed in the mid-2000s.

Western philanthropists’ investment in Eastern European “democracy development” began to pay off by the mid-2000s. Although left-wing billionaire George Soros lost around $27 million in his attempt to unseat President George W. Bush, he found greater success in the former Eastern bloc: Soros-favored candidates won elections, and his well-oiled NGOs helped to overthrow opponents through political activism. Meanwhile, Soros’ NGOs and “open society” activists stood ready to fill these vacancies in Eastern European governments.

Central European University (CEU) graduate and former NGO activist Monica Macovei provides a prime example of how Soros-aligned activists took power in Eastern Europe.

In 2004, Romanian President Traian Băsescu picked Macovei to serve as his government’s Justice Minister. He also picked Soros Foundation Council president Renate Weber to serve as his constitutional and legislative adviser. Macovei and Weber were so well-connected with one another through Soros-related NGOs that they even rode together to their first day of work in the Romanian capital.

Corruption and the European Union

For the new Romanian government, preparing to enter the European Union (EU) proved to be the most pressing challenge.

Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) played a key part in bringing post-Soviet states into the EU. The OSF delegated itself the task of helping candidate countries and the EU assess accession readiness by publishing reports in areas within governments and cultures that they found problematic.

In July 2002, the Romanian magazine Dilema named one of its weekly editions “Trust in Justice,” publishing polls by the Soros Foundation (among others) that claimed that 90 percent of Romanians believed corruption had either increased or remained the same since the previous election. This helped spur the governing party to create the independent National Anti-Corruption Office (PNA).

Dilema‘s founder, Andrei Pleșu, was a Soros-connected philosopher, and later an adviser to President Băsescu. Pleșu helped to organize the Group for Social Dialogue (GDS), which we introduced in Part 2. In 1990, Soros met with GDS through Hungarian-Romanian contact Salat Levente and presented an offer they couldn’t refuse: he’d gift the group one million dollars with which to build a favorable NGO network in Romania.

But “not realizing the importance of resources for the success of ideas,” writes another GDS founder, the group turned down the offer to maintain an aura of independence. One of its ranking members, Alin Teodorescu, however, remained in contact with Soros, and helped him set up his Soros Foundation later that year. Teodorescu even served as the Foundation’s first president.

Pleșu later joined Weber and Levente on the Soros Foundation’s governing council.

The EU Commission’s 2002 Report—which came out four months after the Dilema issue—identified corruption as the primary problem preventing the organization from admitting Romania to the EU. The report noted that “independent observers” concluded, “there had been no noticeable reduction of corruption during the reporting period.” It pointed to just 343 persons convicted of corruption in 2001—fewer than in 1999.

These supposedly “independent” observers did not seem to consider that there may have been less corruption in 2001 than in 1999.

In 2004, to show that it was making progress, the Romanian government lowered the financial threshold for graft investigation. The EU Commission’s report that year praised the effort but argued that it would likely lead the PNA to focus on petty crime, noting that it had so far only led to 86 prison convictions—most of them minor.

“The PNA should ensure that it remains focused on its core mandate of investigating high-level corruption,” scolded the report—it needed to fry some big fish.

>>8171883

Soros In Romania Part 5 Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to the countries of Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

(continued)

A Constitutional Roadblock

Macovei, meanwhile, stood more than ready to oblige; but early in her mandate, she hit a roadblock. The Romanian Constitutional Court ruled that, because the PNA fell under the Ministry of Justice, it could not investigate members of the Romanian parliament because of their legislative immunity.

Romania’s pre-Soviet, 19th-century constitution was modeled on the Belgian constitution and provided Western-style limited legal protections for members of the parliament. After it achieved independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Romania’s new constitution extended complete immunity to members of parliament, even from criminal investigation. (The country eventually amended this problematic clause in 2003, allowing Members of Parliament to be investigated or sued for non-speech-related issues—however, only through the General Prosecutor’s Office attached to its supreme court.)

To solve the immunity problem and move forward with his corruption investigation, Băsescu placed the PNA under the control of the General Prosecutor’s Office…without giving the General Prosecutor’s Office complete control. Macovei, who had continually criticized the PNA, then awarded Freedom House—another Soros-funded NGO—roughly 40,000 Euros to conduct an audit of the agency.

Unsurprisingly, her Freedom House friends found the PNA to be underperforming. The administration then turned the PNA into the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), and Macovei’s Ministry of Justice—rather than the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM)—assumed responsibility over both the General Prosecutor and the DNA’s Chief Prosecutor.

As a result, the media and NGOs in Romania managed to successfully smear legislators who objected to the new anti-corruption agency on civil liberty grounds. Macovei removed the unfriendly PNA director and prosecutors and replaced them with cronies loyal to her and to the new administration.

With Macovei at the helm of justice, high-profile indictments increased substantially.

In the sixth installment of Soros in Romania, we explore how diplomacy paved the way for Soros to make inroads in Romanian politics.

Soros In Romania Part 6 Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-macoveis-way/

In Part 5 of “George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts,” we investigated how Soros-aligned activists and NGOs collaborated to smear political enemies in the Romanian legislature. In Part 6, we continue the story of how these “open society” activists were lauded by Western media for their “anti-corruption” schemes.

Monica Macovei, the Romanian Minister of Justice and a graduate of George Soros’ school of open society activism, had her targets of supposedly corrupt government officials lined up. The accused included nine judges and prosecutors, eight members of Parliament, and two cabinet ministers. She even indicted Romanian President Traian Basescu’s own deputy prime minister. The outgoing prime minister, Adrian Năstase, went to prison for misuse of public funds in 2012. That investigation also began under Macovei.

But presenting high-profile scalps to the European Union Commission carried potentially greater rewards than merely helping Romania enter the EU.

In an interview with the website EUPolitix in May 2006, Macovei hinted at her interest in becoming the first EU commissioner from Romania. Echoing the German press, the Bucharest Daily News reported on September 21, 2006, that, with Romania and Bulgaria’s entry into the EU in 2007, “the college of commissioners will have to be expanded to include two more members.” The reports presented Macovei as a strong candidate for the justice position because of her pursuance of powerful politicians.

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Soros In Romania Part 6 Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

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Abuse of Office

To widen the corruption ring, Macovei vastly expanded the concept of “abuse of office.” Rather than relying on voters to hold poor-performing or negligent government officials accountable at the polls, Romania’s new prosecutorial class—handpicked, of course, by Romania’s NGO class and funded by Soros and company—could now send them straight to prison. Although it went into effect after Macovei left office, Romania’s new penal code more than doubled the sentencing for abuse of office to 2 to 7 years, and it even omitted the word “knowingly” where it referred to officials’ committing harmful acts, or neglecting to perform their duties.

The consequences could be grim. Health Minister Eugen Nicolăescu found out on television that the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) had opened an investigation into him for alleged abuse of office. The investigation cited a renegotiation that had occurred eight years earlier, wherein Romanian Lottery had renegotiated a contract with a Greek company for additional slot machines. Investigators argued that the deal ultimately cost the Romanian company—and thus the state—money, and blamed the losses on Nicolăescu and the other two shareholders who approved the renegotiation.

The National Integrity Agency (ANI) was another Macovei special. This new agency essentially treated all civil servants and their family members as corruption suspects. The ANI required them to declare all their assets and anything that they had sold within the previous year. No such law existed anywhere in the EU—which, ironically, Macovei treated as the gold standard of law and justice. She even bragged that the ANI ended up affecting “about 500,000 people in total.”

“This sounds strange in Germany or France, where such declarations are confidential and just filed with the respective institution,” Macovei acknowledged. “In Romania, this doesn’t work. If in Romania we file it confidentially in an institution, it’s like it does not exist.” Many of these institutions, however, like banks and car companies, are multinationals based in Western Europe. If local branches regularly destroyed records as she suggests, one must wonder why she didn’t take issue with those companies.

According to published minutes made during public debate on the law obtained by the Society for Justice, Macovei only invited members of NGOs to discuss creating the ANI—excluding the judges and prosecutors who would enforce it and whom the policy would most immediately affect.

She also pushed various “progressive” changes to the penal code through Parliament: restricting access to lawyers during hearings, and allowing prosecutors to wiretap and surveil without warrants. When Parliament’s committee on justice wanted to discuss her “reforms,” she became so irritated at them for supposedly stalling “progress” that she stormed out of the meeting and slammed the door.

Big Brother?

Macovei’s methods angered every sector of government except the friendly executive branch. The conservative newspaper Ziua called argued that she was “probably the most spoiled minister Romania has ever had.” The minority leader in Băsescu’s governing coalition referred to her tactics as “unconstitutional” and “Stalinist.” Even the Soros Foundation expressed concern that some of her proposals could lead to a police state.

Mircea Ciopraga, in the lower house of Parliament, argued that the new measures and proposals harked dangerously back to the days of communism:

People have more pressing concerns regarding the secret services; specifically, greater control over their activities and disclosure of the crimes of the former communist Securitate, whose heirs are, in part, the current secret services.

Romania did not go through a September 11—nor are there objective chances of that happening. There is no need for a Patriot Act.

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Soros In Romania Part 6 Liberal billionaire George Soros has a plan to spread his brand of “democracy” to Eastern Europe. But is it really democratic?

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But Macovei managed to bypass Parliament through the brand-new Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT). Through an emergency ordinance, the administration authorized the agency to intercept phone conversations, surveil individuals, and access bank accounts without warrants. The measure did not trigger widespread public revolt because of the agency’s limited mandate to handle only national security threats and organized crime.

But in its first meeting after Băsescu’s election, the country’s Supreme Council of National Defense had already declared corruption a matter of national security—something only Parliament had the constitutional authority to do. This gave both DIICOT and Romania’s domestic intelligence service authorization to place graft suspects in the same category as domestic terror suspects. It also paved the way for undercover SRI-DNA cooperation—another illegality under Law 303/2004, Article 7, which prohibits prosecutors from collaborating in any way with secret service agents. Furthermore, the public knew nothing about CSAT’s Decision No. 17/28.02.2005. It remained secret until January 2017, when the newspaper Evenimentul Zilei obtained a copy of the order.

Macovei often stressed to Western observers that although Romania had good laws, it needed good people in positions to carry out those laws. But even if she never abused her position, the measures she pushed through—often through emergency decree without Parliament’s input—set up a system that future Ministers of Justice and prosecutors could easily abuse in the name of fighting corruption.

When the Senate passed a non-binding resolution calling for her resignation for corruption of justice and interfering with Parliament, NGOs affiliated with the Soros Open Network rallied to her defense. They knew they could rely on the EU to side with them in any domestic, political dispute because they controlled nearly exclusive access to the EU’s ear. Although the European Union Commission ultimately decided not to intervene, the Deputy Speaker of the German Bundestag warned that Macovei’s removal could trigger EU punitive safeguards toward Romania for abandoning reform efforts.

Meanwhile, the Western European press lavished Macovei with endless praise for her gallant effort in bringing Romania out of the Dark Ages. According to the German Sonntagszeitung, she represented “the other, decent Romania.” Her numerous awards included 2008 European Woman of the Year from the International Association for the Promotion of Women of Europe.

The Senate eventually impeached Băsescu in 2007, and Macovei was soon replaced along with other Băsescu loyalists. Her career, however, did not come to an end. She ultimately went on to win a seat in the European Parliament in 2009.

When confronted in a 2011 interview on Romanian public television about the DNA prosecutors’ abysmal conviction rates, Macovei blamed it on corrupt judges failing to do their jobs. “There are some judges that issue arrest warrants,” she said. “Good for them! We see there are some judges that convict. Good for them!” But delaying convictions remained a serious criticism of the biannual European Commission Evaluation Reports.

“That’s why we entered the European Union, to play by rules—by their rules!”

“Not by our rules?” asked the interviewer.

In Part 7 of Soros in Romania, we’ll look at how Soros’ powerful Romanian activists used their country’s anti-corruption crusade to gain political power—without having to win elections.

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Soros In Romania Part 7 How Soros’ open society allies use U.S. democracy promotion for political power

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-diplomacy/

In June 2017, President Donald Trump committed to uphold Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during a Rose Garden press conference with Romanian President Klaus Johannis. Trump had declined to make the commitment a month earlier at the NATO Summit. His straightforward answer in response to a question by reporter Ramona Avramescu reassured Europeans who depend on the American taxpayer for their defense.

“In under a minute,” led Buzzfeed, “a modest reporter from Romania managed to do what the leaders of 27 countries and President Donald Trump’s own staff couldn’t.”

But mutual defense in NATO was not the only commitment that the Romanian reporters sought to secure from Trump that day.

Johannis called next on reporter Cristian Pantazi. Pantazi reminded Trump of his earlier mention of the anti-corruption fight in Romania—which Trump must have made in private. “Is your administration going to support the anticorruption fight in Romania, and how can you do it?”

But what elected official would not wish well to an ally’s fighting corruption? Or improving its infrastructure, or building better schools?

“We support very strongly Romania,” Trump answered. “And therefore—obviously, we do support that fight.”

But that wasn’t quite strong enough. Another reporter quickly took the microphone and asked Trump if he felt corruption was a problem for the American investor. “We still have corruption despite this anticorruption fight.” Their implication rang all too obvious. Trump should help Johannis get rid of all the corrupt, Romanian politicians if he cares about American investors—that’s just common-sense imperialism.

Writing for a news source from Johannis’s hometown, Pantazi later declared victory.

Johannis obtained from Trump and the American administration total support for the anticorruption fight … The blow to the antireform party in Romania is terrible. Trump destroyed their lie that they were trying to sell as the truth.

While this may seem like odd behavior for journalists, Pantazi and his colleagues were simply asking Trump to continue the policy of his presidential predecessors.

For over a decade in Romania, the United States State Department has coordinated with NGOs funded by George Soros in a pseudo-anticorruption fight that propped up a media, academic, and law enforcement elite, which have run roughshod over democracy, constitutionalism, and human rights.

As we saw in Part 2 of “George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts,” President Bill Clinton’s State Department admittedly treated Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) like an allied government in Eastern European affairs.

During the President George W. Bush administration, Romanian President Traian Băsescu placed Soros-funded activists in key positions of his government. Băsescu sought to emulate and curry favor with the Bush administration; meanwhile, his Soros-protégé Minister of Justice Monica Macovei sought to do the same with the European Union.

Although Soros opposed Bush, in a National Public Radio interview in 2005 he said he was “thrilled to see the president embrace the spreading of democracy.” He differed with the president in strategy, not goals.

I’m worried about it because I think he’s going about it the wrong way. It has to be the citizens who are standing up for certain principles, and then I feel good about helping them. That’s a somewhat different approach than … imposing democracy by military means.

When asked about the millions of dollars his societies receive from the State Department, he replied, “Yes… the Open Society Foundation has the same objectives as the State Department.”

But who would oppose promoting democracy? That would be as reactionary and backward-thinking as opposing an anticorruption fight.

Democracy promotion, like colonialism, can provide great benefits—but usually, only to the privileged intelligentsia. Political scientist Joan Roelofs draws attention to the corruption that the practice has created both in Eastern Europe and the West.

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Soros In Romania Part 7 How Soros’ open society allies use U.S. democracy promotion for political power

(continued)

Nowhere is aid a bigger business than in the Washington area, home to dozens of development groups that feed off of USAID and compete for contracts. Many of these offices are staffed by retired USAID employees skilled in writing proposals to appeal to their erstwhile government colleagues. Some employ spouses of current USAID officials.

USAID has provided millions of dollars to Soros because he successfully decentralized his operations, developed reliable contacts in the target countries, and achieved his goals better than other philanthropists—even better than USAID itself.

The problem lies in that for Soros, promoting his vision of an open society transcends democracy. As we will continue to see, once his organizations established themselves they actively opposed the right of people to democratically elect leaders if those leaders did not share their—and by extension—Soros’ vision.

Soros views communism as the failed attempt to create a “universal closed society,” and its downfall as the opportunity to create a “universal open society.” Democracy becomes problematic if most voters choose a closed, non-pluralistic society.

For instance, Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus opposed Soros’ creation of a university in Prague because he understood the inevitable, universalist propaganda that would flow out of such an institution. “He believes in the pursuit of self-interest and, accordingly, he finds my concept of an open society—which requires people to make sacrifices for the common good—objectionable,” explained Soros.

In my view, Klaus embodies the worst of the Western democracies, just as the pre-revolutionary Czech regime represented the worst of communism. I am opposed to both extremes.

Striking that fine balance between democracy and communism, Macovei, with President Băsescu’s cooperation, launched a controversial crusade against high-level corruption in Romania, with little regard to constitutional limits, and no regard to checks and balances.

After the Senate impeached Băsescu in 2007, Macovei lost her job. But she left behind newly-created, independent law enforcement agencies—most notably, the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), and a new class of magistrates that soon behaved as if they answered directly to Brussels and the American embassy.

When Parliament attempted to check powers that Băsescu’s Cabinet had given law enforcement agencies through emergency ordinances, the U.S. embassy joined NGOs in lobbying Parliament to back down. After Ambassador Nicholas Taubman, a Bush political appointee, harshly criticized a law enforcement bill being debated in the Romanian Parliament, one legislator accused Taubman of nepotism. He noted that Romania’s strict anticorruption laws treat political appointments in themselves as acts of corruption.

It soon became common practice for Romanian magistrates, and even politicians, to tattle on their political opponents to American diplomats. The embassy would carefully stress America’s policy of strict neutrality before releasing veiled statements, affirming support toward its favored policies, and by extension, its pet politicians. Most voters cared little about the opinions of foreign diplomats or foreign-funded non-profits. The statements alerted the EU, however, which held the purse strings.

For example, during Romania’s interim presidency, DNA Chief Prosecutor Daniel Morar paid Ambassador Taubman a visit. The DNA was having difficulty finding evidence against Members of Parliament for corruption. “Now that they know they can be heard, they’re not talking anymore,” he complained. Worse, parliament wanted to place parameters around the agency’s interception operations. Morar made sure to thank the ambassador for the $90,000 in non-wiretapping recording devices that the U.S. Embassy had provided the DNA, and explained why he and Prosecutor General Laura Codruta Kovesi refused to appear before a parliamentary commission on wiretapping. “We are a separate power—the judiciary cannot be questioned by parliament.” He also complained to Taubman that the new Justice Minister planned to remove a DNA deputy prosecutor for perceived poor performance, ignoring that Macovei had replaced prosecutors as if initiating regime change.

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Soros In Romania Part 7 How Soros’ open society allies use U.S. democracy promotion for political power

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He even asked the embassy “to tell politicians openly to follow and respect commitments, and to stress to them that if they establish an agency to fight corruption, let it do its job.”

Taubman offered to help “without interfering in the laws of Romania.” He then released a press statement emphasizing the Embassy’s support for the DNA, which he felt “helped focus the attention of other embassies, as well as the media,” to the issue.

The statement prompted a host of diplomats, reporters, and even an EU Commission delegation to attend the Superior Council of Magistracy’s (CSM) hearing on the deputy prosecutor’s potential removal. When the new Justice Minister expressed lawmakers’ objections to Taubman, including that the U.S. was treating the country like Kosovo, the Embassy claimed that it “was fulfilling its legitimate diplomatic role.”

In a meeting with Taubman, General Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi expressed her concern about Parliamentary amendments to the country’s Criminal Cod, which the interpreter labelled “criminal amendments.” The Embassy later bragged in a wire that with the help of the British Embassy, it managed to pressure Parliament to bend to its will on the Criminal Code issue.

But did the DNA deserve our Embassy’s unquestioned loyalty?

In Part 8 of Soros in Romania, we’ll look at how Romania’s anti-corruption fight—supported by both Soros-funded NGOs and the U.S. State Department—fared against corrupt Russian oligarchs.

Soros In Romania Part 8 The role of the Obama State Department in Romania's Impeachment Vote

https://capitalresearch.org/article/george-soros-romanian-ghosts-an-american-outpost-in-the-balkans/

In Part 5 of “George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts” we introduced the National Integrity Agency (ANI), which forced all government officials and their family members to declare their personal assets. When the Romanian Constitutional Court struck down certain provisions of the law in 2010, the Romanian Senate debated new legislation to remedy it. American Ambassador Mark Gitenstein, nominated by then-President Barack Obama, publicly pressured the Senate to accept President Traian Băsescu’s position on the bill.

In a similar vein, in 2011 both Gitenstein and Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice Lanny Breuer, criticized Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) for launching an investigation into DNA Chief Prosecutor Daniel Morar. The CSM’s action stemmed from Morar’s overstepping his position by harshly criticizing the Romanian Supreme Court’s decisions on television. Gitenstein and Breuer’s public defense of Morar stemmed from little more than that they knew him as a nice guy, they thought he had done a great job, and he shared their values.

Gitenstein also urged Băsescu to extend the terms of both Morar and General Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi. Gitenstein claimed he didn’t know the rules too well but urged that the two be reappointed, even if Romania needed to change its laws to do so. Băsescu had already extended their terms once, and Romanian law limited both to two terms.

The Romanian president did the best he could. He moved Kovesi over to Morar’s position. During an interview, Gitenstein expressed plans to urge the Minister of Justice to propose moving Morar, or someone like him, into Kovesi’s position.

After more criticism of the American ambassador’s involvement in Romania’s internal affairs, EU Parliament Member Monica Macovei, strongly defended Gitenstein’s involvement.

The American ambassador, or other ambassadors, have every right to make these kind of comments, because the USA—the State Department—has financed DIICOT, as well as the DNA, in other words the specialized agencies on organized crime and corruption. Of course, they’re interested in what happens to their investment, as far as efficiency.

Gitenstein, for his part, said that he spoke “sporadically” with Macovei, and consulted with her on the Romanian justice system: “I respect her opinions a lot, and so does the U.S. government. She visited the United States, both during her term as Minister of Justice, and afterward, and she’s very respected in the U.S.”

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Soros In Romania Part 8 The role of the Obama State Department in Romania's Impeachment Vote

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Meddling in Foreign Elections? Isn’t That What Russia Does?

The website Wikileaks revealed that another individual with whom Gitenstein spoke sporadically was John Podesta, the founder of liberal think tank Center for American Progress (CAP). Gitenstein forwarded Podesta information about a venture capitalist who was “very interested in building a nonpartisan cap kind of org here built around reform of the state.”

On July 25, 2012, a few days before Romanians went to the polls to vote for Băsescu’s impeachment (round two), an Embassy official alerted Gitenstein to an article that Podesta and Matt Browne had written for CAP entitled “Protecting Romanian Democracy: The Current Political Crisis is not about a Return to Tyranny.”

The Washington Post and other international commentators, among them The Economist, have been quick to blame Romania’s new Prime Minister Victor Ponta for the country’s current political crisis, which led to the impeachment of Romanian President Traian Băsescu. Yet claims that Prime Minister Ponta has undermined democracy and threatened the nation’s economic stability are not simply mistaken, they are also willfully misleading.

Podesta and Browne claimed a closer examination of Băsescu’s record suggesting that Ponta was “defending democracy, not subverting it.” They praised Ponta for his “social and economic reforms” which would attract investment and spur growth while raising public sector salaries and pensions. They noted its popularity in the success of Ponta’s Social Liberal Union coalition victory.

Public opinion polls show that 80 percent of the people oppose President Băsescu. Yet in its opinion on the impeachment, the Court threw him a lifeline. Parliament had hoped to revise one of President Băsescu’s laws, which mandated that in popular referendums an absolute majority of eligible voters must support the impeachment for it to be valid. Instead, parliament argued, a simple majority of those voting should suffice. Here, the Court ruled against the parliament. President Băsescu’s future will now be determined by the size of voter turnout.

We hope and suspect that the will and interests of the Romanian people will triumph.

Ambassador Gitenstein was not impressed.

“John: this is very unhelpful,” he wrote, noting that it ran “directly contrary” to the U.S. Government’s position, approved by the State Department (“S”), Office of the Vice President (OVP), and the National Security Council (NSC). “Why wouldn’t u talk w/ me before doing this!!??”

Gitenstein’s email indicates that the Obama era U.S. government, all the way up to Vice President Joe Biden, had staked a pro-Băsescu policy toward Romania.

Eastern European history professor Oliver Schmitt confirms as much. In the leftist German newspaper Die Zeit, Schmitt lamented the “devastating” reaction of leading, European social democrats who backed their comrade Ponta:

Had the U.S. not supported the [Romanian anti-corruption organization]—the authorities, and the civil society forces supporting them would have been inferior to the oligarchs. And so, the Romanian fight for the rule of law would have nearly failed due to ignorance and party thinking of European elites.

Whether the 2012 Romanian impeachment referendum presented Romanian voters with a choice between bureaucratic elites and corrupt, domestic oligarchs is debatable. That the Obama administration’s State Department undiplomatically—and arguably illegally—took sides in a foreign country’s internal vote on impeachment affairs is not.

Băsescu initially told his supporters to vote against what he called the “coup d’état” against him. With polls showing an inevitable thrashing, he soon changed his tune right before the referendum, citing concerns of possible voter fraud. Even if those who voted against him did not reach the 50 percent threshold, an electoral rejection would almost certainly damage his international credibility. In the end, 87.5 percent voted to impeach him, but the 46.2 percent voter turnout allowed him to remain in office.

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Soros In Romania Part 9 George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts

https://capitalresearch.org/article/soros-in-romania-part-9/

During the 2014 European Parliamentary (EP) elections, George Soros’s Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE) gave roughly $5.7 million to organizations to oppose candidates that favored nation-state sovereignty over a more centralized European Union. The funds that it gave to his Romanian Foundation for an Open Society (FSD) were also intended for that country’s presidential election.

The following include some of the projects that included Romania.

It gave $91,500 to the Foundation for an Open Society Romania (FSD) for an anti-hate speech campaign for both the EP elections and Romania’s presidential election that November. It gave FSD another $41,250 to mobilize Romanian migrants living abroad to dilute the nativist vote in those countries.

Always the adept investor, Soros keeps a naughty and nice list of his EP politicians entitled “Reliable allies in the European Parliament (2014-2019).”

Among the Romanian Members, he described Renate Weber, also one of the three members of FSD’s council, as a “resolute Open Society promoter.” He described Cristian Dan Preda as “timidly progressive,” and Monica Macovei as “resolutely progressive.” Macovei qualified as an “unquestionable ally of Open Society values.”

Romania’s Presidential Elections: Holding It Hostage to an Autocratic Prosecutor

Romania’s 2014 presidential election presented quite the bleak outlook for Romanian “Sorosists,” as the billionaire’s Romanian detractors call them.

Soros-funded NGOs treated the country’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) as its political party because it lacked a clear, pro-open society faction to support. Under Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, the agency intensified the purge that Macovei began in 2005. Kovesi opened three times the cases within 17 months of taking over than in the previous three years. The Economist reported that “in 2014 the DNA secured convictions of 1,138 people, including 24 mayors, five members of parliament, two ex-ministers and a former prime minister.”

A report by the London-based Henry Jackson Society entitled “Fighting Corruption with Con Tricks” found that the DNA had systematically abused its power and largely reverted to tactics used by communist-era secret services, including Romania’s feared Securitate.

The DNA’s effect on corruption in Romania has resembled unleashing a firehose in a five-year-old’s face whose sleeve had caught fire. The blast put out most of the flame, but permanently blinded the child in the process.

Part of the agency’s failure to justly tackle corruption came from poor accountability, stemming from perverse incentives.

Unlike New South Wales’s anticorruption agency, the DNA lacks Parliamentary oversight.

The European Commission places enormous emphasis on the quantity of high-level indictments rather than the quality; and pleasing the Commission holds the promise of the country’s future accession to the border-free Schengen area.

Kovesi, meanwhile, in brilliant Machiavellian fashion learned to treat the E.U. and U.S. Embassy as her boss’s supervisors. This in turn, rendered her untouchable and internationally rewarded.

In August, a delegation from the Embassy, led by Charge d’Affaires Dean Thompson paid a “courtesy visit” to the head of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), the body that oversees prosecutors and judges in Romania, to discuss the effects that the results of the upcoming election could have on the Romanian justice system.

Vice President Joe Biden visited Romania before campaign season began where in a speech to NGOs he profusely praised the DNA He subtly threatened, based on the language of the NATO Charter, that the U.S. could just leave Romania to defend itself if it didn’t behave in tackling corruption.

A month after Biden’s visit, Senators John McCain (R-Arizona), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), and Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) also visited the country where they promptly met with three individuals: the president, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Kovesi.

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Soros In Romania Part 9 George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts

(continued)

A True, Pro-Open Society Alternative

When Macovei’s party merged with the National Liberals (PNL) to present a united front against Social Democrat (PSD) Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Macovei had had enough. The previous year, she’d noted the anti-Băsescu alliance (which included the PNL) held 70 percent of Parliament. If it won the presidency, she claimed, “Romania will not look like a European democracy, but an Asian dictatorship.” Romanians needed a candidate who stood for true reform. They needed her.

Because Soros’s FSD could not legally endorse a candidate for president, it put the billionaire’s donation to use, attacking candidates who preyed on “the direct fears and prejudices in the subconscious of a silent majority.”

A surrogate for Ponta criticized Klaus Johannis’s (PNL) not having children—an attack that Ponta disavowed. However, by frequently posing with his family and insisting on the importance of his children in his life, Ponta was displaying an “obvious” element of discrimination toward Johannis and inciting hatred. The FSD attacked another campaign for describing its candidate Elena Udrea as “good” for Romania, under the slogan “beautiful Romania.” FSD interpreted “good” as a sexual reference, and claimed the “sexist” slogans nearly cancelled the “joyous novelty” of having two women presidential candidates.

Maybe Mrs. Udrea really is beautiful. But her Romania, in which she wishes to become president as a self-defined sexual object isn’t at all beautiful. It’s actually ugly because it’s uncouth, it’s aggressive, it’s uneducated, it’s mean, it’s masculinized in a bad sense, in which women are allowed to be good or stay in their place [emphasis in original].

Macovei easily gathered 332.241 signatures to make the ballot; but failed to even double that in votes. She finished fifth in the first round behind Udrea, with 4.5 percent. She begrudgingly threw her support to Johannis who faced Ponta in the run-off.

Taking Advantage of a Crisis

Romania did not yet allow absentee voting, which caused long lines at its embassies and consulates.

In Romania, protesters demanded easier ballot access for the diaspora, and called on the Minister of Foreign Affairs to step down—which he promptly did.

That did not satisfy the revolutionary element though. Chants of “DNA” rang out, as thousands expressed their hope that the DNA would round up all the Social Democrats, put them in jail, and shut down media outlets favorable to them. This radical element drove even some of the organizers away.

Many of the protesters were veterans of the anti-Rosia Montana and anti-fracking protests that took place from 2006 to 2013 [See Neil Maghami’s analysis of Rosia Montana here]. Their groups received generous funding from Soros and other deep-pocketed environmentalists in the U.S. and Western Europe. One of the radical groups was Uniți Salvăm (United We Save), whose leader Claudiu Crăciun compared the movement to Occupy Wall Street. He told the European Parliament that he wanted to bring a “democratic spring” to Eastern Europe, similar to the Arab Spring.

Many considered Ponta a traitor because they had helped his leftist government gain power when he opposed the mining and fracking operations. After educating himself on the issues though, he reversed on both.

After Johannis won the run-off, columnist Dan Tapalaga, a former Freedom House scholar, who served as an advisor and spokesman to Macovei when she was Minister of Justice, praised the outpouring of support for “key institutions” like the DNA and the Orwellian National Integrity Agency (ANI) that Macovei pushed through in the mid-2000s. “No politician will ever have the courage to touch them after the wave of protests in the country where the defense of justice was shouted loud and clear.”

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Soros In Romania Part 10 George Soros’s Romanian Ghosts

https://capitalresearch.org/article/soros-in-romania-part-10/

Part 10 video by Capital Research Center “George Soros's European Uprisings | Jacob Grandstaff”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8CBBn0YxQA&feature=emb_title

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8CBBn0YxQA

Look, we’re not doing that bad. In the last three years, in all of Europe, no one’s had our economic growth. … People are asking me, “Ţiriac, what’s going on in your country?”

On November 4, 2015, five days after the deadly Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his administration resigned at the demand of less than half a percent of the country’s population.

Many argued that if “the political class” did not try to hinder the anti-corruption fight, inspectors would not ignore safety violations for bribes, and such tragedies would not occur.

But the anti-corruption fight served as a double-edged sword. One doctor emphasized that he needed help with burn victims. Several of his colleagues had restraining orders because a year and a half earlier, they had used state facilities to run private, plastic surgery operations, which the country’s socialist healthcare system did not cover.

The day after the fire, on October 31, tens of thousands paid their respects at the incinerated club.

On Facebook, activist Florin Bădiță invited more than 8,600 to a march the following evening. The post began with #curuptiaucide (#corruptionkills), which within 48 hours went viral in Romanian social media circles.

Two nights later, nearly 30,000 demonstrators filled Bucharest’s University Square. With chants of “the final solution, another revolution,” they demanded the government’s resignation and parliament’s dissolution. Many openly attacked democracy. Some called for monarchy; others for technocracy.

Claudiu Crăciun, the political science professor and activist whom we introduced previously, joined the protests with his favorite toy: a megaphone. Another “informal leader,” a political science student, told the news outlet HotNews.ro that he wanted “to take down the system.” Crăciun led the protesters to the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Mayor’s Office, and the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate since it formed part of “the system” that needed taking down. They told police guarding the Patriarchate that they only stopped by to confess their sins and sing a few carols.

The government watchdog program Alliance for a Clean Romania actively promoted the post-Colectiv protests. In 2010, the Romanian Academic Society (SAR), whose founder Alina Mungiu-Pippidi served on the Soros Foundation board, launched the program. In the eight years that CEE Trust issued grants to Romanian NGOs, it had given SAR $360,000—$120,000 of which was earmarked for Alliance for a Clean Romania.

Many Western analysts and journalists criticize Romania for “instability” because it has gone through a dozen prime ministers since the fall of communism. But international philanthropists like Soros contributed to that instability because the youth they funded grew intoxicated with power when they realized that prolonged street demonstrations can force governments to resign.

Many of the protesters’ activist careers, including Crăciun’s, started by protesting the Canadian company Gabriel Resources’ mining and Chevron’s drilling operations. Their activism prevented both operations from providing thousands of poor villagers with better livelihoods than subsistence farming and sheep herding.

“My generation grew up with our parents’ stories about the Revolution and Revolutionary Square,” wrote Luiza Vasiliu. “It was expected that sooner or later, we’d demonstrate together for a cause that we believed in.” Although their parents demonstrated against communism, these hipsters found their cause, demonstrating against capitalism.

One group with which Crăciun worked closely in 2012-13 was Spiritual Militia, which self-described “anarcho-socialist” Mihail Bumbeş founded as a student in 2002.

>>8171936

Soros In Romania Part 10 George Soros’ Romanian Ghosts

(continued)

Bumbeş tried to use his group to imitate the Spanish Indignados movement. But like others’ attempts to create an “Occupy Romania,” he failed. His efforts did not go unrewarded, and the Soros-founded and funded Trust for Civil Society in Eastern Europe (CEE Trust) issued him a $30,000 grant. With it, he conducted a sociological study into what it would take to get youth “to take a stand.” He found that a lack of youth socialization—the basis of street protests—led to apathy. CEE Trust then issued Spiritual Militia another grant of $75,000 for the months of June through September 2013, to target “3,000 students and non-students” to get them socializing. Before CEE Trust’s new cash influx took effect, Bumbeş made a pilgrimage to protests in Turkey to gain a little insight and experience.

Crăciun had himself received an International Policy Fellowship from Open Society Institute Budapest (OSIB) in 2005. “I worked with the Open Society Foundation, as did thousands of others,” he noted, “and I don’t see any guilt attached—on the contrary actually.” His foray into street protests began in 2012 when he discovered his ability to command crowds. Like many Soros-sponsored Romanians, both Crăciun and Bumbeş accuse protest critics, who point to Soros’s financial involvement, of peddling conspiracy theories.

Bădiță is at least honest—if sarcastically so. He preemptively defended his involvement with the Soros Foundation.

I was a volunteer in Monica Macovei’s campaign in the 2014 presidential elections. … I organized the early part of the protests in January 2012, and I’ve had an awesome relationship with the Soros Foundation. I participated in a hackathon with PSD (Social Democrats) together with the Soros Foundation in 2014.

I was also at the Soros Foundation at a workshop in 2013 where Soros manipulated me and taught me how to question the state, to find out if a mayor’s office is stealing money or not.

Damn Soros for what he did to me! He turned me into an involved citizen.

Ponta later claimed that he had received information from the Interior Minister and “other sources” of planned attacks on political parties’ headquarters, as well as attempts to spark a revolution like Ukraine’s 2014 EuroMaidan. He argued that resigning trumped having to order security forces to violently suppress a revolt.

Giving up on Democracy

The morning after the resignation, Johannis announced that he would invite a group of representatives from the protests to the president’s Cotroceni Palace. His administration chose 20 out of 5,520, who requested via email to meet. He even promised to meet the protesters in the streets.

When he did, the first to speak with him explained that the only way to fix the country would be to get rid of the constitution.

Despite the objections of parliamentary leaders to its undemocratic nature, Johannis gave in to demands to form a technocratic government until the next elections. He named former European Union Agricultural Commissioner Dacian Cioloș as prime minister. Cioloș had never been part of any political party and had never held elected office.

Drawing from the Soros-founded and funded CEE Trust’s grant database, the newspaper Evenimentul Zilei found that more than half of Johannis’s guests at Cotroceni had connections to NGOs or projects that benefitted from Soros.

Cristian Pîrvulescu, Dean of Romania’s National School of Political Studies and Public Administration compared technocracy to Plato’s belief that only philosophers should rule. He described it as “an ideology of those who hold that political party ideologies are outdated and that there’s one truth that can be imposed.” He noted that “all technocratic governments either lasted very briefly or prepared for dictatorships.”

Romania – US Embassy Land Deal Dig Summary:

2005 Gabriel Popovicui, Romania property developer, established a property agreement with Agronomic Studies and Veterinary Medicine University to develop agricultural land on the north end of Budapest. Popoviciu held a 51% share in the property.

Popoviciu provided authentic appearing paperwork to City Hall indicating he had ownership of the land and obtain permission for the retail and commercial development.

Popoviciu and Baneasa Development constructed Baneasa Shopping City. The property management is currently managed by Bluemarine Holdings, United Arab Emirates.

Baneasa Holdings and the US State Department established a lease agreement for a new embassy compound. No details found in the OBO/ US State Department website archives so no date available. (OBO is Overseas Building and Operations)

The new US embassy compound plot is 11 acres and adjacent to the north end of Baneasa Shopping City.

Feb 2009 Baneasa Holdings was registered in Cyprus.

Mark Gitenstein was appointed US Ambassador to Romania August 28, 2009 – December 14, 2012. Gitenstein served as staffer for Sen Joe Biden and worked on the 2008 VP Transition Team.

US State Department archive records show OBO annual reports list on-going construction of the new US Embassy compound in Baneasa, Budapest, Romania.

Mar 22, 2012 US Embassy in Romania ribbon cutting ceremony. Beau Biden, Attorney General of the State of Delaware, delivered the keynote address.

Dec 2012 Popoviciu prosecuted in Romanian court for complicity to abuse of office against public interests and bribery. Prosecutors estimated the loss to the government at 75 million Euro. Popoviciu was convicted but then appealed the case.

2014 Popoviciu transferred his apartment interests in Olympic Tower, NYC, to his wife and daughter. Estimated purchase of 3 apartments (’04, ’06, ’12) was $8 million. He sold the 2004 apartment to family for $0.

2016 Popoviciu hired Louis Freeh (Freeh Group International Solutions) to appeal his corruption and fraud case in Romanian courts.

Louis Freeh hired Rudy Giuliani as part of his investigative legal team.

Aug 2 2017 Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice (Appeals Court) affirmed the conviction and sentenced Popoviciu to 7 years prison.

Romanian police went to take Popoviciu into custody but discovered he had had fled.

Aug 14, 2017 Popoviciu was taken into custody in London, UK.

sauce:

Articles linked on previous posts on the Romania bun and on Q Research General

Bread #10394 >>8119872 “Gabriel Popoviciu, US Embassy in Romania and the Bidens”

Articles posted/linked in the following posts this date on the Romania bun

notes:

no links with Hunter Biden, Rosemont Seneca or Burisma Holdings noted in the US Embassy Land Deal.

Popoviciu purchased / sold 3 apartments in NYC when Bloomberg was mayor and welcoming “oligarch” investors.

Working digs on VP Biden and the NATO missile defense in Romania to follow.

RISE Project: Romanian billionaire Popoviciu owns apartments in NY while facing trial and asset seizure at home

(romania-insider Apr 16, 2014)

https://www.romania-insider.com/rise-project-romanian-billionaire-popoviciu-owns-apartments-in-ny-while-facing-trial-and-asset-seizure-at-home/

The journalistic investigations platform RISE Project had found that Romanian billionaire and real estate investor Puiu Popoviciu has been investing in real estate in New York while being subject to the law and assets seizure in Romania.

RISE found three luxury apartments in New York, at the 44th floor of the skyscraper Olympic Tower in Manhattan, all registered under Popoviciu family members. The three apartments cost some USD 8 million, and, says RISE Project, are just a small piece of a real estate puzzle including large hotels in Bucharest, KFC, Pizza Hut and Paul franchises in Romania, the Baneasa mall and tens of retail spaces all across Bucharest, which formerly belonged to the state.

Popoviciu, by his real name Gabriel, but nicknamed Puiu, was sent to court by the anti-corruption prosecutors in Romania for having developed the Baneasa real estate project – including the mall – on a 224 – hectare plot owned by the state. Contacted by RISE, Popoviciu denied having properties in New York anymore.

Romanian newspaper investigation of NYC property (Romanian article Apr 15, 2014)

pic: popoviciu prop 1 2014 sale $0

pic: popoviciu prop 2 affadavit 2014

pic: popoviciu prop 3 2014 sale $3M

see also:

Bread #10410 >>8132049 "Romanian Oligarch Popoviciu’s Manhattan Real Estate During Bloomberg Years"

Hidden In Plain Sight: America’s Own Island Haven: Manhattan (July 3, 2014)

https://www.icij.org/investigations/offshore/americas-island-haven-manhattan/

Olympic Tower Manhattan wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Tower

Romania’s anticorruption prosecutors ask for 14-year prison sentence for Baneasa mall owner

(romania-insider May 31, 2016)

https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-prosecutors-ask-prison-sentence-baneasa-mall-owner/

Romania’s anticorruption prosecutors have asked for a 14-year jail sentence against Romanian investor Gabriel "Puiu" Popoviciu, who owns Baneasa Shopping City in northern Bucharest and the KFC and Pizza Hut franchises in Romania, according to Agerpres.

The prosecutors sent Popoviciu to court in December 2012 for complicity to abuse of office against public interests and bribery. The investor has been charged with corrupting the former rector of the Agronomic University in Bucharest to accept an association with his company Baneasa Investments.

The Agronomic University owned large land plots in northern Bucharest, in the Baneasa area, which it used for agriculture research. Much of that land is now covered with office buildings and shopping centers. The real estate developments were possible because of the association contract between the Agronomic University and Gabriel Popoviciu’s company.

According to the prosecutors, the agreement targeted a 244 land plot that was undervalued at a price of USD 1 per sqm for the purpose of this association whereas its real value was EUR 150 per sqm. The prosecutors also pointed out that the plot shouldn’t have been the subject of the association contract, because it was public property and not the university’s property when the association contract was signed. However, Popoviciu later helped the University get ownership of the land, which he later controlled. Popoviciu’s company owner 51% of the joint-venture and the Agronomic University only had 49%.

The prosecutors also asked for a 12-year jail sentence against the university’s former rector Ioan Niculae Alecu. Several other former officials have been indicted in this case.

The prosecutors estimate that the state has taken a RON 335 million (EUR 75 million) damage from the incriminated association contract. Romania's Finance Ministry has asked the court to grant back the land's ownership to the state.

The trial, which takes place at Bucharest's Court of Appeal, has ended and the court now has to rule its sentence.

The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) started investigating this case in 2006, after a denunciation filed by another famous local investor, Gigi Becali. Becali, who also served a prison sentence for some illegal real estate transactions closed in the 1990s with the Ministry of Defense, later wanted to change his deposition against Popoviciu.

Update: Powerful Romanian investor sent to jail for 220-ha real estate fraud, wanted by police

(romania-insider Aug 2, 2017)

https://www.romania-insider.com/powerful-romanian-investor-jail-real-estate-fraud/

Romanian investor Gabriel Popoviciu, one of the owners of the Baneasa Shopping City mall in Northern Bucharest, was sentenced to seven years in prison, no parole, in a fraud and corruption case over how he received the 224-hectare land on which he built the mall and other real estate projects.

The High Court’s judges reduced the conviction initially ruled by the Bucharest Court of Appeal against Popoviciu, of nine years in jail. The sentence is final, according to local Digi24.

Update: The Police went to Gabriel Popoviciu's house in Bucharest but haven't found him to take him into custody. He is believed to have left the country before the sentence was issued against him, as he had no interdiction in this sense. Popoviciu's last known residence was in Monaco, according to the local media. The Police has included him on the locally wanted list and will ask the court for a European arrest warrant against him, according to Digi24.

The former rector of the Agronomic Studies and Veterinary Medicine University in Bucharest, Ioan Niculae Alecu, was also sentenced to six years in jail for abuse of office. Three other people were convicted to jail in the same case.

Popoviciu was being tried for complicity to abuse of office and bribery and the investigation against him was carried out by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA).

The prosecutors investigated how the Agronomic University gave Popoviciu a 224-hectare land plot next to the Baneasa Airport in northern Bucharest, where the businessman developed the Baneasa mall and shopping area, the first IKEA store in Romania, as well as office buildings (Baneasa Technology Park) and many showrooms of premium car brands. The developments in the area started in 2005, when Adriean Videanu was mayor of Bucharest, according to Ziarul Financiar.

The university received a minority stake in Baneasa Development, the company through which Popoviciu and his business partners developed the real estate project. According to the prosecutors, the land plot was highly undervalued. Its value was set at USD 1 per sqm while the prices in the area were about EUR 150 per sqm at that time. The Finance Ministry has also filed a motion in this case asking for the land to be returned to the state.

The prosecutors started the case against Popoviciu in 2005-2006, after a denouncement made by local real estate tycoon Gigi Becali, who was also after the same piece of land. The High Court asked the prosecutors to close the case in 2008, but the investigation was reopened in 2009. DNA sent the case to court in 2012.

Gabriel Popoviciu is one of the richest and influential people in Romania. He was the son-in-law of former Communist deputy prime minister Ioan Dinca, according to local Realitatea.net. After the 1989 Revolution, he and his ex-wife went to the US, where they also got American citizenship. They returned to start businesses in Romania in the early 1990s, when Popoviciu benefited from his connections to the most important political leaders of the day.

He and his business partners Radu Dimofte and Nicolae Badea became some of the biggest owners of street commercial space in Bucharest. They also brought to Romania the Pizza Hut, KFC, and Burger King franchises and owned several important hotels in Bucharest. In recent years, Popoviciu and his business partners have divided their assets, according to local media reports.

Statement of Former Federal Judge and Former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh regarding the conviction of Romanian businessman, Gabriel Popoviciu

(prnewswire Aug 8, 2017)

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/statement-of-former-federal-judge-and-former-fbi-director-louis-j-freeh-regarding-the-conviction-of-romanian-businessman-gabriel-popoviciu-300501673.html

WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – I am deeply disappointed in the recent decision of Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice to affirm the criminal conviction of Romanian businessman, Gabriel Popoviciu, and sentence him to seven years in prison. This sentence and conviction are not supported by either the facts or the law.

In July 2016, I was retained to conduct an independent review of Mr. Popoviciu's conviction before the Romanian Court of Appeals. I conducted that review with the assistance of a team of experienced former federal prosecutors and former FBI Special Agents, one of whom speaks Romanian fluently.

Our team thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented against Mr. Popoviciu at trial, including documentary evidence and surreptitious tape-recordings of his conversations. That review documented numerous factual and legal deficiencies in the case against Mr. Popoviciu. For example, the prosecution's main witness, who repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempted to make Mr. Popoviciu incriminate himself using secret recordings, admitted in court that he was not bribed by Mr. Popoviciu – with the alleged bribe including two bottles of liquor and corporate promotional materials (such as a pen, notebook, and calendars). The former Minister of Education, as well as other witnesses, testified that the Baneasa land parcel was never a publicly owned asset and therefore cannot support the legal charge of abuse of position. Many other serious factual and legal deficiencies, inconsistent with fundamental principles of the rule of law, were also highlighted in my report.

I am hopeful that courts and reviewing authorities will review this case and decide that justice and the rule of law demand another result.

Note to Editors

Louis J. Freeh served as an Assistant United States Attorney (Southern District of New York), United States District Judge (Southern District of New York), and as the fifth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is the Senior Managing Partner of Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP and the Chairman of Freeh Group International Solutions, LLC.

Former FBI director defends wanted Romanian investor

(romania-insider Aug 10, 2017)

https://www.romania-insider.com/former-fbi-director-gabriel-popoviciu/

Powerful Romanian investor Gabriel Popoviciu, who was sentenced to seven years in prison earlier this month in a fraud and corruption case, has hired former FBI director and former federal judge Louis J. Freeh as a lawyer.

Popoviciu is now wanted by the local authorities. The Police went to his house in Bucharest after the Court ruled the prison sentence, but they haven’t found him there. The businessman is believed to have left the country before the sentence was issued against him, as he had no interdiction in this sense.

Louis J. Freeh defended the Romanian investor in a recent statement, saying that the “sentence and conviction are not supported by either the facts or the law.”

He explained that, last July, he was retained to conduct an independent review of Popoviciu's conviction before the Romanian Court of Appeals. He conducted the review with the assistance of a team consisting of former federal prosecutors and former FBI Special Agents, one of whom speaks Romanian fluently.

“Our team thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented against Mr. Popoviciu at trial, including documentary evidence and surreptitious tape-recordings of his conversations. That review documented numerous factual and legal deficiencies in the case against Mr. Popoviciu,” reads the former FBI director’s statement, cited by PRNewswire.

“For example, the prosecution's main witness, who repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempted to make Mr. Popoviciu incriminate himself using secret recordings, admitted in court that he was not bribed by Mr. Popoviciu - with the alleged bribe including two bottles of liquor and corporate promotional materials (such as a pen, notebook, and calendars). The former Minister of Education, as well as other witnesses, testified that the Baneasa land parcel was never a publicly owned asset and therefore cannot support the legal charge of abuse of position. Many other serious factual and legal deficiencies, inconsistent with fundamental principles of the rule of law, were also highlighted in my report.”

The lawyer said at the end of his statement that he hopes that the courts and the authorities would review Gabriel Popoviciu’s case and “decide that justice and the rule of law demand another result.”

In early August, Popoviciu, who is one of the owners of the Baneasa Shopping City mall in Northern Bucharest, was sentenced to seven years in prison, no parole, in a fraud and corruption case over how he received the 224-hectare land on which he built the mall and other real estate projects. The High Court’s judges reduced the conviction initially ruled by the Bucharest Court of Appeal, of nine years in jail.

Update: Wanted Romanian investor, detained in London

(Romania-insider Aug 14, 2017)

https://www.romania-insider.com/gabriel-popoviciu-detained/

Powerful Romanian investor Gabriel Popoviciu, who was sentenced to seven years in prison earlier this month in a fraud and corruption case, was detained in London on Monday, August 14.

The businessman was included on the internationally wanted list after the Bucharest Court of Appeal issued a European arrest warrant on his name.

Officers of the Romanian Police went to his house in Bucharest on August 2, soon after the Court ruled the prison sentence, but they haven’t found him there. Popoviciu is believed to have left the country before the sentence was issued against him, as he had no interdiction in this sense.

Judicial sources told local Mediafax that the Romanian authorities obtained information on where to find Gabriel Popoviciu, and informed the London Police. In turn, the British police officers managed to contact the lawyer of the Romanian businessman, who later went to a police station.

Update: Gabriel Popoviciu was released on bail, official sources told local Stirileprotv.ro. The businessman has paid GBP 200,000, and has to wear an electronic bracelet. Also, he has to go to the police station in London three times a week.

In early August, Gabriel Popoviciu, who is one of the owners of the Baneasa Shopping City mall in Northern Bucharest, was sentenced to seven years in prison, no parole, in a fraud and corruption case over how he received the 224-hectare land on which he built the mall and other real estate projects. The High Court’s judges reduced the conviction initially ruled by the Bucharest Court of Appeal, of nine years in jail.

The lawyer of Gabriel Popoviciu is former FBI director and former federal judge Louis J. Freeh. Last week, he defended the Romanian investor in a statement, saying that the “sentence and conviction are not supported by either the facts or the law.”

Louis J. Freeh explained that, last July, he was retained to conduct an independent review of Popoviciu’s conviction before the Romanian Court of Appeals. He conducted the review with the assistance of a team consisting of former federal prosecutors and former FBI Special Agents, one of whom speaks Romanian fluently.

“Our team thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented against Mr. Popoviciu at trial, including documentary evidence and surreptitious tape-recordings of his conversations. That review documented numerous factual and legal deficiencies in the case against Mr. Popoviciu,” reads the former FBI director’s statement.

United States Dedicates New Embassy Compound in Bucharest, Romania

(US Department of State archives, March 22, 2012)

https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/03/186638.htm

press release excerpt:

Celebrating over 130 years of U.S.-Romanian diplomatic relations, U.S. Ambassador to Romania, Mark H. Gitenstein dedicated the new Embassy facility in Bucharest today. Romanian Senate President Vasile Blaga, Prime Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, and Managing Director of Operations at the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) Leo Hession, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Joseph R. “Beau” Biden, III, Attorney General of the State of Delaware, delivering the keynote address.

The new facility is located in the Baneasa commercial district, adjacent to the Tunari Forest, and consolidates Embassy staff to improve coordination and communication among the various embassy sections.

Ambassador Mark Gitenstein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Gitenstein

Ambassador to Romania August 28, 2009 – December 14, 2012

The Romanian English-language newsdaily Nine O’Clock selected Ambassador Gitenstein as "The Foreign Diplomat of the Year for 2011." Gitenstein worked to strengthen relations with Romania on a variety of issues, focusing on fighting corruption, improving transparency, and strengthening the rule of law. He actively promoted deeper development of Romania's equity markets, as well as a fair and transparent business environment for all investors. He also encouraged greater private sector involvement in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including the introduction of a corporate governance code for SOEs. As a means of promoting social change, Gitenstein worked with TechSoup Romania to establish Restart Romania, a project designed to demonstrate the power of the internet and social media to find solutions to social justice problems, support transparency of public institutions, and promote grass roots efforts to fight corruption. The U.S. – Romanian Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement was signed and negotiated during Gitenstein's tenure in Bucharest.[13] Gitenstein travelled to Afghanistan three times to visit U.S. and Romanian troops.[14][15] He was a human rights advocate for the country's minority Roma population.

Background and education

Gitenstein is of Romanian Jewish heritage, as his grandparents were immigrants from Botoșani,Romania in the late 19th century. He went to high school at the private Indian Springs School in Indian Springs, Alabama, graduating in 1964. He attended Duke University and Georgetown Law School. He is married to Elizabeth (Libby) Gitenstein and has three children and five grandchildren.

Career

He was previously a law partner at Mayer Brown, beginning in 1989 and a "nonresident senior fellow" at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of Matters of Principle, and has been selected by his peers several times for inclusion in "Best Lawyers in America".

He was also on the advisory board for president-elect Barack Obama's presidential transition team. He was named as a leading choice to lead the Office of Legal Policy in the Department of Justice but was rejected after public reports of his extensive work as a registered lobbyist for the US Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to his work at Mayer Brown, Gitenstein served as Chief Counsel (1987–1989) and Minority Chief Counsel (1981–1987) to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, serving under then-Senator Joe Biden. Gitenstein also served as Counsel to the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1975–1978).

http://www.allgov.com/news/appointments-and-resignations/ambassador-to-romania-who-is-mark-gitenstein?news=839434

Former president: If Biden’s son had business in Romania, I would have known

(Romania-insider Oct 8, 2019)

https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-basescu-biden-giuliani-business

Traian Basescu, who served as Romania’s president from December 2004 until December 2014, said in a TV show that he didn’t know of any business former US vice president Joe Biden or his family may have had in Romania, although he was very well informed. He suggested that he sees nothing wrong with Biden’s son providing consultancy to Romanian businessman Puiu Popoviciu, who was convicted to jail in 2017, in a corruption case.

Basescu also said that the Obama-Biden administration had nothing to do with the appointments of chief prosecutors in Bucharest, which were done only based on domestic political agreements, according to B1.ro.

The former president made these statements in the context of Romania’s name being involved in the Ukrainegate scandal. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now US president Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, suggested in a Fox News interview on Sunday that Joe Biden’s son also had business in Romania. Donald Trump claims that Joe Biden, his likely opponents in next year’s presidential elections, used his influence as vice president of the United States to help his son’s business in Ukraine and China. Meanwhile, Trump himself faces impeachment for pressing Ukraine’s new president to investigate Biden’s operations in Ukraine.

“It’s difficult for me to say what information Rudolph Giuliani could have. What I can tell you for certain is that, when vice president Biden came to Bucharest, he had an extremely tight schedule, which I don’t think allowed him to handle business,” Basescu said.

“I honestly think they won’t find something to involve Biden here, especially since I have no idea of any business vice president Biden’s son may have had in Romania. And if his son had done business in Romania, I really should have known,” he added.

When asked about Hunter Biden’s business relations with Romanian businessman Puiu Popoviciu, Basescu said he saw nothing bad in this. As Bucharest mayor, Basescu approved the urban planning (PUZ) for Popoviciu’s Baneasa project. “I don’t know for what part of the deal (Popoviciu – e.n.) was convicted. Probably for the way the land was transferred to him, I assume. Because he came to the City Hall with a property certificate that was beyond doubt. If I remember correctly, it he held the land in co-property with a research institute. What is certain is that the taxes paid each year for the Baneasa project, I think are higher than the land’s value,” Basescu said at B1 TV.

The former president also referred to the American interests around Fondul Proprietatea, an investment fund with an initial capital of about EUR 4 billion, set up for compensating the people whose properties had been confiscated by the communist regime. He said the intelligence service (SRI) would have informed him if Biden’s son were in any way involved at Fondul Proprietatea. In 2011, US asset management company Franklin Templeton was appointed as manager of Fondul Proprietatea. Mark Gitenstein, who was the US ambassador to Romania at that time, was elected in Fondul Proprietatea’s Board of Nominees after he ended his mandate as ambassador. “That ambassador Gitenstein became a member of Fondul Proprietatea’s board, I don’t think it’s ok,” Basescu said, adding that Gitenstein had insisted for the creation of this fund and for selecting an international manager for it.

Asked if former VP Joe Biden and former ambassador Mark Gitenstein had a close relationship, Basescu replied: “I know for sure they had a very good relationship, which, at some point, turned sour.”

Dig on (former) Ambassador Gitenstein's association with Fondul Proprietatea Romania

Fondul Proprietatea - Romania

https://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/about-fund/fund-overview/board-nominees

In accordance with the Fund's Constitutive Act, the General Ordinary Meeting of Shareholders appoints 5 members to the Board of Nominees and establishes their remuneration.

Mark H. Gitenstein

Independent and Non-Executive Member of the Board

Member of Audit and Valuation Committee,

Member of Nomination and Remuneration Committee

23 April 2013 - 29 September 2022

Fondul Proprietatea - Romania

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondul_Proprietatea

Former US Ambassador to Romania applies for Fondul Proprietatea's board seat

(Romania-insider Mar 27, 2013)

https://www.romania-insider.com/former-us-ambassador-to-romania-applies-for-fondul-proprietateas-board-seat/

Mark Gitenstein (in picture), the former US Ambassador to Romania, recently submitted his application for a seat on the board of representatives for Romania's investment fund Fondul Proprietatea, according to Ziarul Financiar. Gitenstein will be a candidate on behalf of of the investment fund Emerging Markets Country Fund, managed by City of London, the second largest shareholder in Fondul Proprietatea.

The fund will organize elections for two vacant seats in its board on April 25, and the mandates of the two new members will start on September 30, when Sorin Mîn­dru­ţescu and Cristian Buşu's mandates will expire.

Gitenstein, a lawyer, ended his term as ambassador in Romania in December last year, after a three-year mandate, and was replaced by Duane Butcher as interim, until a new ambassador is named.

Foreigners have invested over EUR 750 million in Romania's Fondul Proprietatea shares in the two years since the fund was listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Foreigners are the largest individual shareholders in the fund, with Elliott Associates holding 14.95 percent in FP, while City of London Investment Management holds 9.69 percent and The Royal Bank of Scotland, 5.39 percent.

With 9,363 shareholders, the fund created in 2005 had 6.4 billion of its shares traded in 2012, and an average daily turnover of EUR 3 million. The value of the traded shares was of EUR 768 million. The average daily turnover was more than three times higher than the second placed blue chip BRD.

The fund's largest assets in portfolio are OMV Petrom, which is listed. The second largest, Hidroelectrica, is currently insolvent, while the third, Romgaz, is due for IPO in 2013. CE Oltenia and Nuclearelectrica are also due for IPO or sale in 2013. The fund's top ten portfolio holdings have a value of some EUR 2 billion.

Louis Freeh Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Freeh

wiki excerpts & notes:

“Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001. Freeh began his career as a special agent in the FBI, and was later an Assistant United States Attorney and United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A Republican, he was later appointed as FBI director by President Bill Clinton. He is now a lawyer and consultant in the private sector.”

Director of FBI highlights:

Civil liberties, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Khobar Towers bombing, TWA Flight 800, Centennial Olympic Park bombing, Montana Freemen, Unabomber, Robert Hanssen, Wen Ho Lee, Chinese political and campaign fundraising controversies, Oklahoma City Bombing.

Post FBI highlights:

Nasser Kazeminy, Penn State (Sandusky), MF Global

“In August 2018, Freeh hired attorney Rudy Giuliani to lobby the Romanian government calling for amnesty for Freeh's clients in a corruption probe.”[WashPost Dec 19 2019]

Additional articles:

Inside Giuliani’s dual roles: Power-broker-for-hire and shadow foreign policy adviser

(Washington Post Dec 19, 2019) (9 pages)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-giulianis-dual-roles-power-broker-for-hire-and-shadow-foreign-policy-adviser/2019/12/08/f9ab9c4c-1773-11ea-9110-3b34ce1d92b1_story.html

Inside Giuliani's new push to flip the script on Trump's impeachment

(nbcnews Dec 23, 2019)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/inside-giuliani-s-new-push-flip-script-trump-s-impeachment-n1106321

Baneasa Shopping City Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C4%83neasa_Shopping_City

Opened April 18, 2008

Constructed by French firm Bouygues

Does not provide management details

Baneasa webpage (archived)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070717171510/http://www.baneasa.ro/baneasa-comercial—spatii-comerciale/23/baneasa-shopping-city.html

Romania’s capital city is constantly growing and increasingly needs urban solutions to meet 21st century standards – thoroughly designed and built villas and apartments, quality office spaces and functional commercial areas. Baneasa represents the coming to life of a modern urban concept - creating an open area, part of the capital city, to include a residential area, a business park and a commercial area, perfectly functional from all points of view and open to all. Baneasa is a model of urban development, the place where each of us would like to live, work, and spend their spare time.

Lease management Baneasa Shopping City:

(few details found or Bluemarine Assets start date)

https://bluemarineholding.com/

http://bluemarineholding.com/segment/real-estate-sector/development/baneasa-developments-srl/

Baneasa Developments developed, owns and operates an integrated business model including Baneasa Shopping City, Feeria Commercial Gallery, Grand Cinema Digiplex, Grand Combo entertainment area as well as the corporate structure necessary to manage and further develop its activities

Who We Are

Bluemarine Group is the creation of a management and advisory team to explore and implement projects in specialized sectors in the African region by using in-house teams expertise, local or foreign strategic and technological partners, and outsourced operational teams per project. The business sectors envisaged by the group consist mainly of real estate development, supply of water filtration systems and energy power infrastructures. Bluemarine Group operates or/and participates in projects through local entities and also includes a trading and services company registered in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai).

note: Bluemarine Assets Holdings also has a large energy and natural gas management division bot no specifics on the website.

Additional Popoviciu articles:

Profile: Puiu Popoviciu – one of Romania’s most discrete moguls

(business review.eu Jun 23, 2016)

https://business-review.eu/news/profile-puiu-popoviciu-one-of-romanias-most-discrete-moguls-110165

Profile: Puiu Popoviciu – one of Romania’s most discrete moguls

(business review.eu, June 23, 2016)

https://business-review.eu/news/profile-puiu-popoviciu-one-of-romanias-most-discrete-moguls-110165

Gabriel ‘Puiu’ Popoviciu is one of the most influential players on the Romanian real estate market, with business interests spanning numerous sectors. His business connections and important political connections are largely unknown, glimpses into his extensive network only emerging in occasional press reports and, most recently, investigation reports.

On Thursday the Bucharest Court of Appeal sentenced real estate mogul Gabriel ‘Puiu’ Popoviciu to nine years in jail for complicity to abuse of office and bribery. Popoviciu was prosecuted in 2012 by the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) in a case involving the illegal purchase of a state-owned plot of land that at present hosts the headquarters of many major companies.

The 224-hectare plot was owned by the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) and as such could not be sold. However, following a series of agreements with Ioan Niculae Alecu, USAMV provost at the time, Popoviciu purchased the land at a price that way way under the market value. Specifically, according to the DNA prosecutors, the land was bought via SC Baneasa Investments SA, a company owned by Popoviciu, at the price of USD 1 per sq. meter, while the market price was around EUR 150 per sq. meter. Alongside Popoviciu, several officials, including former Bucharest Prefect Mihai Ion Luican, and Cornel Serban, the former head of DGIPI, the intelligence service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were also sentenced to one year and two years and six months in prison, respectively. Popoviciu was sent to court in 2012 following a denounce by George Becali.

Puiu Popoviciu is arguably one of the most controversial and well-connected figures on the Romanian real estate market. He started building his business empire immediately after the 1989 Revolution, following a stint in the US. He opened under franchise ownership restaurant chains Pizza Hut (1994), Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in 1997. In 2010 he opened the first IKEA store in Romania also under franchise agreements.

Moreover, together with his business partner Radu Dimofte, he is behind one of the major real estate projects in Bucharest, which includes Baneasa Mall and other office and residential buildings located north of the city. The project is valued at around EUR 2 billion.

Popoviciu is a key player on the hospitality sector, and ranks among the most important hotel owners in the capital. He controls the Howard Johnson Grand Plaza, Ramada Plaza and Ramada Parc hotels. He is also behind restaurant Casa Doina as well as companies Alltrom and Comaliment.

Convicted Romanian investor sues Romania at Washington court (Aug 28, 2018)

https://www.romania-insider.com/gabriel-popoviciu-sues-romania-washington/

Two firms registered in Cyprus linked with Romanian investor Gabriel Popoviciu, the owner of the Baneasa Shopping City, have filed a complaint against Romania at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, local Profit.ro reported.

The two firms accuse Romania of breaching the bilateral treaty for protecting investments signed with Cyprus in 1991. The president, prime minister, justice minister and finance minister are among the culprits.

The two firms are represented by two British lawyers and the London office of the U.S. law firm Shearman & Sterling, one of the biggest in the world. According to sources familiar with this case, the complaint targets the distraint imposed by the Romanian prosecutors on some assets the two firms own in Romania.

Gabriel Popoviciu was sentenced to 7 years in jail last year, in a corruption case related to the way in which he acquired the 224-hectare land plot where he developed the Baneasa real estate project. He got the land through an association contract with the Agronomy University in Bucharest.

Popoviciu is currently in London. One of his lawyers is former FBI director Louis Freeh, who recently spoke with Forbes magazine about five measures to reestablish rule of law in Romania.

Also posted on Bread # 10394 >>8119890

Romanian court rules that the land under Bucharest’s biggest retail area and U.S. Embassy returns to the state

(romania-insider, Dec 28, 2018)

https://www.romania-insider.com/romanian-court-baneasa-land-state/

The Bucharest Court of Appeal has ruled that 224 hectares of land in Bucharest’s Baneasa area, where some of Bucharest’s biggest retail projects and the U.S. Embassy are located, must return to the state. The decision is not final and can be challenged, according to Digi24.ro.

The land targeted by this sentence currently belongs to Romanian investor Gabriel Popoviciu, who was convicted to seven years in jail, in August 2017, for having illegally obtained it from the Bucharest Agronomy University in the early 2000s. The High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled at that time that Popoviciu must return the land to the state.

According to the anticorruption prosecutors, the Agronomy University gave the land to Baneasa Investments, a company jointly owned by Gabriel Popoviciu and the University, at a value of USD 1 per sqm while the real value was some EUR 150 per sqm.

Baneasa Investments used the land to develop one of the biggest real estate projects in Bucharest, including office buildings that host the headquarters of several multinationals, the Baneasa mall and the first IKEA store in Romania. The U.S. Embassy also built its new headquarters on a land plot provided by Popoviciu.

Gabriel Popoviciu, who fled to England just before the court ruled in his case, has managed to dodge incarceration and hired international law firms and consultants, including a former FBI director, to lobby for him and denounce alleged abuses by Romanian anticorruption authorities. A letter sent by former New York mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to Romanian president Klaus Iohannis earlier this year, proved to be a result of this lobby.

Two firms registered in Cyprus and believed to be controlled by Popoviciu also filed a complaint against the Romanian state at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington. They accused Romania of breaching the bilateral treaty for protecting investments signed with Cyprus and asked for compensations of “at least USD 200 million”, according to media reports

Also posted on Bread # 10394 >>8119897

Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu — The businessman with a finger in every pizza pie

(Aug 23, 2017)

https://medium.com/romania-corruption-watch/gabriel-puiu-popoviciu-the-businessman-with-a-finger-in-every-pizza-pie-d898673d34a9

On paper Popoviciu seems like the perfect businessman, dealing in everything from computer parts to pizza to real estate, but in reality, like may of Romania’s “Cardboard Billionaires” his main assets are his connections, especially the political ones. Popoviciu has long maintained very friendly relations with decision-makers, both at the central but especially at the local level. He was very close to several politicians, including Traian Băsescu, the charismatic mayor of Bucharest turned two-term president of Romania. Indeed, it was Băsescu who signed off on the transfer of some of the best real estate in Bucharest for less that 1$ per square meter from a state institution to one of Popoviciu’s many companies. At the time, experts estimated the damage this deal caused to the Romanian state at over €1 billion.

Băsescu’s successor to Bucharest city hall was on equally friendly terms with Puiu Popoviciu. Adriean Videanu — businessman, politician and Mayor of Romania’s capital signed off on further development plans on Popoviciu’s newly acquired real estate. Once mayor Videanu had given the green light, the real estate, now connected to the city’s utilities (power, water and sewage grids) blossomed almost overnight into a new luxury development where, who other than then President Băsescu’s youngest daughter MEP Elena Băsescu was one of the first to move in. The US embassy, looking for land to build a more secure facility, was a close second. Faced with such prestigious clients, Popoviciu was more than happy to provide the land at a considerable markup.

Unfortunately the land itself had been bought illegally through a shell company and re-purposed from its initial role as experimental farmland belonging to the University of Agronomy Studies (USAMV). Far from abandoned, as Puiu claimed while repurposing it, it was still in use by agriculture students at the time of sale. But since USAMV was relegated to the role of minority shareholder over its own lands, once friendly city hall mayors agreed to Puiu’s plans, there was no stopping the massive real estate projects that followed.

Needless to say, the land deal that made Popoviciu one of Romania’s wealthiest men took place under shady circumstances. Equally needless to say that, upon investigation by Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate, the so-called “Băneasa” affair found a loss of €600 million in to the state. Puiu was convicted to 9 years in prison, a sentence that was then reduced to 7 in the final judgment issued by the court on August 2nd — a devastating blow for a man who had always benefitted from having friends in high places. But much like one errant billionaire — Sebastian Ghita — Puiu was nowhere to be found after the judge’s gavel fell. Turns out, the businessmen fled the country in June and the Romanian authorities have issued a European Arrest Warrant to his name. Some have speculated that he is in the United States, where his long-time mistress, Dorothy Constantin, has just given birth to the couple’s baby girl.

Also posted on Bread # 10394 >>8119904

Giuliani: Hunter Biden Reportedly Involved with Romanian Locked Up for Corruption (Oct 10, 2019)

https://www.westernjournal.com/giuliani-hunter-biden-reportedly-involved-romanian-locked-corruption/

article video: https://youtu.be/vkQZ-mxUUEI

It’s hit Ukraine. It’s hit China. The blowback has hit the United States presidential election cycle.

And now, according to Rudy Giuliani, it’s hit Romania.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer said Americans should watch the Eastern European country as the next potential front in the saga of Hunter Biden.

“I want you to keep you eye not just on China. I want you to keep your eye on Romania. Just watch Romania,” Giuliani said.

“You won’t read it in The New York Times or The Washington Post,” Giuliani said after Hannity attempted to change the subject.

“But just watch Romania.”

Giuliani is wrong here: In fact, you could actually read about it in The New York Times.

Back in May, the paper broke the story in an article titled, “Trump’s Demands for Investigations of Opponents Draw Intensifying Criticism.”

“In addition to his work in Ukraine for the energy company Burisma, Hunter Biden advised a Romanian businessman with ties to the United States, Gabriel Popoviciu, whose real estate dealings had come under investigation, according to people familiar with the arrangement, which has not been previously reported,” The Times reported.

“The investigation, which came as the United States and its allies were pushing Romania to clamp down on corruption, led to Mr. Popoviciu’s conviction and a prison sentence.”

According to Fox News, Popoviciu — who is said to have opened the first Pizza Hut in Romania — was sentenced to seven years behind bars for corruption.

The U.K. Daily Mail reported there may have been deeper ties between Hunter Biden and Popoviciu than just an advisory role.

RELATED: War Hero Rips Biden for ‘Ridiculous’ Praise of Vindman: ‘I Would’ve Fired Him Too’

Yes, even deeper than any possible involvement in Pizza Hut. (To be fair, there’s no evidence the former vice president’s son got involved in that — and why would he, given how wretched their pizza is?)

In late September, a local Romanian outlet reported that “Hunter Biden was involved in real estate business in Bucharest and allegedly tried to lobby in favor of” the real estate magnate, according to the Daily Mail.

G4Media.ro reported on the alleged links shortly after the Ukraine whistleblower scandal broke.

Beyond the question of whether or not there’s anything untoward here, this again raises the question of why Hunter Biden — not necessarily the most reliable of individuals unless you needed, for some reason, to find someone who would fail a drug test — kept on getting plum roles in international business.

If Romania becomes yet another pie an otherwise unqualified individual had his fingers in, this starts to raise even more serious question about his father’s conflicts of interest.

No, nearest we can tell, Joe Biden didn’t get any Romanian prosecutors fired.

(Or, at the very least, there exists no videos of him at a Council on Foreign Relations event bragging about how, “son of a b—-,” he managed to do it.)

That said, if Romania becomes yet another country where the Neil Bush of the 2020 election cycle managed to make money in a sketchy-sounding way, this could change the calculus of the 2020 election cycle somewhat.

Thus far, Biden’s primary opponents have held their fire on the Hunter issue — not, one suspects, out of an excess of benevolence toward the former vice president but due to the fear that any fruit of the Trumpian tree will be poisonous when eaten.

Also posted on Bread # 10394 >>8119911

Hunter Biden Was Hired To Run Interference For A Corrupt Romanian Tycoon

(thefederalist, Oct 24, 2019)

https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/24/hunter-biden-was-hired-to-run-interference-for-a-corrupt-romanian-tycoon/

In 2016, Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu, who was accused of orchestrating a corrupt land deal, hired Hunter Biden to “advise” him as he aimed to dodge federal prosecution. At the same time, Hunter’s father Joe Biden was claiming to be pushing Romania to clean up political corruption.

NBC News reported Hunter Biden may have simply been used as a prop while Popoviciu was evading prosecution. This is the third questionable relationship between a foreign government, the Obama administration, and the former vice president’s son.

First it was Hunter Biden sitting on the board of a Ukrainian oil company, which he was not qualified to sit on, making some $80,000 per month. Meanwhile, Joe Biden claimed to be fighting corruption in Ukraine by firing the prosecutor who was prosecuting the company on whose board Hunter Biden sat.

Hunter Biden’s potentially very lucrative investments in China have also been scrutinized recently. When given the opportunity to vindicate himself during an exclusive ABC interview this month, Hunter Biden vowed to divest himself from his monetary investments in China and claimed he would not serve on the board of any other foreign entity, like he did in Ukraine, because that appears corrupt.

“Well, this is what becomes a distraction. Because I have to sit here and answer these questions. And so that’s why I’ve committed that I won’t serve on any boards or I won’t work directly for any foreign entities when my dad becomes president,” Hunter Biden said.

Now, the younger Biden has been accused of working and profiting in a third country — Romania — where his father was working to end corruption.

While it is likely Joe Biden will call his poor judgement and alleged corruption a hoax created by the Trump administration, his fellow 2020 candidates frontrunners, namely Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, may try to criticize him as they push what they call anti-corruption plans.

After the allegations against the Biden family garnered national attention, Joe Biden’s polling numbers slipped from approximately 37 percent to his current stature at 27.2 percent. Warren is trailing behind Biden by approximately 5 points, coming in at 21.8 percent.

Also posted on Bread # 10394 >>8119927

Romanian Oligarch Popoviciu, convicted for fraud in leasing land for a new US Embassy in Romania had invested in luxury Manhattan apartments during the period Bloomberg was mayor (’02-’13). No connections to note but a coincidence. Also, Gitenstein, US Ambassador to Romania, during new embassy construction was a close friend and former staffer of Senator Biden.

Hidden In Plain Sight: America’s Own Island Haven: Manhattan

(icij.org, July 3, 2014)

https://www.icij.org/investigations/offshore/americas-island-haven-manhattan/

excerpt 1

During his time in office, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a cheerleader for encouraging the mega-wealthy to relocate to the city. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all the Russian billionaires to move here?” he told New York magazine in September.

Combine that give-us-your-rich ethos with state and local policies that lavish tax breaks on Manhattan’s wealthiest homeowners and federal policies that allow real estate agents to close their eyes to whether their clients are trafficking in illicit money, and the results are predictable: New York is a magnet for the super-rich homebuyers from other lands bearing money of sometimes dubious provenance. The flood of foreign capital pouring into New York properties makes it easy for suspect figures to hide their fortunes amid Manhattan’s residential gold rush, according to interviews with money laundering experts and court documents and secret offshore records reviewed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Excerpt 2

Family trust

Other notorious figures in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union whose names have been linked to pricey Manhattan properties include a famed Romanian shopping-mall developer and Russia’s fertilizer king.

Gabriel Popoviciu became one of Romania’s richest men by helping introduce his country to KFC and other American fast-food icons. Research by a European news organization, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, has revealed that his family has shelled out more than $8 million over the past decade to buy three apartments on the 44th floor of the Olympic Tower, one flight up from where Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos once held luxury space. He and his wife bought an apartment from American banker John Chalsty in 2004. The couple’s daughter was listed as the buyer of nearby apartments in 2006 and 2012. The last one was bought from Christie’s for $3.6 million.

Recently, though, Garbriel Popoviciu removed his name from the family holdings in the Olympic Tower. This move came amid two unfolding life events for him — a divorce from his long-time spouse and a criminal investigation of his business dealings in Romania. Prosecutors allege he and his associates bribed government officials as part of the behind-the-scenes machinations that allowed him to gain control of valuable state-owned land and develop a huge project that includes supermarkets, restaurants and the U.S. Embassy. Popoviciu denies wrongdoing.

Authorities have frozen Popoviciu’s assets in Romania, but have put no restrictions on his property outside the country. In March, Popoviciu sold his newly ex-wife his half-share of the apartment they purchased in 2004. The sale price: zero dollars.

Olympic Tower Manhattan wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Tower

Also posted on Bread # 10410 >>8132049

>>8187846

Yes, Yes, Hunter Biden also worked on Popoviciu’s appeals case in 2016. (biased but sauce) Not many articles will cite Hunter Biden as not a big media name like Rudy Giuliani; plus would not fit the talking points.

Rudy and Hunter Biden Both Worked for the Same Romanian Kleptocrat

(ny mag Oct 24 2019)

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/rudy-giuliani-hunter-biden-romania-gabriel-popoviciu.html

If there’s one thing we know about Rudolph Giuliani, it’s that he hates it – hates it — when Hunter Biden takes ethically dubious jobs in Eastern Europe. The president’s personal attorney has spent much of the past year trying to strong-arm the Ukrainian government into investigating Joe Biden’s son for any corrupt practices (real or imagined) that he may have engaged in while serving on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Giuliani’s efforts on that front have caused Donald Trump no small number of headaches — and could cost the 75-year-old multimillionaire his freedom.

But as of last month, none of the fallout from Rudy’s Kiev vacation was enough to quell his appetite for unearthing Hunter Biden’s shady dealings in the former Soviet bloc. “We haven’t moved to Romania yet,” Giuliani told Fox News in September, referring to Hunter’s unspecified illicit activities in that nation. “Wait ‘til we get to Romania.”

As it happens, Hunter Biden did once enjoy an ethically questionable gig in Romania. In 2016, when his father was still vice-president, Hunter agreed to provide legal advice to Gabriel Popoviciu, a Romanian real-estate tycoon who’d recently been convicted on charges of corruption, and was mounting an appeal. In 2014, Joe Biden had forcefully advocated for the Romanian government to crack down on graft within its borders. And there is no evidence that Popoviciu secured any favors from the White House as a result of hiring Hunter. But it is extremely plausible that he hired Biden’s son in the hope that doing so he might ingratiate himself to the Obama administration. If Popoviciu merely wanted the advice of any undistinguished young attorney, he presumably could have found one with a lower hourly rate — and more familiarity with the finer points of Romanian law — in his home country.

So, you can understand why a stickler for legal ethics like Rudy Giuliani would object to Hunter’s behavior. After all, Popoviciu ultimately lost his appeal, and was sentenced to seven years in prison for his kleptocratic land deal. To monetize one’s affiliation with the White House — by providing legal assistance to such a crook — goes against everything Giuliani stands for.

Which, to be clear, is nothing. Rudy Giuliani stands for nothing (he’s more the sitting type). As NBC News reports:

Popoviciu was convicted in 2016 but launched an appeal. He assembled a high profile legal team to fight the conviction, which included former FBI director Louis Freeh … Freeh continued working on behalf of Popoviciu [after his appeal failed]. Last year, he tapped Giuliani, his longtime friend, to assist in his Romanian work.

Giuliani’s hiring created what appears in hindsight a strange-bedfellows arrangement. Giuliani, who has been the loudest critic of Hunter Biden’s work in the Ukraine, was working on the same side as the younger Biden in Romania.

In August 2018, Giuliani wrote a letter to Romania’s president and prime minister criticizing the country’s recent efforts to rein in corruption as overly aggressive. Giuliani’s position contradicted the U.S. stance on anti-corruption efforts in Romania.

I’m starting to think that Team Trump’s avowed concerns with corruption in Eastern Europe may not be entirely on the level.

>>8187846

>>8195134

Hunter Biden's legal work in Romania raises new questions about his overseas dealings

(nbcnews Oct 24, 2019)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/hunter-biden-s-legal-work-romania-raises-new-questions-about-n1071031

video: Hunter Biden Breaks Silence on Ukraine

https://link.theplatform.com/s/rksNhC/rQm9q52CmUgA?MBR=TRUE&format=redirect&Tracking=true&Embedded=true&formats=MPEG4

In the final year of the Obama administration, an American lawyer traveled to Romania to meet with a businessman accused of orchestrating a corrupt land deal.

The businessman was Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu, a wealthy Romanian real estate tycoon. The lawyer brought in to advise him was Hunter Biden, the son of then-Vice President Joe Biden, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Hunter Biden’s work for Popoviciu in 2016 went unreported at the time, but Joe Biden’s involvement in Romania was very much public. The vice president was among the leading voices pushing the government to crack down on corruption.

There’s no evidence that Hunter or his father acted improperly or violated any laws. But the arrangement, government ethics experts say, raises concerns that Hunter Biden was used as a prop in Popoviciu’s effort to dodge criminal prosecution.

“We don’t know what [Hunter Biden] was paid or what he was paid for but it does raise questions of whether this Romanian individual facing criminal charges was actually paying for a connection to the American vice president,” said Kathleen Clark, a Washington University law professor who specializes in government ethics.

Hunter Biden’s work overseas — primarily in the Ukraine and China — has become a subject of the presidential campaign through the efforts of Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to portray the international dealings as corrupt. In July, Trump urged the Ukrainian president to launch an investigation of Biden related to his son’s work for a Ukrainian gas company, according to a White House notes on the call, triggering the impeachment inquiry underway in the House.

Giuliani and Trump have provided no evidence, and no proof has emerged of any wrongdoing by Hunter or his father.

But last week, Hunter Biden announced that he will step down from the board of a Chinese investment company that he joined in October 2017. And in an interview with ABC News released last Tuesday, he acknowledged showing “poor judgment” but denied any ethical lapses in taking a position on the board of the Burisma gas company in Ukraine at a time when his father was leading American policy in the country.

Hunter Biden’s activities related to Romania have gotten far less attention.

The case against Popoviciu was set in motion in 2005 when a businessman lodged a criminal complaint against him and the rector of a Romanian university relating to the sale of a 550-acre plot of land near Bucharest, according to documents from the European Court of Human Rights.

The businessman claimed Popoviciu had purchased the land for “significantly less money than it was actually worth,” the documents say. Further, the businessman alleged the plot wasn’t the property of the University of Agronomy, but was instead owned by the Romanian government, according to the documents.

Romanian prosecutors initially declined to investigate citing a lack of evidence. But in July 2008, the country’s National Anti-Corruption Protection Service took over the case.

>>8195336

Hunter Biden's legal work in Romania raises new questions about his overseas dealings

(nbcnews Oct 24, 2019) (continued)

The university rector was charged in March 2009 with abusing his position and Popoviciu was charged with “complicity in abuse of position,” the documents show. Two months later, Popoviciu was hit with a bribery charge.

Popoviciu was convicted in 2016 but launched an appeal. He assembled a high profile legal team to fight the conviction, which included former FBI director Louis Freeh, according to a release from Freeh’s firm.

That same year, Hunter Biden traveled to Romania to assist Popoviciu, according to two people familiar with the matter. The New York Times was first to report on the younger Biden’s involvement in Popoviciu’s case.

At the time he was brought in, Hunter Biden was performing work for the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP where he was “of counsel.” The firm did not respond to a request for comment.

Romania was by then a familiar place to the Biden family. A close friend and former staffer of Joe Biden, Mark Gitenstein, held the position of U.S. ambassador to Romania from August 2009 to December 2012. In March 2012, Hunter’s brother, Beau, was asked to do the ribbon-cutting at the new U.S. embassy in Bucharest.

Vice President Biden visited Romania in 2014 and delivered a forceful speech against graft. “Corruption is a cancer, a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy,” he said. “Corruption is just another form of tyranny.”

It’s unclear how much assistance Hunter Biden provided in Popoviciu’s case. The Romanian real estate tycoon’s bid to overturn his conviction ultimately failed. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in August 2017, according to a press release from Freeh’s firm.

>>8187846

Video on Hunter Biden's legal consulting work in Romania

(most videos emphasize Ukraine)

Hunter Biden Had Questionable Business Dealings In Romania Too, Mark Steyn & Emily Larsen Discuss

[covers Romania and 2007 lobbying DHS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmTnHXTjvHE

Two New Potential Scandals Emerge For Joe, Hunter Biden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua-x_dpC36c

On the former US Embassy building, the mansion was rented to the US at the start of WWII until the 2011 move.

Bucharest palace that hosted the U.S. Embassy, put up for sale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HDEGCwQcmQ

>>8187846

Article and legal timeline involving Hunter Biden and Louis Freeh representing Popoviciu

(part 1 of 3)

May 2014 VP Biden gave a speech on corruption in Bucharest.

Popoviciu retained Hunter Biden in 2015 for his case.

Hunter Biden was working for Boies Schiller Flexner.

Popoviciu hired Biden but does not clarify how he was referred to him.

In 2015 Hunter Biden met with the Romanian Ambassador in Washington prior to travel to Romania.

Popoviciu lost his case in 2016 and appealed.

Hunter Biden discussed with Mark Gitenstein having Louis Freeh and Freeh Group International Solutions investigate the case for appeal.

Freeh’s firm began work investigating the case for appeal in July 2016.

Freeh retained Rudy Giuliani to assist investigating Romania’s anti-corruption practices.

At some point, Hunter Biden was no longer part of Popoviciu’s legal counsel.

Freeh’s investigation team concluded “numerous factual and legal deficiencies in the case.”

Aug 2017, the Romanian appeals court upheld the conviction.

Popoviciu fled to London and was taken into custody [Aug 10].

Popoviciu posted bail in UK and fighting extradition to Romania.

Giuliani attacks Hunter Biden’s dealings with business executive despite working for same man

(independent.uk / NYT, Oct 26, 2019)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/rudy-guliani-hunter-biden-romania-louis-freeh-ukraine-impeachment-scandal-a9172061.html

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, signalled this month that he planned to open a new front in his attacks against former Vice President Joe Biden — work done by Mr Biden’s son Hunter Biden for a wealthy Romanian business executive facing corruption charges.

But there’s a problem with that strategy: Mr Giuliani participated in an effort that would have helped the same executive and was in fact recruited to do so by Louis Freeh, a former FBI director who had been brought into the matter by Hunter Biden.

In effect, Mr Giuliani and Hunter Biden were on the same team, if not at the same time. And their work to help the business executive, along with that of Mr Freeh, stood in contrast to efforts by the United States, including Joe Biden while he was in office, to encourage anti-corruption efforts in Romania.

The dynamic in Romania underscores how Mr Giuliani has done brisk international business with clients who sometimes seem to be seeking to capitalise on his connections to President Trump, even as he has accused Hunter Biden of seeking to capitalise on his father’s name while doing business in other countries. And the disclosure of the connection between his role in Romania and Hunter Biden’s comes at a time when Mr Giuliani, the former New York mayor, is under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York for possible violations of foreign lobbying laws.

Hunter Biden, who is a lawyer, was retained by the business executive, Gabriel Popoviciu, in 2015, while his father was vice president, to help try to fend off charges in Romania being pursued by anti-corruption prosecutors. In 2016, Mr Popoviciu was convicted on charges related to a land deal in northern Bucharest, the Romanian capital.

Mr Popoviciu appealed the decision.

Around the time of the 2016 conviction, Hunter Biden recruited Mr Freeh to assist on the case, according to four people familiar with the effort. Mr Freeh then retained Mr Giuliani, who last year criticised Romania’s anti-corruption crackdown and urged amnesty to those who had been convicted, which could have included Mr Popoviciu.

Mr Giuliani’s involvement came after Mr Biden bowed out of the case, according to three people familiar with the arrangements.

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>>8196483

Article and legal timeline involving Hunter Biden and Louis Freeh representing Popoviciu

(part 2 of 3)

The episode, elements of which were reported Thursday by NBC News, is another example of the paydays available to politically prominent Americans willing to work for foreign interests, some of whom are hoping to parlay Washington connections into favourable treatment at home and on the world stage.

Hunter Biden also served as a board member of a Ukrainian energy company owned by an oligarch who had been battling accusations of corruption at the same time that Joe Biden — now a leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidate — was pressing the Ukrainian government to step up its anti-corruption efforts. Hunter Biden was paid as much as $50,000 (£39,000) a month for his role on the board.

Efforts by Mr Giuliani and Mr Trump to pressure the current Ukrainian government into investigating the Bidens helped lead to the impeachment inquiry underway by House Democrats. Mr Trump also asked China to investigate Hunter Biden’s business there, a request that was rejected by the Chinese government.

There is no evidence that Joe Biden acted improperly in any of the situations involving his son.

Andrew Bates, a Biden campaign spokesman, said, “Americans are not going to be hoodwinked by a president desperately trying to turn attention to anything but his own corrupt behaviour.”

Hunter Biden acknowledged in an interview with ABC News this month that he exercised “poor judgment” by joining the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings but said he had done nothing wrong. He left the company’s board in April. This month, he announced he would step down from the board of a Chinese company and would not work for or with any foreign-owned companies if his father was elected president.

George Mesires, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, said his client never discussed the Popoviciu case, Romanian anti-corruption efforts or anything else related to Romania with his father.

Mr Popoviciu’s hiring of well-connected Americans seemed to be an effort to leverage “the importance to the Romanian government of the US-Romanian bilateral” relationship “to influence and possibly overcome his political challenges in Romania,” said Heather Conley, who was a deputy assistant secretary of state in the bureau of European and Eurasian affairs from 2001 to 2005.

Ms Conley, who is director of the Europe program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, warned that going to work in “environments where corruption is very prevalent, such as Romania, should be a blinking yellow light of caution reputationally for US firms and individuals.”

Early this month, Mr Giuliani suggested that he intended to soon draw attention to Hunter Biden’s work in Romania. During an appearance on Fox News in which Mr Giuliani reiterated his claims about the Bidens’ activities in Ukraine and China, he announced, as the segment was nearing its end, that “there’s a lot more to come out. We haven’t moved to Romania yet. Wait until we get to Romania.”

Mr Trump referred to Hunter Biden’s Romania work for the first time Friday in remarks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.

“Well, I think what Biden did, and his son — and now, I guess, they’re finding also Romania; that just came out today. Or some other country. And I’m sure there are more than that,” the president said.

As far back as May, Mr Giuliani indicated to The New York Times that he intended to ask Mr Freeh for information about Hunter Biden’s work in Romania. It is not clear if he did so.

Neither executives at Mr Freeh’s company, Freeh Group International Solutions, nor Mr Giuliani responded to requests for comment this week.

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>>8196497

Article and legal timeline involving Hunter Biden and Louis Freeh representing Popoviciu

(part 3 of 3)

Hunter Biden’s work for Mr Popoviciu was first reported by The New York Times in May.

But new details demonstrate how Hunter Biden’s efforts stood in contrast to the message being delivered in Romania by his father and put him on the same side of the case as Mr Giuliani.

Hunter Biden agreed to work for Mr Popoviciu at a time when Mr Popoviciu was being targeted by an anti-corruption campaign that had been championed by Joe Biden and other Western leaders.

In a May 2014 speech to politicians in Bucharest, Joe Biden assailed corruption as “a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy” and “can represent a clear and present danger not only to a nation’s economy but to its very national security.”

About two years after that speech, Mr Popoviciu was convicted in a case brought by an anti-corruption agency that Joe Biden had praised.

In 2015, before his first trip to Romania, Hunter Biden met with the Romanian ambassador to the United States in the country’s embassy in Washington, according to two people familiar with the meeting. Mr Biden stressed that he was undertaking the trip as a private citizen and did not expressly mention Mr Popoviciu or his case, one of the people said.

At one point, Hunter Biden approached Mark Gitenstein, a former US ambassador to Romania during President Barack Obama’s first term, to discuss the possibility of referring the Popoviciu case to Mr Freeh, according to someone familiar with the conversation.

Mr Mesires acknowledged that Hunter Biden referred Mr Popoviciu to both Boies Schiller Flexner, the law firm where Hunter Biden worked at the time, and Mr Freeh’s firm, Freeh Group International Solutions.

Mr Popoviciu hired both firms, according to four people familiar with the arrangements. Mr Popoviciu could not be reached for comment.

Boies Schiller Flexner declined to comment.

Mr Freeh’s firm started work for the Romanian businessman in July 2016, shortly after Mr Popoviciu was initially convicted by a Romanian court.

Mr Freeh conducted a review of the case with a team of retired prosecutors and FBI agents. The team concluded there were “numerous factual and legal deficiencies in the case,” according to a statement summarising the findings issued in 2017, after the Romanian high court upheld Mr Popoviciu’s conviction and handed down a seven-year prison sentence. Mr Freeh called for Romanian authorities to review the case and reach “another result.”

That has not happened. Mr Popoviciu was arrested in London shortly after the high court’s decision. He posted bail and is fighting extradition to Romania.

While Hunter Biden ended his work on the case at some point after recruiting Mr Freeh, Mr Freeh continued working for Mr Popoviciu.

Last year, Mr Freeh retained Mr Giuliani, a longtime associate whose 2008 presidential campaign Mr Freeh supported, to help with his efforts in Romania.

The New York Times

[note: article written so it is difficult to navigate the timeline and biased toward attacking Rudy Giuliani and President Trump.

Typically, New York Times requires a subscription to view their articles but was able to source from the independent.uk. Notice in many political matters, it is necessary to find foreign media outlets to research details and facts.]

Deleck Group

https://www.delek-group.com/our-operations/east-med-our-business-environment/

Israeli natural gas development company website.

EastMed Business Environment provides many geology, gas production and forecast details and graphs.

Media page information on various drilling platforms.

Principle exploration and drilling company for the eastern Mediterranean Leviathan gas fields.

Ithaca Energy operates exploration and drilling in the UK North Sea “Greater Stella Area” since 2017.

The EastMed Pipeline Could Be a Giant Step Towards Enhancing Regional Security

(besa center, June 22, 2017)

https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/eastmed-pipeline-security/

Begin-Sadat Center For Strategic Studies, Bar Ilan University, Israel

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The EastMed pipeline, a proposed means of transporting gas from the eastern Mediterranean to new markets, would be expensive and difficult – but it is feasible. Easier and less expensive solutions are also being considered, but the security element works in EastMed’s favor. EastMed would allow Cyprus, Greece, and Israel to collaborate while developing their roles as hubs of stability in a turbulent neighborhood. The EU and the US would likely see improvement in Western energy dependence. And Israel would have the opportunity to improve its relationship with the EU, not only by participating in a project of European interest but also by finding new clients for its own gas in the European market.

The gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean are altering regional dynamics. Transporting that gas to new export destinations, principally in Europe, will be complicated but feasible.

With this challenge in mind, Cyprus, Greece, and Israel have intensified their contacts of late. Trilateral summits are regularly taking place with the participation of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek and Israeli Prime Ministers Alexis Tsipras and Benjamin Netanyahu. (In April 2017, Italy joined the club, signing a declaration in Tel Aviv to that effect.)

The first trilateral summit took place in Nicosia in January 2016 and the second in December 2016 in Jerusalem. A third was held only a few days ago in Thessaloniki. At that most recent summit, the leaders agreed to deepen their energy collaboration by exploring means of constructing an underwater “EastMed” pipeline.

The project envisages a 1,300 km offshore pipeline and a 600 km onshore one from Eastern Mediterranean sources to Cyprus, from Cyprus to Crete, from Crete to mainland Greece (the Peloponnese), and from the Peloponnese to Western Greece. Then, the plan is to connect Western Greece to Italy east of Otranto via a 207 km offshore pipeline across the Ionian Sea, the so-called Poseidon.

At first glance, the biggest obstacle to the construction of the EastMed pipeline – which, if constructed, would be the longest and deepest subsea pipeline on earth – is its technical viability. Practical challenges abound. On the approach to Crete, for example, there is a stretch of about 10 km where the depth is quite high, which could cause construction problems. However, the companies involved are optimistic that technology will advance sufficiently to enable the pipeline to be built.

The Natural Gas Supplier Corporation (DEPA) of Greece describes the project as “technically feasible,” according to studies it has conducted. To bolster its case, DEPA notes the success of the Medgaz pipeline, which runs between Algeria and Spain. Israel energy minister Yuval Steinitz, too, has attempted to ease fears about construction issues and suggests that EastMed can be completed by 2025.

Technical feasibility is not the only matter of concern, however. Another challenge is the cost, which has been projected to range anywhere from $4 billion to $7 billion. Low gas prices are also concern, as they could prevent private companies from supporting the project alongside the EU (which is prepared to offer co-financing).

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>>8198846

The EastMed Pipeline Could Be a Giant Step Towards Enhancing Regional Security

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Alternatives scenarios are on the table to address these concerns. LNG bases in either Cyprus or Israel could work in theory, but the prohibitively high cost of constructing them makes them a nonstarter. On a practical level, there are two real options available.

The first is to construct a 550 km submarine pipeline beginning from the Leviathan reservoir in Israeli waters, passing through Cypriot waters, and reaching southern Turkey. Israeli gas would then be shipped from southern Turkey to Europe via existing, and perhaps some newly constructed, pipeline networks. This project is estimated to cost half or possibly even less than half what EastMed would cost. But in view of the lack of resolution on the Cyprus Question, Israel is hesitant to proceed to an agreement with Turkey on this matter.

The second option is to use already existing LNG facilities in Egypt. Gas from the eastern Mediterranean could theoretically be supplied to the two Egyptian facilities in Damietta and Idku, turning Egypt back into a gas exporter. But the recent discovery of the Zohr field represents an unknown factor. It cannot be anticipated how this field will influence Egypt’s energy priorities and the balance between domestic consumption and exports. Also, neither the construction of new pipelines nor the reversal of the existing one connecting Israel to Egyptian LNG facilities would be an easy process.

If the Cyprus Question is resolved soon, the Turkish option will gain ground. But the restarted talks between Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are highly unlikely to lead to a breakthrough. In any case, Turkey will not be considered a reliable partner by Israel for as long as President Tayyip Erdoğan dominates the political sphere, despite the rapprochement achieved last summer. Israel also has reservations vis-à-vis Egypt: the growing Russian role in Egypt’s energy sector cannot be ignored.

Israel has always attached great significance to political and security parameters. If the EastMed project develops, it will certainly improve Israel’s relationship with the EU. Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete has said construction of this pipeline would contribute to the reduction of Europe’s dependency on Russian energy, a potential result also viewed with favor by the US.

The traditional division among EU member states on their view of Moscow can work in EastMed’s favor. While Germany is looking favorably towards Nord Stream II, which will complement Nord Stream I in the transporting of Russian gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea, the EU might well emphasize energy security and push (with the support of the US) for the realization of EastMed.

Israel is the driving force for energy development in the eastern Mediterranean, and its choices on this matter will have serious implications in terms of both strategic calculations and long-term economic planning. By cooperating with trustworthy democratic countries, Jerusalem will be able to mitigate the risk of instability, secure clients on the Continent, strengthen its relationship with the EU, and improve its image in Europe.

Offshore Cyprus: navigating geopolitical issues in the Levant basin

(offshore technology Jan 19, 2015)

https://www.offshore-technology.com/features/featureoffshore-cyprus-navigating-geopolitical-issues-in-the-levant-basin-4487876/

With a share of the resource rich Levant Basin, a pipeline to Europe under consideration and increased capex spend anticipated – Cyprus is an emerging offshore energy frontier worth watching. But can the island overcome local and neighbouring geopolitical tensions to reach its full offshore potential?

Cyprus, a modest Mediterranean island situated on the cusp of the East Mediterranean Sea, holds substantial offshore acreage in the Levant Basin, estimated by the US Geological Survey to contain 1.7 billion barrels of oil and 122 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas.

The island, along with Israel, which also has a share of the Levant Basin, is canvassing EU approval and part-funding for a pipeline between Cyprus and Europe through Greece and Italy. The pipeline would bring an estimated 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas from Cyprus and Israel annually to Europe. Its development could significantly boost Cyprus’s economy which has been flagging after being one of the worst hit by the 2008 financial crisis.

The Levant Basin, which contains areas belonging to Turkey, Syria, Cyprus, Palestine, Israel and Egypt, is well known for age-old geopolitical tensions that have so far marred development.

But with the Israel-Cyprus pipeline in the offing and Cyprus’s government determined to exploit its hydrocarbon resources after a second licensing round, analysts are watching the region closely to see if diplomacy can win over political wrangling.

An opportunity for a flagging economy

Speaking of the pipeline and its potential for Cyprus’s economic development Dr Rafael Leal-Arcas, reader in law at Queen Mary University of London, says the country will be ‘very happy’ if the pipeline goes ahead. "Macro-economically Cyprus is doing very badly. If suddenly they get an injection of billions of Euros that would be fantastic," he added.

A paper published by the EU commission states that the project could be under construction by 2017 and pumping gas by 2020. However, as the pipeline has yet to be approved this seems unlikely.

US-based Noble Energy, which currently dominates exploration offshore Cyprus, would stand to benefit significantly from such a pipeline. The company found gas at the Aphrodite gas field in 2011; field is estimated to have 5 Tcf of recoverable natural gas resources. Noble has also found evidence of oil and is planning further exploration.

Infield Systems Limited, published content analyst, Catarina Podevyn, says: "Noble’s strong presence offshore Cyprus is expected to continue throughout the forthcoming period with Infield Systems forecasting the operator to hold a 40% share of Cyprus’s offshore investment during the 2015-2019 timeframe."

Other firms investing offshore Cyprus are French Total and ENI of Italy. Both of which have been awarded concessions offshore Cyprus and are planning exploration drilling.

Managing director of Total exploration and production Cyprus Jean-Luc Porcheron is reported as saying "this is just the beginning of exploration in Cyprus", but warned the company wouldn’t be able to start drilling before mid-2015.

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>>8198934

Offshore Cyprus: navigating geopolitical issues in the Levant basin

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It has been reported there are also plans for a $10 billion LNG facility to be built on the island to manage the natural gas discovered. According to reports the facility would be funded by Cyprus in-conjunction with Israel, which would also use the facility. However, Israel has yet to commit fully to the project. In fact, to make such a facility financially viable more partners, such as other East Mediterranean countries, may need to contribute.

An EU commissioner is reported as saying the proposed Cyprus-Europe pipeline, which would be the longest in the world at 1,530km, could contribute to the security of the East Mediterranean region, as well as the diversification of the EU’s energy supply. Most notably it would relieve the EU’s dependence on gas from Russia. However, Leal-Arcas calls into question the economics of the pipeline.

"The question is cost / benefit analysis, is it worth billions of Euros to get gas from the Eastern Mediterranean basin?" he says. "Is there enough? I doubt this. It helps, but it is not enough and I am not sure it justifies the cost.

Cyprus-EU pipeline: the most viable scenario?

"I think they don’t realise subsea there are a lot of difficulties and the countries are very, very far from each other."

Leal-Arcas says what would make more sense is a gas pipeline from Cyprus to Turkey because the countries are very close together, and then from Turkey to the rest of the EU.

"Is this possible politically? That is another question," he adds.

Tensions have been rife between Turkey and Cyprus since 1974 when Turkey invaded Cyprus after a coup by Cypriots who wanted to join Greece. Cyprus has been ethically divided ever since.

Lecturer at the University of Nicosia, Constantinos Adamides speaking about a Cyprus Turkey pipeline told Open Democracy: "I see it being very difficult for any Greek Cypriot politician to accept some pipelines to Turkey, prior to a settlement to the conflict, even if that means losing billions of Euros."

Turkish Cypriots have also expressed their concern over who would benefit from any future revenues from offshore oil and gas.

Cyprus’s president Nicos Anastasiades has assured: "The benefits out of the exploitation of the wealth of energy is going to the interest of all the people of Cyprus whether they are Greek or Turkish Cypriots."

Adding that he is aware "protracted problems" between Turkey and Cyprus, such as Cyprus accusing Turkey of violating its maritime exclusive economic zones, have the potential to hamper further development of its hydrocarbon reserves.

He also warned that hydrocarbon riches would be for future generations and people shouldn’t have expectations of Cyprus becoming like the Arab Gulf Emirates.

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>>8198942

Offshore Cyprus: navigating geopolitical issues in the Levant basin

(continued)

Geopolitical juggling

Cyprus-Turkey communications aren’t the only strained relationships in the Levant Basin. The Palestinian Authority (PA) cautioned the EU against signing any contract for the pipeline until territorial gas disputes with neighbouring countries are resolved. The PA is referring to a long-standing maritime boundary dispute between Israel and Lebanon which covers an area of almost 850km2 around the delimitation of the tripoint area between Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel.

Cyprus has already signed agreements with Egypt, Israel and Lebanon in an attempt to clear the way for peaceful exploration of its hydrocarbons, but the Lebanese parliament, which doesn’t recognise Israel as a country, has so far failed to ratify the agreement.

It’s noted that development of the Israel-Cyprus pipeline would be a massive boost for Israel, which currently has no country locally willing to accept its energy exports.

Despite Cyprus colluding with its arch enemy, Lebanon’s government is keen to remain on friendly terms with the country, perhaps hoping it might one-day also use the Island as a route to Europe. Lebanese foreign minister, Gebran Bassil, said in November: "We have dreams to share together for a prosperous future between Lebanon and Cyprus."

In regards to Egypt-Cyprus relations, Infield Systems expect Egypt to import a large proportion of the Aphrodite field when it comes on-stream.

A time for change in the Levant Basin?

Despite the political fragility, analysts’ predictions for offshore Cyprus remain positive.

Infield Systems Limited is predicting capital expenditure offshore Cyprus to significantly increase to over $3bn in the next five years, compared to the previous five year period between 2010 and 2014, which saw Capex spend at just over $100m. Most of this will be spent on the Aphrodite field’s FLNG facility.

The analysts also anticipate substantial spend to be required by a EuroAsia Interconnector development which is expected to comprise 36% of Cyprus’s offshore spend during the 2015-2019 timeframe.

Meanwhile Cyprus’s government will wait for an EU response to the Cyprus-Europe pipeline. The pipeline would open up a huge market for Cyprus, and indeed for the whole region. Its potential development further highlights that reaching full potential will rely on co-operation with its neighbours. And the same goes for them.