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The Romanian pensioners' condition continues to be dramatic. The still very low pension benefits - in spite of the latest pension raise, by 45 per cent, operated late last year - places them in a condition of neediness, with most of the elderly living close to the poverty threshold. The causes are multiple, and rooted in the irresponsible policies of decision-makers in the '90s, when every Romanian was able to retire upon demand, due to the very lenient legislation at the time. The result was the emergence of a notable gap between the number of employees and the number of pensioners, with the latter category outnumbering the former by over two million.

The economic boom witnessed by Romania since 1999 was not followed, as would have been natural, by a consistent social policy, likely to improve living standards, particularly for the elderly, the most vulnerable population category.

Unfortunately, authorities, regardless of their political complexion, maintained a strict budgetary policy in spite of a high and sustained economic growth rate, and chose to channel financial resources to other areas. To the political class, pensioners are not a topic 'sexy' enough. Romanian politicians regard the public office not as the job of serving citizens, but rather as a means of personal promotion, to the benefit of their families and of the group they are part of. Obviously, it is a lot easier and exciting to rise to prominence by fabricating an image, than by implementing projects with an impact on people's daily lives. Unfortunately, this holds true not only in politics; the image devoid of contents also explains the success of PR companies, of image councillors and of campaign strategists, who first find an image and then put together a tale that suits it. The project is overlooked, when packed in tends of boxes of various colours, shapes and sizes…

But as if miraculously, every four years our dressed-up politicians, some of them wearing a bow-tie, others red ties - some of them even apologising for being intellectuals (sic!) - remember that Romania is not all about elegant meeting rooms or television sets, and they look down there, to the common people in need.

It is unacceptable for someone who has worked a lifetime and contributed to social security budgets for decades to be reduced to poverty, to be discriminated against, on grounds of their living standards, for which they are not responsible, as it is the fault of those who pursued other goals, chiefly their personal gains. Pensioners nowadays are subject to discrimination, because they don't have the money to bribe Pension Agency personnel, the family doctor, the hospital personnel, they don't have equal access to the judiciary - as taxes and fees charged in the judicial system are disproportionate compared to a pensioner's incomes - in short, they are subject to discrimination in all public services where bribe still makes the difference.

It is customary in hospitals, and those who have elderly people in their family are painfully aware of it, for older people not to be paid the same amount of attention and care as employees are; older patients are hardly noticed, they are forgotten in wards, with hopes that they either get well on their own, or die and then one more problem is solved. Cynicism? No. Cristi Puiu's "Death of Mr. Lazarescu" is by no means a fiction movie. It has happened in Romania, even recently, for older patients to be abandoned by the ambulance at the gates of hospitals which would not take them in, or even in the street, on the pavement or on some bench… The lack of compassion and civil solidarity in Romania has reached catastrophic proportions, one of the causes being the poverty and consequently, the lack of education. I don't believe anyone wonders today why many Romanians continue to get employed abroad, leaving behind tormented children and families.

Why it is that today, when companies are forced to import labour, Romania can't secure its own citizens' right to a decent life? The problem is that policymakers have proved they don't know or don't want to create policies targeted at the priorities of this country. One of the most severe deficiencies is registered in the healthcare sector, where access to medical services is increasingly difficult and conditional on patients' financial status. The population of Romania dropped by 1.5 million since the early '90s and there are no signs that this trend will be reversed. Again, there are no government policies to tackle the issue. Another major crisis is that in the education system, with children's access to education also conditional on the wealth of their families.

Romania builds a Cathedral on public funds, which will cost taxpayers EUR 1 bln, whereas the social security budget is set to witness a EUR 2 bln deficit in 2009. This doesn't prevent the president of the Social-Democrat Party to propose the payment of a 13th pension benefit…for Easter, and a pension raise as of June 1, coincidentally, the very day of local elections…

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Labour Minister Paul Pacuraru has recently complained that the social security budget will register a major deficit this very year. The Liberal Minister's concerns seemed sincere, but he tied it to the pension raise topic, as if this was the cause of the deficit. On the other hand, the Cabinet has recently raised the salaries of all priests in Romania, obviously along the salaries of all other public dignity holders, from the President to the MPs. Debates about the electoral manipulation of the pensioners have been quite frequent lately.

What about priests? They are permitted to run for public office, but this is not all. They are able to influence their congregation's votes in favour of one party or another, because as we well know, in rural communities the local priest is the law. Tale-telling in this respect is a parish priest who made his "abilities" available to the political parties and candidates which volunteered to build a parish house next to his church…

Romania is a secular republic, but no one in the country seems to be bothered with having priests paid from public money, money contributed by taxpayers other than Christian Orthodox as well, while the Orthodox Church has the largest wealth in the country - put by Business Standard to over EUR 3 bln…

On the other hand, we spend millions of EUR on international conferences and summits to "promote the image of Romania abroad." But the image is built in the country, of the day-to-day life of its citizens. Poverty and filth cannot be washed away with a summit and a handful of flowers planted here and there. There are no miraculous cures to the serious problems that have accrued over decades. These require not only sustainable projects, but also the genuine political will to change things. As long as this is not on the agenda of Romanian politicians, the international conferences and summit meetings, 'sexy' as they may be, will remain mere oases in a desert of chaos and poverty, eccentricities worthy of an autocratic Third World state.