The referendum in Romania has brought some respite from the political crisis, but temporarily.

The political crisis in Romania is refusing to abate even after President Traian Basescu survived a referendum to remove him from office, raising fears of an extended period of political instability in the country. While the referendum outcome has removed some uncertainty, the problem arises from having a deeply unpopular president who is at loggerheads with the prime minister who tried to remove him. The president can throw obstacles in the way of the prime minister, and the latter can retaliate in his own way.

The referendum results show that President Basescu had held on to power after the turnout, (which was 46.23 percent) failed to meet the minimum threshold of 50 percent of registered voters. In a sense, there is no winner in the vote. Although Prime Minister Victor Ponta had failed in his efforts to oust president, the results also exposed the deep unpopularity of the president.

The political upheaval in Romania began when Ponta became the prime minister on May 7 following the collapse of two pro-Basescu governments. Ponta’s government quickly moved to remove both speakers of Parliament and replace them with politicians from the governing coalition. Parliament then suspended Basescu himself. Observers say Ponta is using the same strong tactics seen during communism. After the referendum, the premier insisted he would not seek further conflicts with the president but the chances of the two adhering to a truce until parliamentary elections in November look very slim.

Romania’s troubles have a wider impact. It has brought into focus concerns about the shaky condition of democracy across Eastern Europe, in countries like Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia which are trying to join the European mainstream. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been criticised severely for allegedly circumventing democratic principles. The EU is concerned about corruption in Bulgaria and a few days ago called on the country’s government to speed up efforts to root out this malaise and also organized crime. In Serbia, the appointment of the wartime spokesman of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic as prime minister has caused concerns about the health of democracy in the country.

However, the crisis in Romania is unlikely to worsen because the European Union is keeping a close watch over the developments in the country. The EU must learn its lessons from Romania. Some are thinking whether Romania and some former Communist neighbours were inducted too early to the EU.

One thing it can do is to monitor more closely the progress on democratic and judicial reforms of new members of the bloc. It will have a tough job doing so, because the new members will take time to conform to the high democratic standards of the bloc.