All horn, little traction (III): A political minister, an unchanged ministry

Romania’s Foreign Ministry has reached a level of deterioration that the writer says it has never experienced before. The criticism covers coordination, internal rules, staff motivation and the institution’s basic functioning.

The commentary attributes the current condition to problems accumulated over time, including regulations, attitudes, habits, institutional practices and issues left unresolved. Ministry employees, it says, are acutely aware of the situation.

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Reforms for the sake of reforms must never be carried out.

The writer had hoped that a minister from outside the ministry’s bureaucracy could bring a plan, a basis for change and a clear vision. Instead, the minister is criticized for failing to meet the leadership team and for showing distrust toward the institution’s own apparatus.

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It cannot be done.

The piece argues that meaningful reform would require a detailed understanding of the ministry, active dialogue with its staff, a team-based plan and the delegation of authority. It acknowledges several measures, including competitions organized by the ministry, changes to admission rules, reviews of secondments, an assessment of state property and the declassification of diplomatic files.

But the writer says these changes served press statements more than the ministry itself. The political message surrounding seconded staff, portrayed by some as party appointees or people with connections, is also criticized as louder than the practical work of reform. The author notes that such cases may have existed, but argues that political will can overcome the bureaucracy’s familiar claims that something cannot be done or that the timing is wrong.

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This is not the right time.