The European Parliament debated in Strasbourg the political situation of Romania. In a letter, former president Emil Constantinescu informs the head of the EP that “Basescu’s mandate is illegitimate.”
The Romanian MEPs of PSD, PDL, PNL and UDMR yesterday attended a debate in the European Parliament (EP) dedicated to the political situation of Romania. First, the MEPs were briefed on the European Commission’s position by Viviane Reding, the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, which represented the EC along with the presidency of the EU Council. Before delivering her address Reding received a letter from the USL members of the EP, in which they made a list of 10 “major irregularities” committed in Romania while PDL held the power, which remained unsanctioned by the European Commissioner for Justice.As expected Commissioner’s Reding speech stirred debates pro and cons and lively debates. President of the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Hannes Swoboda replied to some MEPs that they are misinformed and see the evolutions in Romania from only one side. PDL was represented in the debates by Monica Macovei and Cristian Preda, PSD by Catalin Ivan, Corina Cretu and Ioan Enciu, and PNL by Norica Nicolai. The two MEPs of UDMR, Iuliu Winkler and Sogor Csaba, were expected to participate with a written statement.“During the whole summer, international press discussed about Romania; there were statements by European officials. It is natural for the European Parliament to debate the issues that concerned the international public, member states and the European Commission. The European Parliament is the institutional framework in which European political events are debated,” PDL MEP Cristian Preda said.He reminded that the PDL delegation requested on July 2 a debate in the EP about the situation in Romania after the Victor Ponta government took the power, but the colleagues of PSD and PNL then convinced the political groups of S&D and ALDE that such a debate was not necessary. Preda voiced his surprise at PM Victor Ponta’s decision not to speak in the plenum of the EP, something Hungarian PM Viktor Orban did at the beginning of the year, when the political and constitutional situation of Budapest was debated by the Strasbourg Parliament.On the other hand, PSD MEP Catalin Ivan said that the debate by the EP represents a good opportunity to ask Commissioner Reding ”what she means by coup d’etat and parliamentary putsch,” as the Constitutional Court of Romania decided that all the political initiatives taken over the last two months were constitutional, and the referendum took place in legal conditions.He mentioned that it is very important to learn why a high official of the EC takes attitude concerning a member state, without having an institutional communication with the authorities of the respective state, adding that Reding clearly behaved like a party activist, a member of PDL that grants unconditional support to Traian Basescu, instead of acting like a high European official, and her statements regarding the coup going on in Romania dealt a serious blow to Romania’s image, with political and economic effects.
Constantinescu to Schultz: “Basescu’s mandate is illegitimate”
Former President Emil Constantinescu sent a letter to EP President Martin Schulz, in which he accuses the pressure put by EC President Jose Manuel Barroso and Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding for infringing the sovereignty of Romania.
(…) I feel forced to intervene, because for the last two months my country was subject to pressure unacceptable for a member of the EU, which was put by the European Commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding and the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso. The pressure upon the Parliament, Government and interim president of Romania, which acted in the letter and spirit of the Romanian Constitution are not justified by any article of the European Constitution or other regulations, and represent an abuse that creates a very dangerous precedent of infringing the sovereignty of a EU member state. This pressure was the consequence of totally unreal accusations that are contradicted by any correct and unbiased analysis of events and documents,” Constantinescu wrote in his letter. “What the commissioner for Justice and the president of the European Commission ignore is the fact that the current mandate of the president of Romania is illegitimate. (…) The 7.4 million citizens, an overwhelming majority of 87 pc of those who voted, pronounced to impeach the president,” Constantinescu adds.
