“Europe made a mistake by abandoning nuclear power,” said Nicusor Dan during a speech on Saturday, May 9th.
A few days after the Romanian Parliament censured the current government, plunging the country into an unprecedented political crisis following the toxic alliance between the socialists (PSD) and the far right (AUR), the presidential administration decided to cancel the official reception held every year on Europe Day.
Instead, President Nicusor Dan delivered a brief speech on May 9th, in which he emphasized that “for Romania, these 20 years of EU membership have meant modernization and above all, improvement in the standard of living. The average salary has tripled and now reaches 80% of the EU average.”
Simplistic Discourse
In his speech, Nicusor Dan criticized simplistic discourses about the European Union and stated that the debate on Romania’s European future is often replaced by “slogans” instead of genuine discussions on the country’s interests within the EU.
The Romanian president then declared that “Europe made a mistake by abandoning nuclear power and relying on cheap Russian gas for its energy supply, neglecting its defense industry, and setting overly ambitious goals within a justified environmental policy that have harmed heavy industry.”
The accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union remains one of Romania’s important goals, as well as the partnership with the United States. “Europe and Romania need the European Union to maintain a fair, strong, and equitable partnership with the United States,” Nicusor Dan stated.
