The European Commission has denied the fake news spread by George Simion, who said that the European Union had cut European funds for Romania. No such decision was made, the European Commission stated in a response to Digi24.
George Simion wrote a post on Thursday, in which he said that he is in Brussels and that he will focus on restarting the talks, after, due to the fault of unserious governments, EcoFin will stop our EU funds in June.
“Today I am in Brussels. Due to the fault of unserious governments, EcoFin will stop our EU funds in June. Today my focus will be on restarting discussions so that this unfair decision does not apply! We are fighting for Romania”, Simion wrote in a Facebook post.
Shortly after Simion’s post, the European Commission reacted and sent a clarification to Digi24 that no decision to suspend European funds in the case of Romania has been made.
The next meeting of the EcoFin council, to which the Romanian Minister of Finance will attend, will take place on June 4.
Within the council, the European Commission can propose the suspension of European funds for Romania, but only if it is found that we have not made efforts to improve the budgetary situation.
An analysis will be made – whether or not Romania respected the fiscal plan assumed last year, whether we collected what we promised and whether we took additional measures to improve the budget deficit by the end of the year.
In his turn, Romanian Finance Minister Tanczos Barna said on Thursday that Romania does not need a lying president and that George Simion lied to Romanians by saying that European funds for Romania would be suspended in June, just as he lied to them when he promised them houses for 35,000 euros.
The minister said that he was at Ecofin two days ago and there he was confirmed that Romania will receive the third installment of the PNRR, on June 10, 1.3 billion euros.
“Romania does not need a lying president. George Simion lied to Romanians today, saying that European funds for Romania will be suspended in June. He lied to Romanians, just as he lied to them when he promised them houses for 35,000 euros. And when he was caught lying, he said it was just political marketing. That’s what will happen now. George Simion is lying to Romanians and disrupting the economic environment,” says Minister Tanczos Barna in a video message on Facebook.
Tanczos Barna points out that, unlike George Simion, he was at Ecofin two days ago and there it was confirmed that Romania will receive the third payment tranche from the PNRR, on June 10, 1.3 billion euros.
“As for the suspension of funds, they always depend on Romania’s commitments to the Commission. They depend on reforms, they depend on the fiscal reform, for example, which must be delivered by a responsible government, by a responsible Parliament. All parliamentary parties know that Romania needs a fiscal reform in the near future and this must be debated, approved and delivered to the European Commission, to show that we are a credible, serious partner,” the Minister of Finance mentioned.
According to him, a possible suspension of European funds in any member state is a very long procedure and Romania will certainly not end up in such a situation.
“We all have a huge responsibility. We have to stop the lie, we have to stop the disinformation and we have to stop the Simion effect. We saw what the Georgescu effect means in Romania in December, we saw a week ago what the Simion effect means, how the exchange rate increased and how interest rates increased in Romania. We have to stop the lie, we have to stop Simion. On May 18, we all have this responsibility. Stop Simion, stop the lie, stop the economic disaster!”, Minister Tanczos Barna also said.
Nicuşor Dan: My opponent lies like a Russian newspaper
Independent opponent Nicuşor Dan also reacted to this statement and accused Simion of “lying like a Russian newspaper” and that there is no decision or procedure to suspend European funds for Romania.
“My opponent lies like a Russian newspaper. There is no decision or procedure to suspend European funds for Romania, from which he is “saving” us today from Brussels, where he fled the debate with me,” replied Nicuşor Dan, also on Facebook.
“A new completely irresponsible statement after the one regarding Visa Waiver, or that of his colleague from AUR, about the nationalization of the houses of Romanians in the diaspora. We are witnessing a new hoax after the one with the 35,000 euro houses, the “second round back”, the reduction of 500 thousand people in the budget staff and many others,” Nicuşor Dan also writes.