The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies meet on Tuesday in a solemn joint plenary session dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Romania’s accession to NATO and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the North Atlantic Alliance. Lawmakers are to adopt a statement reaffirming “the attachment to NATO’s principles, values and goals.”
President Klaus Iohannis, the speakers of the two Chambers, Liviu Dragnea and Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, and Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă are attending the session.
The meeting takes place in a tense climate, amid the President’s constant criticism of the PSD governance, and one day after announcing that he wants to consult Parliament for a referendum, warning the Government not to adopt emergency ordinances on justice.
As expected, President Iohannis’ speech was a new attack against the PSD ruling and the intentions to amend the justice laws.
From the Parliament tribune, the Romanian president stated that the PSD ruling is not up to the moment and is weakening the rule of law through the actions it had taken on judiciary.
“The unprecedented attack in the past 30 years of the PSD majority against the rule of law risks weakening our country’s statute within the North Atlantic Alliance and EU. Amending the laws in favour of certain people, demagogy, the attack against the economic stability, the inflation rise and currency devaluation, the lack of professionalism, these are the real policies of the PSD ruling,” Iohannis said, amid the coalition MPs booing and the Opposition’s cheering.
„The lack of respect showed by PSD to the Army has reached its peak with the action in court against the decree extending the mandate of the Chief of Staff. The court has overruled this unfounded action, which put the Romanian Army in a delicate situation for strictly partisan reasons.
If we also add the inability to modernize the legislation on the national security we have only a few aspects proving PSD’s incompetence and a deep misunderstanding of what means to lead a state where citizens are truly protected.
As President, I have the responsibility of watching over the proper functioning of the public authorities. It is my constitutional duty to warn that a good governance, a correct and honest ruling also represents a guarantee of safety for Romania, while a failed ruling represents a risk for our country,” Iohannis pointed out.
The head of state stressed that Romania will continue to be a reliable ally of NATO.
„Romania will continue to be a reliable ally of NATO and a security and stability pillar in the Black Sea region, so that Romanian citizens could be safe. Romania’s profile within the Alliance should be as visible and as enhanced as possible”, he concluded.
Dancila’s, Dragnea’s retorts
President Klaus Iohannis was welcomed in Parliament for the solemn session by the Liberal leaders, and not by the speakers of the two chambers, Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu.
PM Viorica Dancila says she regrets this moment marking 15 years since Romania joined NATO has turned into an electoral campaign moment by Klaus Iohannis.
„I regret the Romania’s President has turned this important event into an electoral campaign one. I apologize, in my capacity of prime minister, to all those who ex
In his turn, Chamber speaker, Liviu Dragnea, also PSD chairman, argued there should be topics to represent common goals for politicians, regardless of the party. Dragnea also revealed he wanted to propose a pact to President Iohannis, but that he changed his mind after the president’s speech.
„The 2 pc allotment for defence cannot be optional nor negotiable. We entered the third year wen the PSD-ALDE ruling has allotted 2% of the GDP for defence. What has done this permanently attacked government? It increased the military’s salaries. It would have been useful that all parties assumed this goal. I saw parties that started deviating from this goal. I would have wanted to propose the President this topic, but after his speech I realised it is an useless action,” Dragnea argued,a dding that more answers to Iohannis’ statements will be given in the upcoming days.
The MPs are expected to adopt a statement signed by Senate Speaker, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea.
The declaration to be adopted by Parliament reaffirms its attachment to NATO’s principles, values and goals, and firmly supports a strong alliance and the strengthening of the transatlantic relationship, indispensable for Euro-Atlantic security.
- Supports the continued strengthening of NATO’s capacity to effectively manage all challenges and threats against the Member States, regardless of their area of origin, within a comprehensive approach.
- Welcomes the notable progress in ensuring a credible, effective and consistent deterrent and defense post, and highlights the importance of allied advanced presence on the eastern flank.
- Emphasizes the implications of the developments in the eastern neighborhood of the European continent for the entire Euro-Atlantic security and, more specifically, the strategic importance of the wider Black Sea region and the strengthening of NATO’s role in this region.
- Expresses concern about the diversification and intensification of security threats against the allies, and supports NATO’s anti-missile, cyber defence and the fighting efforts against hybrid threats.
- Stresses the importance of continuing NATO’s ‘open doors’ policy and welcomes the accession of Montenegro and the Republic of Northern Macedonia to NATO.
- Supports the strengthening of the Alliance’s partnership policy on the basis of shared values and respect for international law and its commitments, in order to promote stability, as well as support for the growth of the defence capacities.
- Reaffirms support for the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Georgia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, the firm support for the territorial integrity of these states within internationally recognized borders, and for the deepening of their practical cooperation with NATO, based on their specific interests and needs.
- Underlines the unique importance of NATO-EU cooperation and the need to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two organizations.
- Recognizes that collective defence begins with national defence and resilience and will continue to provide 2% of GDP for defense, in line with commitments. Romania will continue to contribute to maintaining the Alliance’s credibility and capacity to action, as well as regional and international security.
Romania was invited to join the North Atlantic Alliance at the NATO Summit in Prague in 2002. At that time, the Allies launched invitations to seven countries – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
On March 29, 2004, Romania has officially joined NATO by depositing its ratification instruments with the US State Department, the depositary state of the North Atlantic Treaty. The filing of ratification instruments was followed, on April 2, 2004, by the ceremony of officially hoisting the Romanian flag at NATO headquarters.