New Interior Minister: I ask that no Romanians are beaten by gendarmes as long as they obey the law

The new Interior minister Nicolae Moga has stated in a press conference on Thursday that the August 10 protest meeting “had been an unfortunate event” when “things were combined”.

“August 10 was an unfortunate event. Things were mix up there. I ask that no Romanian citizen is beaten by gendarmes as long as they obey the law. But no gendarme should be beaten either by any malevolent citizen. We must understand which system we enforce as public order. Do we like the EU system, like enforced in France, Germany? Then, we’ll do where things are done up there. For now, we have some rules that we must strictly comply with,” Moga said.

He also revealed he did not want to take this position as Interior minister, saying it’s a political office in a militarised structure. “I honestly tell you I did not want to take this position, but if it was meant to be, let’s get to work then”.

The new minister also argued he is no “Messiah” who will solve problems in the Interior Ministry.

“I guarantee you that I will do my best to know things in detail, to solve as many problems as possible. I will respect all from the cleaning lady to any general, as long as they don’t lie and do their work,” Moga pointed out.

However, although in the morning he said the Diaspora rally last summer in August had been “an unfortunate event”, the Interior minister seemed to have also embraced the theory adopted by former PSD chair Liviu Dragnea and by most of the party members, even by PM Dancila, that the rally had been “a coup d’etat attempt”.

While visiting the Gendarmerie on Thursday afternoon, Nicolae Moga said: “Any institution is protected by the law, particularly the Romanian Government, it is a fundamental institution of the Romanian state. Who will ever dare to force the entrance or have any impure thought, it means it can also be a coup d’etat attempt”, Moga told the gendarmes.

Moga took oath as Interior minister on Wednesday, after President Iohannis had signed the decree dismissing Carmen Dan and appointing him in office.