Debate in the European Parliament on the situation in Romania

17.20 Time: Socialist MEP Corina Cretu to the Commissioner for Justice: The double measure that you apply is so obvious.

17.24 am: EPP member, Jacek Protasiewicz said that he is amazed by Mr. Watson`s speech, one of the leading Liberal Democrats, who says that the majority has the right to impose a dictatorship and decide which is the truth.

"The basis of the liberal democracy is that minority rights must be protected, and now, the Romanian majority is disposing of the Ombudsman, is questioning the work of the Constitutional Court and wants to dismiss the president.

"They do not have the right to do so because they are a majority, they have the right to do so because they are right, if they're right. You can not compare the situation in Romania with the one from Hungary. In Hungary, right caused great damage to democracy.

"Fidesz had a two-thirds majority in Hungary and thus it could change the constitution. The difference is enormous between a majority of two thirds and 50% in the referendum's .We are not talking here about a Romanian exception.

"The referendum is also validated in Poland only by a turnout of 50% of citizens. These are the circumstances. Whether we defend these rights or we decide that the winner takes it all," said Jacek Protasiewicz.

17.20 am: Socialist MEP Corina Cretu said in the European Parliament that the EC was a political ally of President Traian Basescu and not the position of referee.

"I have not seen Mrs. Reding`s position for Hungary. You've ignored PDL government abuses for years.

"The double extent that you apply to the political forces in Romania is so obvious that it is not surprising that Romanians' trust in the EU fell by 10% in last two months," said Corina Cretu.

17.14 am: Monica Macovei responds to Victor Boştinaru.

"The figure of 1.5 million is from the press and the figure of up to 15% fraud is from the chief prosecutor statements," said Monica Macovei.

17.13 am: MEP PSD, Victor Boştinaru said that Macovei`s statements containing confidential data are showing a hallucinating intervention of an MEP in the affairs of justice.

"I ask lady member Macovei how does she knows these data, as these are cases under investigation," said Victor Boştinaru.

17.10: PDL MEP Monica Macovei said in her speech that what happened in Romania was to stop the investigations made ​​by prosecutors.

"At this point, the prosecutors are investigating the fraud to referendum. There are over 500 cases. There are allegations about 1.5 million stolen votes, and, according to the statements of the chief prosecutor of DNA, fraud was found in the referendum for up to 15 per cent of the votes.

"We have to complete these cases, we must maintain these prosecutors because they want to get rid of them. Rigging a vote is the worst form of corruption because it is against the people," said Monica Macovei.

16.50: Liberal MEP Norica Nicolai: Can Viviane Reding say what constitutional procedures were violated in suspension?

16.35 am: Greens Co-President Rebecca Harms said that Romania and Hungary are countries that are maybe still in transition from communism to European democracy.

"I share this view, but I think that Mr. Ponta is an actor who fails to do so, because the comparison between the situation in Hungary and Romania is based in fact on a political majority," said Rebecca Harms.

Greens Co-President claimed that she is ashamed when the great political families are trying to support their members in different situations, because in this way the rule of law could be jeopardized.

"But it would have been nice to see Ms. Reding acting in the same way regarding Hungary," said Rebecca Harms.

16.32 am: The leader of the liberal group from the European Parliament, Graham Watson, said in the plenary that Romania offers an example of the difficulties encountered in the transition from communism.

He added that in Romania it was not a coup as alleged and that a parliament elected by a majority chose to suspend a president, who in his opinion had abused his powers.

Graham Watson said that the best thing for Romania would be new elections, both parliamentary and presidential.

"The best thing for Romania would be new elections, both parliamentary and presidential and afterwards an agreement between all parties to establish some ground rules about the behavior in a democracy.

"The EU, and commissioner Reding could reflect about the advantages of a parliamentary system and not a presidential one," said the leader of the liberal group from the European Parliament.

16.25 am: The socialist leader from the European Parliament, Hannes Svoboda, criticized the position of Manfred Weber and of EPP leader Joseph Daul, whom he accused of taking the side of President Traian Basescu, without taking into account the opinion of the Romanian people.

Hannes Svoboda argued that the declaration of a parliamentary coup is a contradiction in itself.

"This is not about a coup, because there are situations in which a President could be suspended by the decision of Parliament without a referendum. Now they held a referendum and you know very well that Basescu knew what to expect, therefore, he insisted on introducing the quorum of 50 per cent. I am against this situation, but Ponta actually respected his promise, to comply the quorum.

"To talk about a coup under these conditions seems totally unfair. Why didn`t we responded to Basescu deeds months before?

"Back then the Commission was silent and now the say that we are dealing with a scandal. This is not a reflection of objectivity and I ask you to act objectively. And another thing, this is very interesting: Mr. Basescu was elected by 5 .3 million people.

"Now, 7.4 million were for suspending him, so they rejected him. This can tell us something about how popular or unpopular is a president. And the boycott that he promoted regarding the non-participation in the referendum speaks again for itself. Therefore, that man, in fact, did not assumed his tasks as a president, "said the leader of the socialists from the European Parliament.

16.15: Addressing the European Parliament plenary, Vice President of the European Commission Viviane Reding said that the situation in Romania remains fragile and she expressed the hope that all Romanian political actors will irreversibly respect the rule of law and judicial independence.

The Commission has prepared a report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, which makes a critical assessment of Romania, said Viviane Reding.

The European Parliament discussed in Strasbourg the political situation in Romania, including the 29 of July referendum for suspending President Traian Basescu.


Translated by Mariana Rotărescu