EC official Cristea: I'm worried fault lines in Romanian society seem to be getting deeper

Angela Cristea, head of the European Commission Representation in Romania, said on Tuesday that she is worried that "the fault line in the Romanian society" seems to be "getting even deeper."

"We do not live the simplest, the easiest of times, and what is worrying me is that it seems that this fault line in Romanian society is getting deeper. There is a tendency to see things in black and white - we and the others, ours and theirs. That is all the sadder as we are in the Centennial Year, in which all the calls - and I have noticed this in the debates at the highest level in Romania in December and January - all the calls were for unity: 'Let us work together and enjoy the achievement of 100 years of independence for Romania together,'' said Cristea.

She attended on Tuesday a debate called "12 years in the EU. Evolution or involution?" organised by the Romanian Academic Society (SAR), on the release of SAR's Annual Analysis and Forecasting - Romania 2018.

"I wish that this report (...) contributes to a more unbiased debate, because we can have different opinions and still work together. I deeply believe in this principle and that is what we are doing here, at the European Commission Representation, even when we are sometimes attacked because we do not share the same opinion with a certain political movement, for example. We keep calm and stick to our conviction that we can, that we want and that we have to work together even when we have different opinions,' said Cristea.

In her opinion, this is "the only chance not just for Romania, but also for Europe".

"Europe is not at its best. It is faring better than it was a few years ago, but we still have many, unfinished items on the European agenda, and last but not least, there is the theme of redefining the future of a European Union which the UK has decided to leave. To build something together, it is very important for us to pull in the same direction and find that direction," said Cristea. AGERPRES (RO - author: Madalina Cerban, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)