#EuropeanParliament2019 Tariceanu: Interest for EP, not at desired level, debate monopolised by internal topics

Chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE, junior coalition partner) Calin Popescu Tariceanu told a press conference held Thursday in Satu Mare that interest in the elections to the European Parliament is not at the level he would like it to be at, and the public debate is monopolized by internal topics. "There will be important stakes in the future European Parliament, important decisions will be made and will have consequences for Romania and the lives of citizens. I think interest for the European Parliament is not one at the level we would like it to be at, because unfortunately, the public debate is still monopolized by internal topics, not to say permanent internal scandals, and obviously the referendum also comes in to ruin this debate which seemed to me more necessary on important topics," Tariceanu said. He went on to explain that the important stakes are getting more funds for Romanian farmers, given that the Union's agriculture budget will be reduced, eliminating the gaps between countries with respect to the double standard. At the same time, ALDE Secretary General Daniel Chitoiu pointed out that opposition parties are debating other topics, such as corruption. "The opposition parties, both PNL [National Liberal Party, ed.n.] and USR - PLUS [ Save Romania Union - Party of Liberty, Unity, and Solidarity, ed.n.] have brought into debate other topics than the European ones, namely the topic of corruption and the referendum on corruption. We know very well that these topics have only been introduced with a view to grabbing extra votes at these elections. Instead of debating what each political group in Romania will be doing in the European Parliament, how it will position itself in relation to the great themes, those in the Opposition have only one slogan and do not come up with solutions either for Europe or for Romania," Daniel Chitoiu also said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Gheorghe Pietrar, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Bogdan Gabaroi)