Senate's Tariceanu retorts to former PM Ciolos: No light from anyone, we must understand Romania's legitimate interest

Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu considers that Romanians do not have to "take light from anybody", but must understand what Romania's "legitimate interest" is and how to pursue it with courage and dignity. 

"Dacian Ciolos was rhetorically asking me: 'Where do you suggest we take light from?', proving that unfortunately, he still hasn't overcome the mentality of those who were talking about 'sparklers'...big and small. The answer is easy: from nobody, but we must understand which is Romania's legitimate interest and how we can follow it with dignity and courage. Imagine what would have happened had President Emmanuel Macron or Chancellor Angela Merkel thought in similar terms of 'who to take light from'. They didn't and that is why France or Germany have recently backtracked on their concerns regarding the decision announced by President Trump in relation to Iran's issue," Tariceanu said on Friday in a post on his social media page. 

The founder chairman of the 'Romania Together Movement' / 'Miscarea Romania Impreuna', former European Commissioner for Agriculture and former Prime minister Dacian Ciolos stated on Wednesday that Romania should choose the European values, the rule of law, democracy and not 'authoritarianism, propaganda and the little green people' and demanded that Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu propose 'where we should take the light from' if it is not mandatory to take it from Brussels. 

"Irked by the proposal forwarded by the European Commission which wants to condition the grant of European funds on the observance of the rule of law, Mr. Tariceanu, second person in the state, says it is not mandatory to take the light from Brussels. In 1945, freshly returned from Moscow in an impetus of political opportunism, [writer, ed. n.] Mihail Sadoveanu was organizing at Bucharest downtown Dalles Hall a conference titled 'Light is coming from the East'. And you, Mr. Tariceanu, where do you propose that we take the light from? Are you bothered by the preoccupation for the observance of the rule of law?" Dacian Ciolos wrote on Wednesday night on his Facebook page. 

Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu says that the European Commission's proposal to 'restrict access to European funds' for the member states that violate the rule of law is controversial within the Union, because 'there is no connection to be made' between the funds and the rule of law, Romania never having been charged 'officially' by the EU with not observing rule of law regulations. He maintained that the "European Commission is a tool meant to help us to harmonise our viewpoints, but not the one from which we should take light in any regard."