Romanian president receives Germany’s former chancellor Angela Merkel
Romanian president Nicușor Dan announced on Tuesday, September 1, that he received former German chancellor Angela Merkel at the presidential offices in Cotroceni Palace, Bucharest. The two discussed the international political and security situation, as well as strengthening the European Union and European defence, according to a post by Dan on X.
The Romanian official described the meeting as fruitful, highlighting the former chancellor's political experience.
“It was very insightful to hear Dr. Merkel's opinions, based on her far-reaching political experience. We focused on the constructive role a more united EU can play in international affairs, as well as what Romania and Germany can do together to foster more European cohesion and a stronger stance on defence, with more responsibility taken on by Europeans within NATO,” he said.
On the same day, Merkel launched her book “Freedom. Memories 1954 - 2021” at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. During the event, she said that Romania has achieved a lot in recent decades, expressing her confidence that a compromise leading to the formation of a government can be found.
Romania has been without a full-fledged government since this May, when the Social Democrats (PSD) and the far-right Alliance for the Unions of Romanians (AUR) joined together to bring down the Liberal-led Ilie Bolojan government.
“I wish you to have an elected prime minister again. I can only say that something is happening in our societies in general and through social and digital media, namely that the value of compromise is increasingly under pressure. There is no region, no party or any government that has an absolute majority. And within the party there are all kinds of different ideas and factions, if you are not willing to compromise,” Merkel said in a public dialogue with Romanian diplomat Emil Hurezeanu.
Merkel recounted some of her decisions as chancellor, as well as the challenges she had to face. “We had to reform the healthcare system, the tax system, pensions and, at the same time, I had voters whom I wanted to satisfy, whom I wanted to please. So there was always the pressure to say that we cannot make this reform, that one is too fast; you also had populist parties that criticize whatever you do anyway and which do not have to provide arguments,” she said, cited by Digi24.
“The middle of society, the center of society, has to be strong enough to go through this difficult path of finding a compromise. (...) And whoever gets angry every day ‘will not achieve good results’,” the former chancellor explained, according to the official translation.
Merkel finally said that “elections are the result of citizens’ thoughts. They do not just come out of nowhere. And Romania has achieved a lot in recent decades. Maybe not everything at the desired speed, but some problems need to be addressed, and we need people who are willing to compromise.”
(Photo source: Nicusor Dan on X)
