Romania’s minister delegate for European Affairs to take over as interim justice minister

Ana Birchall, the minister delegate for European Affairs, will take over as interim justice minister if President Klaus Iohannis accepts Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu’s proposal in this sense. The PM made this proposal after Florin Iordache decided to resign from the position of justice minister on Thursday, February 9, following massive street protests. “I will do everything in my power to fulfill this mandate with professionalism, seriousness and balance. I wish that, together with the institutions that have roles and responsibilities in this area, with representatives of the civil society and the media, and through a transparent dialogue with our foreign partners, to be able to ensure the good course of justice, as a fundamental premise of a consolidated democracy,” Ana Birchall declared after the nomination was announced. Birchall took over as delegate minister for European Affairs on January 4 this year. At the December 2016 elections, she won a second term as deputy representing Vaslui county, thus continuing the parliamentary work started in 2012. Between February 2015 and December 2016, Birchall served as chairman of the European Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. Before that, in 2014, she was appointed High Representative of the Prime Minister for European Affairs and the partnership with the United States, while in 2012 she was the Prime Minister’s adviser. Ana Birchall is a member of the Bucharest Bar Association, of the Executive Committee of the Yale Law School Association, Yale Law School, and Ambassador of prestigious NGO Vital Voices, the Policy Network in the UK, and Terra Nova in France. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Gov.ro)