President Nicușor Dan: Europe has made mistakes. Energy, defence & some ideologically-driven topics

Full speech (official version in Romanian, translation with deepl, as supervised by human editors)

Today we celebrate Europe Day, and tomorrow Independence Day. These are two interconnected moments, both tied to Romania’s Western destiny. And at times like these, it is helpful to step back a little from the logic of the moment and take a broader, long-term view of Romania’s recent history.

The EU has meant peace in Europe 

The European Union has meant, first and foremost, peace in Europe, and peace brings prosperity, and peace is not a given, as we see in the war unfolding right next to us.

For Romania, 20 years in the European Union have meant modernization and, above all, a rise in the standard of living.

The average wage has tripled in Romania 

The average wage has tripled and now stands at 80% of the average wage in the European Union. It is true that, in Romania, the gap between high and low wages is wider than in other parts of Europe. It is also true that there is corruption that defies Romanians, and especially those with low incomes.

However, if we take stock after 20 years, Romanians are far better off than they were 20 years ago. Some figures about Romania in the European Union. Over these 20 years, Romania has paid 36 billion euros and received 110 billion, resulting in a net gain of 74 billion euros for Romania during this period. Of this amount, 45 billion went toward agriculture and the development of Romanian villages.

We have 4,000 kilometers of roads that have been built or modernized with European funds. We have hundreds of millions of euros that have gone toward symbols of Romanian identity - churches, monasteries, fortresses, castles, Sarmizegetusa, museums - all of this with European funds. I believe that, right at this moment, on Europe Day, we need to talk about Europe in a way that goes beyond slogans, to move away from the mindset where, instead of debate, we have slogans, because, unfortunately, Europe is a topic that divides our society and, as I said, instead of debate, we have slogans.

Europe has made mistakes

When it abandoned nuclear power and based its energy on cheap gas from Russia, that was a mistake. When it neglected its defense industry, that was a mistake.

When, in its environmental policy - which was, of course, justified - it set targets that were far too ambitious, it harmed its heavy industry, and that was a mistake. When, on several issues, it acted ideologically, that was also a mistake.

But Europe is a democratic project, and all these issues are subjects for open debate within European institutions.

And I, too, regret that this kind of intense internal debate is reflected far too little in the Romanian media.

It is also true that Romania has often been weak within the European Union, in the discussions that have taken place there. Romania has often failed to defend its objectives coherently, because - again, it is true - since it is politics, not a literary circle, within the European Union, European countries promote their national interests.

We are at a point where Romania is credible, knows how to act within the European Union, knows how to form alliances to support its policies, and knows how to defend its interests just as other countries in the Union do. So to say that Romanian leaders go to European leaders to receive orders from them is nothing more than a slogan that distracts us from the real debate about where Romania should stand within the European Union.

Europe and Romania need the European Union to have a fair, solid, and equitable partnership with the United States, and Romania is a supporter of such a partnership.


And, on the foreign policy front, the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union is an important objective for Romania, and we will continue to work toward Moldova joining the European Union.


A few words about the current situation. We have concluded an initial round of meetings with the leaders of pro-Western parties and representatives of national minorities. On this occasion, we observed the constraints each party faces as they enter the upcoming negotiations.


There are, therefore, certain scenarios on which we will focus moving forward, and discussions will continue regarding these scenarios.


I reiterate: Romania will have a pro-Western government within a reasonable timeframe. There is agreement on major policies: the OECD, SAFE, and the PNRR. There is agreement on Romania’s committed fiscal trajectory, and, in this regard, the incoming government will aim to define and propose the 2027 budget to Parliament by this fall.


Happy Birthday, Europe! Happy Birthday, Romania!