Defenders of the Romanian nation and all Europeans

“Defenders of the Romanian nation” — the candidates of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) embarked on the race for the 2024 European Parliament elections with this creed. At the end of a mandate marked by numerous controversies and major crises — and we mention here the Covid-19 pandemic, with a long period in which citizens’ rights and freedoms were put on hold — Romanians felt the need, more than ever, to send to the European Parliament a political group dedicated to their national interests. Today, from Brussels, we can say that we want to be the defenders of all Europeans.

After 17 years in which Romania was represented in Brussels — only by the members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who even forgot the language when they landed on Belgian soil — Romanian citizens wanted to see a political party that will fight for their interests and to be a real voice for the principles and values transformed into the pillars of AUR: family, nation, faith, freedom.

Given that the political powers in Bucharest Social Democratic Party (Party of European Socialists member) and National Liberal Party (European People’s Party member) did everything possible to block AUR and not discuss the European issues, the fight was uneven.1,2 They went as far as to merge the European Parliament elections with the local ones, against the customs and recommendations of the Venice Commission. Despite all that, over 1.3 million Romanians offered their trust.

However, is it possible to operate in a transnational parliament that puts community values first, while affirming your conservative doctrine and promoting sovereigntism? It absolutely is. The interests and ideals of the Romanian nation are truly European and not isolated from Romania’s international partners. Moreover, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political group focuses precisely on traditional, conservative values, and, therefore, the AUR MEPs have easily found their place in the ECR family.

AUR represents the wind of political change in Romania, just as the ECR is the active force that militates for the profound reform of the EU. Equally, fully understanding that Europe is the home of all Romanians, the desire to preserve the national identity with all cultural specificities must be accepted as legitimate. The EU must once again take its lead from the motto ‘united in diversity’.

It is neither necessary nor useful for any of the EU member states to abandon their own cultural values or economic and social specificities, just as the principles of the ECR promote it. In the European project, each nation must represent a pillar of community resilience — in other words, actively contribute to the union’s security and economic strength. A weak state, which cannot preserve and defend its national spirit, cultural foundations and economic interests, can only bring problems and vulnerabilities to the alliance.

Over the last decades the EU has managed to build a unique regional ecosystem in the history of the continent, but it would be a major error to believe that the project of building the community space has been fulfilled. Unfortunately, some countries are still far from the development standards of the core countries of the union.

The rigid and uneven approach of the European Commission in imposing European practices and directives contributed to this outcome, which has created major disadvantages for vulnerable economies without offering real alternatives or compensations to mitigate the effects. Moreover, as we can nowadays observe the collapse of the Schengen area, EU member states have tried, in some cases, individual survival strategies. However, one cannot speak of cohesion and solidarity when, for certain sensitive issues, discretionary and one-dimensional decisions are made, neglecting the interests of others.

This primus inter pares reflex only creates vulnerabilities within the EU and fuels a wave of Euroscepticism where it should not exist. AUR has given the example on the topic of Romania’s access to the Schengen area. As long as this legitimate and fair desideratum is violated by a country like Austria, 3 Brussels is creating a problem for itself by accepting this Viennese perfumed hybris.

The Schengen issue — for which AUR is actively fighting and for which it will find a solution — is just one example. There are many other economic issues where Romania has the right to express its vision and pursue its interests.

One of the most damaging strategies promoted in Brussels is the decarbonization policy. It is very difficult for EU’s citizens to understand why they are forced to pay such a high price for the industry and infrastructure greening, as long as the share of the community in the global pollution economy is extremely small and the most harmful economies still refuse to apply symmetrical measures. Moreover, it seems that the EU is becoming increasingly dependent on the products of these economies, increasing their production. In the specific case of Romania, measures such as the ban on the sale of combustion engine cars in 2035 or that prevent the capitalization of hydropower potentially threaten the economic ethos of the country itself.

In the run-up to the European Parliament elections, we were the target of a defamation campaign in which we were accused of pursuing Romania’s exit from the union.4 We, more than any other party in Romania, have campaigned for a more active policy of Romanian MEPs in the European Parliament. Of all Romanian politicians who opted for a candidacy in Brussels, we came to make our voices heard and strengthen the European construction. We are here to stay. That is precisely why we want to reach out to all partners who share our principles and put the wellbeing of European citizens first.

If we were to focus the political strategy of the AUR delegation in the European Parliament, we would say that we want to impose the principle of symmetry in Romania’s relations with external partners. Romania can no longer afford to give up a millimeter of its strategic interests in exchange for utopian promises or ideals. It is time for Bucharest to make the most difficult and important leap of the current generation and permanently eliminate the historical delays with which it joined the European project.

We have been members of the EU for 17 years now. Soon, Romania will be part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and we are core members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Well, there is tangible progress that needs to come along with more respect and more openness. The time of prejudice has passed, and Europe must understand that we are here to stay and we want the voice of Romanians to be heard.

By reaching this objective, Romania needs strength, determination and support from allies who want a strong and stable partner in an area of direct contact of geopolitical interests between the democratic world and the most aggressive autocracy in the world today. At the same time, we believe that European citizens’ welfare and wellbeing must be at the heart of European policies. European citizens’ lives must not be affected, neither by the policies of Brussels nor by the spending of European resources.

As Romanian members of the ECR in the European Parliament, we believe that we are in agreement with our partners from other member states in the endeavor and that together we will be able to act more effectively for our common objectives.
A strong Europe is built on strong nations.

AUR delegation members within the ECR in the European Parliament

The delegation of representatives from the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) to the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) consists of five members, elected for the first time to the European Parliament in the June 2024 elections.

The AUR candidates entered the elections under the slogan Defenders of the Romanian nation, by which they made it their mission to protect the national interests and values in the European Parliament.

The AUR team is composed of highly skilled professionals with top-tier academic training and well-established careers. The principle underlying the selection process was multidisciplinary expertise in key areas for Romania — two top legal practitioners, an investigative journalist with hundreds of documented investigations, a construction engineer with successful businesses, and a tourism entrepreneur who excelled in international relations and diplomacy.

Claudiu Richard Târziu
Chairman of the AUR national board of directors
Head of the AUR delegation to the European Parliament
Member of the ECR Bureau
Journalist, writer, civic activist

Adrian George Axinia
AUR vice-president
Civil, industrial and agricultural construction engineer, entrepreneur

Georgiana Maria Teodorescu
AUR foreign relations coordinator
Bucharest bar lawyer, lecturer at the Titu Maiorescu University of Bucharest
PhD in political science and criminal law

Gheorghe Piperea
Bucharest Bar lawyer, insolvency practitioner
Doctor of Laws at the Sorbonne I Paris University
Professor at the faculty of law of the University of Bucharest

Șerban Dimitrie Sturdza
Romanian aristocrat, descendant of the Sturdza noble family
Specialist in fine arts and advertising, diplomat, restorer and entrepreneur

“Education must become a priority for Romania”

Maria Georgiana Teodorescu is concerned about the education system in Romania and proposes a coherent, integrated solution at the EU level to avoid an imminent crisis caused by the lack of specialists in the labor market.

Romania urgently needs to reopen vocational schools for arts and crafts, as it has become a country of university graduates who basically do not know how to do anything. They do not find jobs matching their diplomas, so they either find unskilled jobs across borders or engage in such services in their country.

“Nowadays in Romania, an electrician earns better than a lawyer or an engineer, for example, and even so, you will not be able to find one for hiring. This critical image of my country risks being reflected throughout Europe soon. If we do not allocate a lot of money for vocational education, we will end up importing such work only from outside of the EU, while our own citizens will be socially assisted.”

“High energy prices affect the country’s development and citizens’ standard
of living”

“The European Commission is urging Romania to lift the ‘restrictions’ on electricity and gas bill prices and tariffs. It is about the compensation measures taken two years ago by the Iohannis governments. Suppliers have complained that they lose … Yes, that they lose the right to make profit of 300% per year.

For a true liberalization of the energy market, there should be real competition between producers, yet in Romania, over 80% of energy production is provided by the state. Under quasi-monopoly conditions, prices are not adjusted by the market, but are set by the speculation of political customers. High energy prices affect the process of economic development of the country and citizen’s standard of living.

The European Commission is also calling for the abolition of restrictions on the export of energy and gas. Therefore, all the gas from the Black Sea will be able to go to export. Probably to Germany, since the Germans ran out of cheap gas from the Russians.”

“Illegal immigration must be stopped”

“The European Commission is urging Romania to lift the ‘restrictions’ on electricity and gas bill prices and tariffs. It is about the compensation measures taken two years ago by the Iohannis governments. Suppliers have complained that they lose … Yes, that they lose the right to make profit of 300% per year.

For a true liberalization of the energy market, there should be real competition between producers, yet in Romania, over 80% of energy production is provided by the state. Under quasi-monopoly conditions, prices are not adjusted by the market, but are set by the speculation of political customers. High energy prices affect the process of economic development of the country and citizen’s standard of living.

The European Commission is also calling for the abolition of restrictions on the export of energy and gas. Therefore, all the gas from the Black Sea will be able to go to export. Probably to Germany, since the Germans ran out of cheap gas from the Russians.”

“We want to remain a Europe of nations”

Șerban Dimitrie Sturdza remains a dedicated defender of traditions and spirituality, which are specific to each nation in the European community. He warns that the current ideological tendencies, which rely on uniformity, threaten the cultural and religious identity of people within the EU.

“We value our freedoms and rights — freedom of thought, conscience and religion — as they are the core values of the EU. I want a Europe that remains anchored in its Christian roots, a union of sovereign nations, each contributing to a magnificent mosaic of spiritual and historical cultural richness. We must defend the integrity of our Christianity so that we do not risk losing the soul of Europe to its faith, traditions and freedoms.

Moreover, a Europe that places man at the center of its concerns and policies is a Europe that reaches the soul of the citizen. That is why, through the EU’s cohesion policy, we must continue to fight for prosperity and stability for each and every European, so that no one is left behind.”

“Let’s not let the neo-Marxist utopia destroy agriculture.”

Șerban Dimitrie Sturdza remains a dedicated defender of traditions and spirituality, which are specific to each nation in the European community. He warns that the current ideological tendencies, which rely on uniformity, threaten the cultural and religious identity of people within the EU.

“We value our freedoms and rights — freedom of thought, conscience and religion — as they are the core values of the EU. I want a Europe that remains anchored in its Christian roots, a union of sovereign nations, each contributing to a magnificent mosaic of spiritual and historical cultural richness. We must defend the integrity of our Christianity so that we do not risk losing the soul of Europe to its faith, traditions and freedoms.

Moreover, a Europe that places man at the center of its concerns and policies is a Europe that reaches the soul of the citizen. That is why, through the EU’s cohesion policy, we must continue to fight for prosperity and stability for each and every European, so that no one is left behind.”