site.btaRomania's Presidential Candidate Dan Participates Alone in Election Debate, Opponent Simion Skips It

Romania's independent presidential candidate and current Mayor of Bucharest Nicusor Dan participated alone in an election debate broadcast live on Digi24 on Monday evening. The other presidential candidate, George Simion who leads the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, skipped the debate. Dan answered all questions covering a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues.

Domestic politics and government formation

Dan said that if he wins the elections, a potential government of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians with Calin Georgescu as prime minister is not an option, since the majority of the PSD would be pro-European oriented.

He specified: "I didn't say there would be a PSD prime minister. I want to work with this parliament. I do not want early elections. I want all four pro-Western parties to be part of the future government, and I will start talks with each one separately. I would very much like [acting President of Romania] Ilie Bolojan to be prime minister, but I do not want to make promises."

Economy and taxes

Dan said that Romania's private sector is much more stable compared to the 2008-2009 period, when the economic crisis hit. He believes that the budget should be structurally adjusted to ensure that the country is balanced. He added: "We need to stop the big tax evasion, we need to take EU funds faster, we need to reduce state spending, even if some is necessary, and we need to look very carefully at state-owned companies where management is far from efficient."

Ukrainian wheat

Asked whether he would stop the transit of grain from Ukraine and its export through the port of Constanta, Dan said it was not a transit problem but one caused by the dysfunctional Romanian state. He added: "These quantities of grain should have passed through Romania and not been unloaded in the country, as is unfortunately what happened. They affected the market and farmers' incomes for at least two years. What happened [...] is that the law in Romania was once again broken." Asked who was to blame, Dan pointed to Romania's tax authorities, as they failed to stop the illegal undeclared imports.

Defence

PSD's presidential candidate said that he wants defence spending to reach 3.5% of GDP. "In order to have peace, we must discourage war. For our security, we must invest in the military to prevent war. We must stimulate the Romanian defence industry," he stated.

Other topics

He added that if he became president of Romania, he would ask Moldova and Ukraine to declassify the documents on the basis of which Simion was declared persona non grata, provided this act would not endanger the security strategy of the three countries.

In his closing remarks, Dan addressed the Romanian electorate. He said: "I urge you to believe in Romania. This country has a future. This is a choice of direction for Romania for many years to come. This is a choice between the West and Russia. It is a choice between a free economy and an isolated economy. It is a choice between a culture of dialogue and a culture of hatred."