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Angela Cristea: Romanians believe in Europe more than other European citizens

Romanians believe in Europe more than other European citizens and they often seek answers to their problems in Brussels, the head of the European Commission's Representation Office in Bucharest, Angela Cristea told Bucharest Forum on Thursday. 

She participated together with Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu and Minister for Romanians Abroad Andreea Pastarnac in a panel hosted by Deutsche Welle TV journalist Ali Aslan on the future of the European Union. 

"Romanians believe in Europe more than other European citizens. Historically speaking, the support for the European Union has been one of the most powerful ones. It is in most part linked to the fact that many Romanians look to Brussels to find solutions to their problems or to their aspirations. This is sometimes a positive aspect, sometimes less beneficial, because the answer is sometimes in Bucharest or in areas of the country," Cristea said. 

The head of the European Commission's Representation Office in Bucharest pointed out that "if there are member states that are recalcitrant to receive directions from Brussels, this is not the case for Romania." Moreover, she said that Romania already "is building bridges in Europe" with the citizens working abroad. 

Angela Cristea and Victor Negrescu also referred to Jean-Claude Juncker's recent speech on the State of the European Union. Negrescu said that this is "a call to unity, to which Romania responds positively because it has the same opinion - Europe needs to be united." 
"Romania was the country he most frequently referred to, so we pay close attention to his messages," said minister delegate for European Affairs and reminded the idea of organizing a post-Brexit summit in Sibiu. 

He also spoke about the involvement of citizens, of civil society in the European project. "The main message is that we want to build bridges between East and West, between North and South, between developed countries and less developed ones for better unity," Negrescu said. 
Minister for Romanians Everywhere Andreea Pastarnac recalled the community of Romanians abroad. 

"Ten years ago, our citizens said, 'Now we are Europeans.' Now I see this moment as a turning point. Today we have about 4 million Romanians working abroad and they constantly ask themselves questions about their country of origin, about their identity," Pastarnac said. 

Bucharest Forum, which will end on Friday, is bringing together experts and officials from foreign policy and defence and prestigious journalists. The public discussion sessions are held at the Military Club in Bucharest.



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