The Diplomat
Members of the Romanian Parliament’s European Affairs Committee and the Spanish Parliament’s Joint Committee for the European Union met this week in Madrid on the eve of the Spanish Presidency of the EU.
The delegations were led on the Spanish side by the President of the Commission, Susana Sumelzo, and on the Romanian side by the Chairmen of the European Affairs Committees of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Vasile Dîncu and Ștefan Mușoiu, respectively.
At the meeting, which took place on 9 May, Europe Day, according to a note from the Romanian Embassy in Madrid, it was emphasised that Romania and Spain are two important pillars and guardians of the EU’s eastern and western borders.
The parliamentarians discussed Spain’s continued support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area of free movement, as well as the steps taken so far to make the dual nationality project a reality.
They also discussed the migration and asylum pact, EU cohesion in the face of aggression in Ukraine, strategic autonomy, the coordination of the committees of both parliaments on current issues and other matters of common interest, according to the note.
In addition to the symbolic significance of the moment chosen, the meeting confirms the close relationship of coordination between our countries and the shared will to support the process of deepening European integration, says the note.
On the same day, the Romanian Embassy and the Ortega-Marañón Foundation, a think tank sponsored by King Felipe VI, organised the conference “The role of the European Union in a changing world: parliamentary perspectives from Spain and Romania”, with the aim of analysing ways of Romanian-Spanish collaboration to increase the global relevance of the EU, with special emphasis on the role of European national parliaments in the promotion of democratic values and principles.
Opening the event, Romanian Ambassador George Bologan said: “This is an event that highlights parliamentary dialogue at a time when everything is changing at a galloping pace, when infocracy eclipses democracy, when historical memory is missing and when sometimes we have the impression that politics is suffering from degradation, with increasing polarisation. Over and above any situation or interpretation, parliaments are an expression of democracy and civilisation, all the more so at a time when barbarism has returned to Europe with a war on the borders of the EU”.
The speakers from Romania were Vasile Dîncu and Ștefan Mușoiu and from Spain were Pau Mari Klose, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies; PP deputy Marta González Vázquez, member of the same committee; and. Pere Joan Pons Sampietro, Socialist spokesperson of the Joint Committee on European Affairs.
