"Democrația nu este o strădanie ușoară"

N-o spun eu, o susține cu subiect și predicat Viviane Reding, vicepreședinte al Comisiei Europene, comisar european pentru Justiție. Interviul dat Euronews are, în sinea lui, pentru România, o greutate fantastică.
Liderii politici trebuie să-și asculte popoarele pentru că ele, în disperare, cad pradă extremismului și populismului dar, în același timp, regulile trebuie respectate.
Semnalele pentru USL și premierul Ponta sunt și ele clare. Iar la întrebarea- "privind în urmă, credeți că a fost o greșeală să primiți țări ca România în Uniunea Europeană ?"- nu știu alții cum se simt, dar mie mi s-a făcut, efectiv, rușine. Este dureroasă.

Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission: “Democracy is not an easy endeavour” | euronews, interview

euronews:
But when you see the situation across Europe. The rise of extremist parties. Parties like Golden Dawn in Greece. Doesn’t it worry you, that the fact is, there isn’t enough democracy. People don’t feel Europe is accountable anymore and that’s why they are turning to these parties?

Viviane Reding:
And that is exactly why we have to give an answer. But this answer cannot be theoretical, it cannot be promises. It has to be very down to earth. It has to be that politicians are going out and are listening to the people. They are discussing with the people……

euronews: Are they listening?

Viviane Reding:
That is exactly what the European citizens is about, but we have start it, and this is the starting point of getting this involvement, and the feeling of belonging and responsibility because people are desperate when they turn to extremists and populists because they feel they are not heard. Nobody is taking account of what they believe, and that is the reason why we have to go out there and we have to listen to them, and we have to show them that yes we take account of what they believe, of what they dream of and of the Europe they want to construct together.

euronews:

I’d like to finally turn to Romania. How concerned are you about the current political turmoil that is currently taking place in the country?

Viviane Reding:
Very much so, and the whole Commission is, and the whole Council is. And you have seen the reaction which is very clear. Democracy is a good which needs to be preserved. We need independent courts. We cannot dismantle constitutional courts. And we have to respect what those courts say.

euronews:
What can Europe really do to make prime minister Victor Ponta stick to his promises?

Viviane Reding:
Well, I think a lot has happened. The fact that the constitutional court could render its decision and that its decision was applied. We have, I think, blocked the deviations. Things are quite now, things are not perfect but a least they didn’t go completely to an extreme.

euronews:
It’s not quite clear whether prime minister Victor Ponta is really listening!

Viviane Reding:
He’s a prime minister of a normally elected government. He has to play his role as a prime minister. Every democracy, whoever political party is in power has to respect the democratically constitutional setup of a country, and that is what we were working for. And I’m very glad to see that the whole the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, all united their voice in order to say no – Democracy is a wholly good and it has to be preserved, whoever is in charge.

euronews:
When you look back, don’t you think it was a mistake to let countries like Romania into the European Union?

Viviane Reding:
The Europeans took an historical decision. When Europe’s divide was eliminated and when those who had lived under the Communist dictatorship came back to freedom and independence, we told them that our door was open. Democracy is not an easy endeavour. Many of us in old Europe had decades in order to know how democracy functions. Some of the newcomers learn democracy by doing, in some years only. We have to help them, we have to give them a chance. Europe is a democratic organisation.

euronews:
So Europe could live with a dictatorship within it?

Viviane Reding:
No, I do not believe that. Europe could not do that. One thing is very clear – Europe is a democratic state. A state of states and this will continue and be reinforced.

euronews: Commissioner Reding, thank you very much.

Viviane Reding: You’re welcome.