US special emissary to Bucharest expresses concerns over referendum outcome

The United States cares about Romania, its future and its democracy and is concerned about certain evolutions related to the referendum and the process of validating the result, said Philip Gordon, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the end of a visit in Bucharest.

Gordon met with suspended president Traian Basescu, interim president Crin Antonescu and prime minister Victor Ponta, to discuss “the concerns the United States has regarding recent government actions that threaten democratic checks and balances and weaken independent institutions,” as was previosly announced by the US Department of State.

The Assistant Secretary of State said the US fully endorses the 11 points of concern raised by the European Commission against Romania and that following talks with local senior government officials he received the right message. “Obviously it is more important what people do than what they say. But all that I can hope following these meetings is that that they (e.n. political leaders) are aware of the importance of these aspects and that they will respect these principles,” stated Gordon according to Mediafax.

Credible fraud accusations related to the referendum voting process and attempts to put pressure on the Constitutional Court have raised concerns about the legitimacy of the result, whatever that will be, said Gordon.

He also stressed that the US doesn’t take sides and he did not come to Bucharest to support a party or political leader but to express the necessity of respecting the rule of law and functioning institutions.

Referring to the referendum, Gordon said the US expects the local leaders to support what will be the “legitimate result”. He also added that US wants a strong partnership with Romania but this would be hard to implement if there were doubts related to the democratic process.

Simona Bazavan