Comunicat de presă
Data:
22.05.2025
Ministrul afacerilor externe Emil Hurezeanu a participat, joi, 22 mai 2025, la Timișoara, la ceremonia de decernare a premiului Timișoara pentru valori europene Președintei Parlamentului European, Roberta Metsola. Aflat la cea de-a doua ediție, premiul Timișoara pentru Valori Europene onorează personalități recunoscute pe plan internațional care promovează valorile europene.
În alocuțiunea susținută în cadrul ceremoniei, ministrul afacerilor externe, Emil Hurezeanu, a subliniat importanța simbolică a decernării acestui premiu în Timișoara, oraș simbol al Revoluției din Decembrie 1989, într-un moment de reafirmare a susținerii României pentru proiectul european.
Ministrul Emil Hurezeanu a transmis aprecierile sale președintei Robertei Metsola, pentru implicarea sa în promovarea unui proiect european ambițios, precum și pentru buna colaborare cu România pe parcursul întregii sale cariere în Parlamentul European și, în special, în calitatea sa de preşedintă a forului legislativ european.
Ministrul afacerilor externe a exprimat apreciere pentru poziția consecventă a președintei Roberta Metsola în favoarea aderării României la spațiul Schengen, pentru sprijinul său personal constant acordat parcursului european al Republicii Moldova, precum și pentru implicarea sa activă în procesul de reformare, eficientizare și transparentizare a Parlamentului European.
Totodată, ministrul afacerilor externe a subliniat contribuția valoroasă adusă de Roberta Metsola la susținerea valorilor europene și la promovarea proiectului european în rândul cetățenilor europeni, în special al tinerilor, menționând, în context, întâlnirile acesteia cu tinerii din România.
În marja ceremoniei, ministrul afacerilor externe, Emil Hurezeanu a avut, totodată, o întrevedere bilaterală cu președinta Parlamentului European. Cei doi interlocutori au susținut importanța continuării cooperării strânse dintre România și Parlamentul European în vederea identificării și promovării unor soluții unitare și pragmatice la provocările curente, în beneficiul Uniunii și al cetățenilor săi.
Referindu-se la prioritățile europene în perioada următoare, ministrul Emil Hurezeanu a evidențiat necesitatea continuării procesului de extindere, atât cu partenerii estici – R. Moldova, Ucraina, cât şi cu candidații din Balcanii de Vest. Ministrul afacerilor externe a subliniat, de asemenea, rolul cooperării cu Parlamentul European în promovarea obiectivelor politice asumate de Uniune prin Agenda Strategică 2024-2029, fiind evocate, în context, întărirea rezilienței democratice, a consolidării competitivității europene, a unei acțiuni comune vizând asigurarea unui viitor buget european ambițios, precum și importanța unei relații transatlantice solide.
Transmitem alocuțiunea în limba engleză a ministrului afacerilor externe, la ceremonia de decernare a premiului Timișoara pentru valori europene Președintei Parlamentului European, Roberta Metsola.
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Your Excellency President Roberta Metsola,
Mayor Dominic Fritz,
Esteemed members of the jury of the Timișoara Award for European Values,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is both an honour and a pleasure for me to join you today in the beautiful city of Timișoara to honour a great friend of Romania – her Excellency Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament. Thank you, Mayor Dominic Fritz, for this invitation.
I particularly welcome the decision of the jury to choose Roberta Metsola as the laureate of the 2025 edition of the Timișoara Award for European Values. And which Romanian city is more suitable to host such a ceremony dedicated to the promotion and protection of European values than Timișoara? It is the beating democratic heart of Romania!
Because it was in Timișoara where the Romanian Revolution started 35 years ago, paving the way for our deep European transformation.
We are now a proud EU Member State, as we found our place in a community of 27 like-minded states that work together to promote the European ideal – that of peace, stability, and solidarity.
On a personal note, Timișoara holds a very special place in our minds and hearts. In December 1989, I was an editor of Radio Free Europe in München and I vividly recollect the dramatic moments when the flame of the Romanian revolution ignited in Timisoara. From the 17th of December onwards, myself and my colleagues informed with emotion and hope, via radio wave, about Timișoara’s fight for our freedom, for the right of Romanians to live in a free and democratic society.
Timișoara will always be a symbol of freedom and dignity, the city which placed Romania on the map of democratic states.
Those days will always be reminding us that it takes courage and sacrifice to stand by our right for democratic choices.
The attachment to the European project, which represents the very heart of President Metsola’s political vision, is also our faith for the future of Romania. And we have seen that in times of uncertainty and unpredictability, when our democratic beliefs are targeted by malign actions and disinformation, we can rely on friends like President Roberta Metsola to defend and speak loudly about our common achievements in Europe.
Madam President,
You participated in many events dedicated to youth across the EU, including in Romania. You are proving that in order to build confidence in their dreams, young people need inspiring role models that can reach people with their own example of integrity, courage, kindness and genuine belief in the European way of life.
Your ability of speaking with the large public in a direct way, about Europe, with both mind and soul, represents a valuable skill in an era of disinformation, fake news, alternative facts, and polarisation, when truth and integrity become precious commodities.
Your EP Presidency is one of many firsts. You are the younger president of the European Parliament and the first lady president in more than 20 years.
You have faced major crises, which you’ve managed with responsibility, by always promoting the values that unite our European nations and that are making our Europe the natural choice of our partners from the East and the Western Balkans that are choosing to join the European family.
Just one month into your mandate, the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine, starting a still ongoing war with devastating effects. Your commitment has been instrumental in keeping Ukraine high on the EU agenda.
You have also been a close and dear friend of Romania, supporting our goals at EU level throughout your over a decade-long career in the European Parliament, and especially during your Presidency.
Your personal involvement in affirming time and again Romania’s right to be a member of the Schengen Area contributed to a positive decision in this regard, which led to a more secure Union for all its citizens. Allow me to assure you of our high appreciation for your relentless support.
You have also been a strong supporter of the Republic of Moldova, which has advanced considerably on its European path.
The European Parliament has been backing, thanks to your personal involvement, their European choice. “Moldova’s place is in Europe. Our future must be together”, as you said during your visit to Chișinău in November 2022.
Madam President,
On 17 July 1979, during her inaugural speech as the first female President of the newly elected European Parliament, Simone Veil stated: “If the challenges facing Europe are to be met, we need a Europe capable of solidarity, of independence and of cooperation.”
Almost 50 years later, you said in a recent speech that “there is only one path left: forward and together”.
We will continue to be stronger together only as long as we will continue to stand up for each other and find common solutions to our problems in our common House – the European Union.
The Timișoara Award for European Values is a public acknowledgement of your exceptional contribution and merits to consolidating the EU and its place in the world. It is as well a token of appreciation for your continuous support for our country.
Romania’s fight for a European future started here, in Timișoara, 35 years ago. Allow me to assure you that Romania is and will continue to be a country of freedom and democracy, a convergence of cultures united in diversity, just as our host city, Timișoara, is.
I congratulate you once again, Madam President, and wish you all the best.
Thank you!
Sursa: MAE
