Victor Ponta, who is running as an independent in Romania’s May 4 presidential election, told AGERPRES in an interview that Romania is already a mature country as far as democracy is concerned, and therefore should decide its priorities on its own „and not according to others.”

Ponta’s priorities, if elected to the country’s top job, include the formation of a new government, the restoration of citizen confidence in the vote, the complete declassification of the documents the Supreme Council for National Defense examined in the run-up to the annulment of the 2024 election, and the initiation of a referendum sanctioning all votes cast by the Romanian people as mandatory.

He also believes that the Constitution needs to be revised, and the powers of the Constitutional Court should be much more clearly defined.

Speaking of a presidential project he considers of key importance, Ponta said that education should be the first and foremost priority for Romania, along with economic competitiveness, the fields of IT, agriculture, construction – that is Romania’s top dynamic sectors that were most affected on January 1 by the ‘chain effect’ ordinance, as he remarked.

Ponta underscored that Romania must pursue its „national interests within the EU and its partnership with the US. „Let’s be honest, it may sound selfish, but this is the world of 2025, standing under the overwhelming influence of the United States of America. It will be a world where each country must pursue and put its own interests first. It is not necessarily a better world, but ultimately politicians cannot help but being pragmatic, realistic. It is a much tougher world, a world marred by an open conflict, with Russia having invaded Ukraine and which does not have a happy ending like in the movies. (…) We have an economy that is fundamentally changing through technology. What I saw in Donald Trump is less the political change, which is obvious anyway, but especially the technological change that America is bringing to a competition in which there are only two players left, the U.S. and China. Europe is no longer part of this developed world and that’s bad,” Ponta explained.

He insisted that Romania should increase its military spending to 3.5% of GDP, but that it should also focus on spending and investments in human resources, „because there is no point in talking about national security if we deride people. Having aircraft, tanks and who knows what else is to no avail if people are dissatisfied. And at this moment they are,” he made his point.

Speaking of his personal experience during a Mar-a-Lago meeting with Donald Trump and his team, Ponta said he realized that a major change will come from America to Europe and that Romania cannot help being touched by this change. In terms of foreign policy, he said that he views the military partnership with the United States as essential. „Only America defends us from Russia today and even if I agree that we must join the European effort too, this is a long-term effort spanning 3, 5, 7 or 10 years, no one says that Europe would be able of self-defence earlier, without the US.,” he said. „Europe must become economically competitive again, Europe must protect itself and reindustrialize, invest in some sort of Romanian-type, but also European economic patriotism. (…) Romania has a historical, national interest in the military security and the integration of the Republic of Moldova. I am a unionist. When a referendum will be organized in Romania and Moldova, I will vote for reunification and for the termination of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, but Romania won’t take the Republic of Moldova by force, like the USSR did. Romania can reunify with Bessarabia only through democratic means, through a popular vote. So, as part of the military strategy with the United States of America, I will negotiate not only the military security of Romania, which is in principle ensured by the NATO agreement, but also the military security of the Republic of Moldova,” the presidential hopeful noted.

He advocated a direct relationship with the U.S., stressing that the personal relationship matters a lot and the next president of Romania must be compatible with Donald Trump, because otherwise an efficient connection will not be established.

Speaking of the plague of drugs, Ponta said that as a trained prosecutor he will have the Supreme Council for National Defense declare drug trafficking as a threat to national security, and that the police, prosecutors, and intelligence services will receive additional powers to handle such issues. Also, he plans to legislate life imprisonment for the members of drug trafficking networks. On the other hand, he explained that young users should be shown leniency, and the solution for them would be rehabilitation centers, psychology, non-criminal programs for reintegration into society.

He cautioned that leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians George Simion will ride the people’s huge wave of dissatisfaction into the second presidential round and that Romania will surefire vote for a change anyway. „The change, I repeat, can be a Simion-type change or a Ponta-type change,” but the current establishment needs to go because its current representatives are the only ones who have lingered on despite putting up a blatant underperformance and the change „is strictly a matter of time,” Ponta concluded.

AGERPRES