Liberal Raluca Turcan, vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies, declared on Wednesday, regarding Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu’s statements to Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu, in the Visa Waiver case, that „no honest prime minister criticizes his ministers in public”, noting that „evaluations are not made on television”.

„The evaluation of ministers is done by the prime minister and there are also political evaluations made within the parties that propose ministers when there is a coalition. Therefore, I believe that the prime minister is the one who must evaluate the activity of Minister Hurezeanu,” said Turcan, in Parliament, when asked if Emil Hurezeanu has fulfilled his duties or if it is time for a recall.

Regarding the criticisms made by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu against Emil Hurezeanu, Raluca Turcan said: „As a principle, no honest prime minister criticizes his ministers in public.”

„If he has things to criticize, he does it face-to-face and makes decisions,” Turcan added, specifying that the PNL did not discuss any dissatisfaction with Hurezeanu.

At the same time, Turcan pointed out that the dismissal of a minister can be requested by the prime minister and the parties that proposed him, mentioning, however, that „evaluations are not made on television”.

„To be clear: the prime minister can request the change of a minister. Also, parties can propose the change of ministers, but I believe that evaluations are not made on television, evaluations are made face to face, after which, when decisions are made, the reasons for that decision are presented. It is a matter of fairness and look anywhere in this world that prime ministers do not criticize their ministers or do not blame ministers on issues related to their mandate. (…) I do not want to use the name of Prime Minister Ciolacu. I gave you an example of principle. So I believe that, in principle, prime ministers do not criticize their ministers in public,” emphasized Raluca Turcan.

Regarding the fact that a scapegoat would be sought for the postponement of the visa program for America, Turcan pointed out that whoever assumed success must also assume the „reevaluation of the route”.

„I’m thinking about the saying that success has many beneficiaries and failure is alone. I think that, from the perspective of Romania’s first decision to join the Visa Waiver program, a success was assumed. Now, when there is this reassessment of the route, I think that the answer on this subject must come, first of all, from the person who assumed the success the first time”, the liberal deputy also pointed out. Asked if she was referring to the Romanian Prime Minister, Turcan replied: „It is understood what I said”.

Asked if the PNL could also ask Marcel Ciolacu to assume responsibility, Turcan stated: „PNL is a responsible party and going out into the public space to demand responsibility means, practically, deviating from a principle that I just mentioned: we are in a governing coalition, decisions or things that are being foreshadowed are communicated in the public space.”

„But making personal assessments or placing blame in the public space seems counterproductive to me and the PNL does not do such a thing. (…) The PNL has never publicly blamed anyone, no matter how, let’s say, painful a topic might have been. And now I can’t help but think about the topic related to the theft of artifacts,” Turcan also said.

According to her, the functioning of the coalition is not affected by this issue.

„The functioning of the coalition is beyond any minister, regardless of that minister’s name. It is a coalition that was formed because there is no other option for a parliamentary majority, parties that want to be in the Government and, at the same time, it is made for the governance of Romania, it is not made for one minister or another,” Turcan pointed out.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said that he is not a „big fan” of Foreign Affairs Minister Emil Hurezeanu, and that he is „an exceptional diplomat”, but „old-fashioned”.

The Prime Minister said that there may be a „new approach” at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding „more direct contact” with the United States. On the other hand, he mentioned that it is not about „changing” a specific person.

The implementation of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for Romania is under evaluation, the operationalization of the ESTA system is to be postponed until a date to be announced by the American side, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the US government is evaluating Romania’s recent designation for entry into the VWP to ensure that it meets strict security requirements.

AGERPRES