S&D senior MEPs welcomed a delegation of Romanian journalists who sent a petition to the European Parliament on the freedom of expression in Romania.

 

Hannes Swoboda, vice-president of the Progressives, and a number of further MEPS, including Catherine Trautmann, Adrian Severin and Tanja Fajon, presented the Group position to the media.

 

"To defend the freedom of expression is a fundamental value. It is part of democracy and must be respected", they said.

 

Victor Bostinaru, S&D coordinator of the Petition committee who made the proposal for the meeting, affirmed that the present petition "refers to an unprecedented attack against freedom of expression and information, occurred in Romania, an EU and NATO member".

 

On June 23d 2010, the Supreme Defence Council approved the National Defence Strategy, a document drafted at the initiative of Romania's President, Traian Basescu, which explicitly states that the actions undertook by mass-media represent vulnerabilities. Consequently, the strategy opens the possibility not only to restrict freedom of information and expression but also allows for the deliberate removal by means assigned 'legal' of journalists which exercise their profession and which criticize a public authority acting abusively or without any expertise.

 

The petition also informs on other restrictions, which are intolerable.

 

"We are dealing with a clear and unacceptable attack against one of the EU's core values and we believe this can be neither tolerated nor accepted", Mr. Bostinaru said.