The first critical reaction from the governing coalition after Nicușor Dan participated in Donald Trump's Peace Council: “The result is not respect, but humiliation”

“Useless and empty of content”, this is how PSD senator Victoria Stoiciu characterizes President Nicușor Dan's trip to Washington to participate in the first summit of the Peace Council established by Donald Trump. Stoiciu says that although he supported Dan to win the presidential elections, during the nine months of the president's mandate, he lost confidence in him.

Victoria Stoiciu is the first politician from the governing coalition to criticize Nicușor Dan's decision to participate in the Peace Council. On Monday, HotNews spoke with MPs from PSD, PNL and USR about Nicușor Dan's visit to Washington, and they all said that the decision to participate was the right one.

And AUR representatives said, when asked by HotNews, that it is good that “we are represented there”.

“The Great Firefly”

Victoria Stoiciu wrote on Facebook on Thursday evening, after the first meeting of the Peace Council ended, that she initially hesitated to comment on Nicușor Dan's presence in Washington, “hoping that maybe there is a plan, a negotiation prepared in advance.”

“But this photo (ed.: in the order of those who spoke during the summit) and the use of the appellation “prime minister” demonstrate how useless and empty of content is Nicușor Dan's participation in the parody with a pompous name. It was a risky move, completely unappreciated by the “big fireflies” and loaded with potential costs that are difficult to calculate, especially in the relationship with our European partners,” wrote Stoiciu.

She says that at this point the diplomatic gain seems nil: “I hope I'm wrong. But it seems as if a bully comes into the classroom and targets all the green-eyed boys, and you, being exactly one green-eyed boy and therefore the perfect target, are desperately trying to get into his good graces. The result is not respect, but humiliation.”

Victoria Stoiciu recalls another moment when she thinks that Nicușor Dan was wrong

The PSD senator believes that at this moment the strategy of being “and, and”, referring to the USA and the European Union, “doesn't work anymore”.

“You cannot capture the goodwill of those who are hostile to you in the face, whether we are talking about the sovereignist electorate or unpredictable international actors. The level of polarization is far too high, the camps are already clearly drawn and it is impossible to play at two ends without collapsing between them”, she claims.

Victoria Stoiciu says that “the hope that, by marching on sovereign themes, you can recover some of their voters turned out to be a vain illusion”.

“The only ones who capitalized on this subject were the extremist parties. The Vexler law would never have become such a wide-ranging subject of dispute if the president had not sent it to the CCR and then, despite its opinion, back to Parliament for re-examination. Today, this subject exists and feeds the radical discourse strictly because of Nicușor Dan,” says the senator.

“You can't make peace with extremists”

Victoria Stoiciu believes that following Nicușor Dan's visit to the USA, “all the extremists” will take advantage, referring to the radical right-wing parties in Romania, such as AUR and SOS Romania.

“It will be the extremists who will now profit from this external participation, convincing their own public that they are the real favorites and that everyone else is treated with disrespect in Washington. I write these lines with great sadness, because I was among those who supported Nicușor Dan, hoping that he would stem the neo-fascist wave that seems to be taking over Romanian politics. Today, I doubt this. And I am not the only one. Unfortunately,” Stoiciu wrote.

From her point of view, “the lesson is clear”: “You cannot make peace with extremists.”

“And you can't compete with them in their own lane. It's a warning for ALL political actors who rely on such strategies. Trying to steal their homework only legitimizes their speech. It's like clearing the slope on which even your opponent will ski, unhindered,” concluded the PSD senator.