PSD MP Mihai Fifor, former Minister of Defense, harshly criticizes the way in which President Nicușor Dan’s trip to Paris was managed, after the head of state has been stuck in the French capital since Tuesday evening due to weather conditions.
In a post on Facebook, Mihai Fifor claims that the Spartan military aircraft, with which Nicușor Dan traveled to the meeting of the Coalition of Volunteers for Ukraine, “it is not prepared for such missions and has no place in the current logistics of the travels of a head of state”.
“It is incomprehensible to me the insistence with which we hold on to death we are, every time, the laughing stock of the world. Because it is absolutely ridiculous that the President of Romania is stuck in Paris because an MApN Spartan aircraft cannot take off due to weather conditions“, writes the PSD deputy.
Fifor says it’s not about “an exotic incident”but about “a failure of organization that has no excuse in a country that is a member of the European Union and NATO”.
“The insistence of a transport the head of state in a military plane of tactical transport is an institutionalized nonsense. The Spartan is not a presidential plane, it is not prepared for such missions and has nothing to do with the current logistics of the travels of a head of state. It’s not about comfort – it’s about functionality, safety and seriousness“, he also states.
“The president could be brought home on a scheduled flight”
Mihai Fifor believes that, in the absence of this “improvisations become routine”the Romanian state seems unable to react normally in a crisis situation.
“The president could be brought home without any kind of show, in the worst case, with a line flight, discreet, fast, efficient. Nobody “steals” him. That’s what normal states do. That’s what states that understand that the dignity of the presidential office is not negotiable and don’t play for image”writes the former Minister of Defense.
“A forced pose of modesty that does not produce external respect”
The PSD MP also criticizes what he calls “the obsession with misunderstood savings“, which he says does not bring respect externally.
“This forced image of modesty does not produce external respect. It produces the exact opposite. In borderline situations, it does not show responsibility, but precariousness. It does not show seriousness, but a lack of plan B. It does not show modesty, but a state that self-sabotages itself in terms of external representation and accepts to put itself in an embarrassing position”, says Mihai Fifor.
Finally, he claims that the fact that the situation has become public and is explained by reasons related to weather and technical problems is “a major institutional failure”.
“A functional, civilized and mature state doesn’t explain. It solves. Fast, silent, efficient. That’s how we end up looking like the poor relative from the country who left for the city. And in international politics, the way you present yourself, the way you’re treated”concludes Mihai Fifor.
