Agriculture Minister Petre Daea says he has “reduced room for interpretation” because he does not have the experience to pick up “all the nuances”, but the gesture by Austria, which voted against Romania’s entry into Schengen, is “disturbing”. He urged Romanians who want to ski to “stay within this perimeter of state interest that we have.”

Daea was asked on Saturday by Antena 3 what he would convey to his Austrian counterpart, who he will meet in Brussels after Austria voted against Romania joining the Schengen area, saying: “I will not use this opportunity to make remarks to anyone, but I will certainly shake his hand, look into his lordship’s eyes, and say what deserves to be said, namely, that the whole of Rumania is frightened by this measure adopted by Austria, and from this point of view I am in a position to convey what I feel as a human being, as a Romanian, and from this point of view I will have no reservations.”

When asked if he was going to ski in Austria again or give up his bank account with Austrian capital, Petre Daea replied: “I don’t do this sport. But even if I had practiced it, I would not have gone because I have not yet fully known the country I want to know, and I encourage everyone to know Romania and stay in this perimeter of national interest that we have.”

He also said that he has “less room for interpretation” because he does not have the experience to catch “all the nuances”, but the gesture of Austria, which voted against Romania’s entry into Schengen, is “disturbing”:

• “I don’t have the experience in this field to catch all these nuances. I have less room for interpretation, but I can say that the gesture that Austria has made worries us, and it is natural that it worries us, knowing what efforts we have made over time and what contribution we have made to European solidarity, and also Romania’s latest actions regarding the war prove to us that Romania is in the space of European understanding and we must stay there. And we all have to act so that it is good for Europe and also for Romania.
• I have never sat with my head down, and I never will.”