ALDE Europe: There Will Be Discussions On Excluding ALDE Romania In November

According to de Schaetzen, the situation will be discussed during the ALDE Europe council scheduled this November in Madrid.

“The council will decide whether it will be only a debate; they can decide (ALDE Romania’s exclusion, ed.), but I cannot speculate what they will do. They have three options – they can either heed the recommendation made in the letter, ignore it or find middle ground. They have no obligation to act upon it,” the ALDE Europe representative told MEDIAFAX.

The information comes despite the fact that ALDE Romania chairman, Calin Popescu Tariceanu said earlier in the day that the European group already decided against the exclusion of the Romanian party.

Tariceanu’s statement was a response to allegations made by USR MP Cristian Ghinea, who said that Spanish ALDE member Ciudadanos would have proposed the group’s exclusion.

USR, who is negotiating its affiliation in the European Parliament in the context of upcoming MEP elections, previously announced that it conditioned its affiliation to ALDE Europe on the exclusion of the Romanian party, currently part of the country’s ruling coalition.

In August, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, leader of the New Austria Liberal Forume (NEOS), sent a letter to ALDE Europe chairman Hans van Baalen in which she requested the exclusion of ALDE Romania.