(Brussels) “I count on the energy and unity of the whole Romanian nation, its political forces and institutions to take all decisions necessary” to make our Union advance in the coming months. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said this at the opening ceremony of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Bucharest yesterday evening.

To the civil and religious authorities, guests and local government leaders packing the Romanian Athenaeum of the capital, Juncker also said: “In the months to come, the Commission – which is a friend of Romania, even if some people in this country sometimes seem to doubt it – will continue to support the Presidency, with the same spirit that guides those who are here today: to make sure that the first Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is a great moment in Romanian history and a great moment in European history”.