AUR criticizes the indictment of Dan Tănasă, who is being investigated for incitement to hatred and discrimination

The Alliance for the Union of Romanians criticizes the decision to send MP Dan Tănasă to trial, who is being investigated in a criminal case for “incitement to hatred and discrimination.” The party’s reaction comes after the parliamentarian publicly criticized, last year, the import of unskilled labor from Asia and Africa.

AUR maintains that Tănasă’s statements concerned a public policy regarding migration, the labor market, and the future of Romanian society, not individuals or ethnic groups. The party states that the MP did not call for violence, assaults on foreign workers, or attacks against any person.

According to the party, Tănasă said that Romania should no longer bring in unskilled workers from outside Europe as long as millions of Romanians have left the country, salaries remain low, and the state is failing to bring its citizens back home.

“Refuse the order if it is not delivered by a Romanian. Stop encouraging the import of unskilled workers from Asia and Africa. Wake up!”, Dan Tănasă wrote.

AUR announces that it will support the MP’s right to a fair trial and parliamentarians’ right to express their political opinions, including when these are uncomfortable or contrary to the positions of those in power. The party warns that criminalizing opposition to an immigration policy could affect democratic debate and freedom of expression.