The leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) senators, Lucian Romascanu, believes that the final ECHR decision on the protection and legal recognition of LGBT families in Romania will have to be analyzed by the Government, explained to society, and at European level to understand that there are important cultural differences between member states.
"Romania has undertaken to recognize same-sex marriages in the European Union, so that there can be a right of residence in Romania of those who have concluded such marriages in other EU member states. Regarding this decision, it will have to be discussed at Government level and see what the next steps are. There is obviously this direction, which we accept, we are members of the EU. At the same time, these things must be done carefully, in time, and with a sufficiently clear explanation to society of what this means, because we must understand and it must be understood at European level that there are important cultural differences between member states," Romascanu said on Wednesday at the Senate, agerpres reports.
"We'll see how this ECHR decision will be interpreted at the level of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Justice, the Government (...) The European Union and membership in the European Union have brought us many benefits, of course, there are also things that do not always suit us, but we must take them into account. The decisions or directives of the European Union must always be updated legislatively in each EU member country," Romascanu added.
"Given the cultural differences I talked about, there will certainly be a negotiation process at the European Union on terms. We do not discuss the obligation, because, as I said, EU membership also implies obligations, but the timetable, the way of adoption will have to be discussed at the level of the Government and then at the level of Parliament," Romascanu said.
The College of Judges of the Grand Chamber of the ECHR rejected the challenge made by the Romanian Government against the decision handed down in May by the European Court of Human Rights obliging the Romanian state to adopt legislation for the recognition of same-sex couples.
In August, the Romanian state appealed to the Grand Chamber the ECHR decision of May 23 that obliges Romania to recognize by law and protect the rights of same-sex couples who want to officially become a family. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the institution that exercises, on behalf of the Government, the prerogatives of government agent before the ECHR.