Premium
President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday underscored the importance of education in defending the rule of law.
He was asked if Romania is "vaccinated" in the area of the need to protect the rule of law.
"Unfortunately, there is no such vaccine. There is only one solution and it is called civic courage. A dormant society will be plundered, it will simply fall prey to populists, to false sovereignty defenders, if not to totally false approaches from abroad. That is why it is extremely important and it is one of the reasons why I promote 'educated Romania.' An educated young man, an educated citizen cannot be a fool, because that is what we are talking about (...) I believe that the 'vaccination' of a society, as you have put it, can only be achieved in one way, through education. If people are educated, they will not only understand what the rule of law is, they will defend it because they want it. (...) There is no democracy without the rule of law, just as there is no solid democracy without a functioning economy," Iohannis said in prepared remarks to the official launching of the national debate on the future of Europe hosted by the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
Iohannis also underscored the importance of everyone's choices as expressed in political elections.
"There are countries where, unfortunately, populist politicians, extremely self-centered or directed from outside, manage to convince a large number of voters to vote for them and then it seems that the whole society is headed in a direction that is strange to us, or wrong or not as we wish. The antidote lies in education and information," said the President.
He also underlined the importance of combating misinformation.
"Fighting misinformation is not the endeavour of only some politicians and journalists, it is extremely important if we want our citizens to act, to plan their lives, to show up and vote in a reasonably informed way for a good future for the country in which we live. I believe that Romania has this chance to move forward a proud country that knows what it wants, with a well-educated young generation clearly on a path that we call pro-European and pro-Atlantic, a path underpinned by the values on which the EU is also founded, as well as the entire transatlantic relationship," Iohannis said.
