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Historian Adrian Cioroianu, director of the National Library of Romania, says that Queen Elizabeth II remains a symbol for the whole world, without having had any political power.
"A truly historical character, given that her life spans 70 years of the history of Great Britain, the history of Europe, the history of the Western world. For us, as such, she has a particular resonance. I mean us, as Romanians, given the kinship she had with King Mihai and the fact that King Mihai's last visit as king was to London for the wedding of the then Crown Princess, Elizabeth. And beyond this subjective aspect, Queen Elizabeth remains the symbol that, without having a political power, Elizabeth II represented for the British world and, I would say, beyond the borders of Great Britain for many Europeans and for people from the whole world who admired how she fulfilled this symbolic mandate as a representative of a people: with dignity, with moderation, with equal presence and, it seems, with great efficiency, because until the day before yesterday I saw her wearing talks with the future prime minister of Great Britain," Cioroianu declared for AGERPRES on Thursday, told Agerpres.
The former Foreign Minister pointed out that, although the death of the British sovereign comes at a sensitive moment for Europeans, "every moment creates its own leaders, every historical stage creates its own representatives".
"Another king or queen will come to lead Great Britain, who knows when in the future, what matters is that each one leaves behind an echo of facts, ideas, sometimes nerve points, because Queen Elizabeth was not spared nor by objections, as is normal in a democratic society, but the emotion that encompasses us all at her death speaks of the value she had as the occupant of an illustrious throne in the Western world," added Adrian Cioroianu.
