Orban: Ionel Bratianu is remembered for dedicating his life to the great national ideals

Ionel Bratianu went down in Romania's history for his calling as a visionary leader and for dedicating his life to great national ideals, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban says in a message commemorating the former Liberal leader, according to AGERPRES.

"With a strong sense of responsibility towards the past, present and future, Ionel Bratianu carried forward his father's dream, Ion C. Bratianu, through an essential contribution to the achievement of the 1918 Greater Union of all Romanians. An exceptional diplomat and politician, Ionel Bratianu, a scholar, led the Romanian delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference, where he defended Romania's dignity and independence. He led Romania's destinies with great courage and patriotism in a period of great trials, and he managed very wisely to defend the interests of the nation and the rights of the citizens," Orban wrote on Tuesday in a message posted on the Romanian Government's Facebook page.

He added that the results of Bratianu's terms as prime minister remain a "precious legacy."

"The agrarian reform undertaken for the benefit of the Romanians and the voting of the Constitution of 1923 contributed decisively to the transformation of Romania, from a political, economic and social perspective. An indefatigable defender of national affirmation, Ionel Bratianu, like the great visionary leaders, continues to be our model and guide us by his convictions: ?It is not enough to help with the material uplift, but you must also help the moral uplift of those on whom we want our state to rest tomorrow," writes Orban.

He underscores that as prime minister and national chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) he wants to carry on Ionel Bratianu's creed, "out of respect for history and with responsibility for the future."

"A brilliant politician, Ionel Bratianu dedicated himself to the ideals of liberalism, like his illustrious family, both as a member of the party and during the 18 years he led the National Liberal Party. I am grateful that in my term as prime minister we managed to reopen to the Romanians Villa Florica and to inaugurate the Bratianu National Museum, in memory of Ionel Bratianu and of the Bratianu's forerunners who laid the foundation stone for Greater Romania, a democratic and modern country in which we live today," Orban also says.

November 24 marked the 93rd anniversary of Ionel Bratianu's death.