Romanian leader: we are not a second-rate EU state

BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania’s president says his country is not a second-class European Union nation and citizens should stop thinking that.

In an address to Parliament, Klaus Iohannis said that a decade after Romania joined the EU, “Romanians are deeply attached to European values,” citing massive anti-corruption protests that broke out in February after the government moved to decriminalize official misconduct. The government eventually scrapped the ordinance.

Iohannis told lawmakers Tuesday: “We are not a second-rate state in the EU.”

“Romanians should overcome an internal barrier that prevents us from manifesting our national capacity and limits us to unjustly considering ourselves a second-level state.”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will address Romania’s Parliament about the future of Europe later this week.