Juncker's warning: If Romanian laws of Justice remain as voted by the Parliament, talks about CVM and Schengen will be put in different terms / Klaus Iohannis: The independence of justice is intangible

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker warned on Wednesday that should the attempts to change Romanian Justice laws remain as voted by the Parliament, talks on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism – a key Justice monitoring instrument applied on Romania when it joined the EU – and Schengen membership would be put in different terms. Juncker also said in a joint press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Brussels that the EU will not accept Romania to take steps back on the rule of law.

Juncker also referred to the allegations brought last week by Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the leaders of the Romanian governing coalition, who said the head of the European Commission had been misinformed about the laws of Justice. He said he was informed that he was misinformed, but I that he is well informed about the rule of law in Romania.

Klaus Iohannis said in turn that „the independence of justice is intangible, I will fully involve myself and will do everything, absolutely everything a president can do to keep things that way.” The president also said that the problem had to be solved at home and said optimistically: „I think we have a major problem with the laws of justice and the [criminal and criminal procedure] Codes, but we have to solve this problem in Romania. The solution is with us and that is why we insisted on having legal solutions that satisfy the needs of the home system and the generally valid criteria, the European values „.