Romania’s Parliament cancelled a meeting at which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to speak, G4Media.ro reported.
Parliament’s leadership decided on Tuesday not to hold the joint sitting originally called for today in honour of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Other parliamentary sources claimed that it was likely just a postponement for security reasons.
On Tuesday, Zelensky arrived in Bucharest, where he was met at the airport by Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu. The programme of the visit includes a meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and talks with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Alfred Simonis said on Tuesday that he did not know why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not come to give a speech in the joint plenary of the two chambers of the Parliament, arguing that a head of state makes his own programme.
“We are not doing President Zelensky’s programme. As you know, he is the president of a state in conflict… His programme is one that changes from moment to moment. He decides where he goes and where he does not go. I cannot answer that. In no way did it come from the Chamber of Deputies… I have just received the communication that he will not come to the plenary.”
On Tuesday morning, the original schedule of the Parliament had called for a joint sitting at 17.00, when President Zelensky was to address the full Parliament. An internal parliamentary memorandum consulted by G4Media showed that the Presidential Administration had cancelled the Ukrainian President’s speech.
In Romania, Zelensky’s possible visit led to a series of threats from Diana Șoșoacă, the senator accused of pro-Russian attitudes:
It will be bad if Zelensky comes to the Parliament.
George Simion, a member of the Assembly of Deputies of Romania, announced in an ironic Facebook post that Zelensky would no longer give a speech in Parliament:
It is with a heavy heart that we announce that the courageous Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will no longer attend the Romanian Parliament today.
Later, Simion resumed his statements in the hallway of the Parliament about “little Zelensky” and “little Simonis” (interim Speaker of the House), whom he accused of being scared of Diana Șoșoacă.
He also claimed that Romanian money should be spent in Romania rather than being spent on military aid to Ukraine.
This is not the first time that the Ukrainian President has been refused to address parliaments. In mid-September, Kevin McCarthy, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, prevented Zelensky from addressing congressmen, explaining his decision by the busyness of lawmakers.
