Siegfried Muresan announced that on Friday he will officially field his candidacy for a new seat on the European Parliament. He said he will continue to defend the European values, the European funds for Romania, to represent the interests of Romanians in the European Parliament and support Moldova’s European integration, IPN reports.

“I assume this candidacy because I want to continue the work in the European Parliament which I have done in the last 10 years in the interests of Romanians. First of all, I will continue to defend the European values, such as democracy, independence and the rule of law, in Romania and throughout the European Union. Our common values and rules are the basis of the European project from which we all benefit. That’s why we must defend it from populist and extremist politicians and I will continue to do so during the next term,” he stated.

Siegfried Muresan noted that he will continue to defend the European funds allocated to Romania. During the current tenure, he was the chief negotiator of Parliament on three major decisions through which European funds were allocated to Romania. He was also the co-rapporteur and negotiated, on behalf of the European Parliament, the establishment of the Recovery and Resilience Facility through which Romania receives €28.5 billion to finance the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. He is also the European Parliament’s chief negotiator for the 2024 EU budget.

The MEP also said that he will continue to support Moldova’s European integration. “During the current tenure, I have served as the chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the Republic of Moldova. From this position, I initiated and negotiated resolutions that were supported by all MEPs of the National Liberal Party, through which I requested and obtained a favorable decision on the opening of negotiations on the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union. My objective during the next term is to continue being Moldova’s main advocate in the European Union accession negotiations, together with my mates from the National Liberal Party and the EPP Group,” stated the MEP.