Romania’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies held a moment of silence on Monday, September 15, for American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead at a university event on September 10. The marking of Kirk’s death came at the initiative of the far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanians, or AUR.
Both Kirk and AUR support Donald Trump and the policies of his administration. The Romanian party has also tried to ingratiate itself with the American conservative right in the past as well.
In the Senate, the moment of silence was requested by Ștefan Geamănu, AUR senator, at the beginning of the plenary session in which the simple motion submitted by AUR against education minister Daniel David was debated, according to HotNews.
“I propose that we keep a moment of silence in memory of Charlie Kirk, a fighter for truth and freedom, killed for his courage. Through this simple but profound gesture, we show that Romania does not align with neo-Marxist extremists and does not tolerate complicit silence in the face of crime,” said Geamănu from the Senate podium, while holding in his hand a paper with a black-and-white portrait of Kirk.
A similar moment was requested by Gianina Șerban, AUR deputy, in the Chamber of Deputies.
During the moment of silence, several left-wing or center-right progressive members of Parliament refused to stand up.
“I condemn any political assassination and any act of political violence, but I do not want to legitimize through my behavior any kind of gesture, exhortation, or political action coming from AUR or from an extremist party,” said Victoria Stoiciu, contacted by HotNews. Stoiciu was the only Social Democratic senator who refused to stand up.
USR senator Cristian Ghinea, in turn, described the moment as shameful. “I will stand up when we have to condemn violence,” wrote Ghinea on Facebook.
On September 11, a day after Charlie Kirk was shot, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, rejected the proposal of right-wing MEPs to hold a moment of silence for Kirk. The initiative had initially been proposed by Charlie Weimers, MEP from the European Conservatives group.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck during one of his many public events. Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah, is the main suspect in the killing.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Codrin Unici)
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