Romania's Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Thursday that any decision on making the COVID certificate mandatory will be a political one that will have to be taken by "consultative and inclusive" mechanism, emphasising that religious freedom is a basic component in that regard.

He was asked if in his opinion the mandate of the green certificate attesting to the COVID-19 vaccinations also applies to people entering places of worship.

"Religious freedom must be observed. I would like to change the name of the green certificate. It is, in fact, a request of the European Commission; the green certificate is intended for movement in the European Union. We are talking about a COVID certificate or COVID stop that each member state adopts domestically to fight against the pandemic, to contain the consequences of the pandemic. I believe that when we make a decision, which will ultimately be a political decision, we must use a consultative and inclusive mechanism. That is, it must not be a discretionary decision, it must be a rule that is known, understood, and followed by all, and religious freedom is one of the basic components. We can't just say that there is, if you will, access to essential shops, as we believe that access to religious services must also take that into account," said Rafila after a meeting on Thursday with Romanian church leaders, where also attending was Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

He said that the prime minister believes vaccination is part of the solution, but behaviour is another part of it.

"The prime minister was saying something very important: that vaccination is part of the solution. If we have the religious denominations with us, the society as a whole, then, I think, the other part about individual behaviour, individual responsibility, can be changed in such a way as to contain transmission," said Rafila.

Asked if the COVID certificate law would be adopted by Christmas, he said: "It depends a lot on Parliament, but we will certainly have a decision this month to take action."

"We were discussing in the past few days an option that would allow the use of the COVID certificate according to certain measurable epidemiological parameters, known for a long time by everyone," said Rafila. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)