Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced on Monday, in plenary session, his resignation from office, which he held for 5 years.

"I did not cling to this position. (...) I will continue to involve myself politically," said Tariceanu, in the Senate's plenary session.

"Today is my last day as Senate President of Romania. It was, undoubtedly, an honor and privilege that I will always cherish to be for five years at the helm of an institution whose history began more than a century and a half ago. In the name of this promise I have acted over the course of the five years, namely to be a fair, balanced and equidistant president. Moreover, I promised that I would be an involved president, that I would not attend passively to what is happening in the Romanian society and on the political scene. I have advocated for something that seems to me essential for our democracy, namely that the rights and freedoms of the citizen should be real and not just a slogan that many use in the electoral campaign. From this forum, not just once have I denounced the abuses of the justice system. (...) It is sad for me to note that, unfortunately, the Opposition has not understood this struggle to give back justice to the citizen, to remove the influence of the intelligence services from the act of justice and to release the judges from any pressure. They understood that ensuring the independence of justice is an assault on justice," said Tariceanu, in the Senate plenary session.

"I rose to this position backed by a political alliance and it seems natural for me to break away from this position once that alliance has ended its existence," he concluded.AGERPRES(RO - author: Dana Piciu, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)