Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) Senate floor leader Petrisor Peiu criticised President Nicusor Dan for what he called the head of the state's 'refusal' to disclose the value of Romania's financial assistance to Ukraine.

In a Facebook message, Peiu wrote that 'Nicusor Dan is arrogating to himself a right the Constitution doesn't grant him: that of classifying part of public spending'. The senator argued that the president is effectively telling Romanians two 'unacceptable' things: that he will not reveal the total value of the aid, and that the justification for secrecy is the claim that Russia could deduce Romania's remaining military stock. According to Peiu, Dan is 'defying every norm of democracy and political common sense', noting that the president could have simply disclosed the total amount without detailing the military equipment involved.

'On the other hand, it is absolutely condemnable cynicism to tell Romanians that the state to which they pay taxes can no longer ensure their security because it has handed over its armaments to its neighbours,' Peiu wrote.

He argues that 'total transparency of public spending is part of the social contract' and accuses Dan of trying to strengthen an 'autocratic regime' by hiding expenditures from taxpayers 'without any law allowing him to do so', and comparing the behaviour to that of King Carol II. For taxpayers to willingly pay taxes, Peiu says, they must trust that the state spends collected funds responsibly.

The AUR senator further warns that similar secretive practices under Carol II had cost Romania dearly, and suggests that other expenses might be concealed under the same pretext - including foreign lobbying, publicly funded events, or even private trips, speculating rhetorically about 'secret sessions on a yacht in Monaco' or private-jet travel with political associates. 'The last time a head of state behaved like this, Romania paid dearly for the secret decisions of Carol II's regime,' Peiu cautions.

President Nicusor Dan, speaking on Wednesday in Kyiv at the Ukraine - Eastern Europe Summit, said that given the military component of the assistance, it is 'better' for the information to remain secret, adding that aid provided by Romania and other states has consisted at times of money and at other times of equipment. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Livia Popescu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)