Further to a post a few days ago, the Romanian parliament approved a statement on Tuesday declaring that the government, and by extension the prime minister rather than the president, should attend the European Council meeting on Romania’s behalf at the end of the month.

The National News Agency is reporting that the parliament voted in favor of a statement by 249 votes to 30 with one abstention. In total, there are 481 seats in both houses combined. Therefore, the statement gained majority support. As is typical in Romania, when the opposition knows that it is going to lose, then it prefers not to take part in the vote at all.

President Băsescu has responded by insisting that the statement has no constitutional or legal force and by emphasizing Art. 80 of the Constitution, which states that “The President of Romania shall represent the Romanian State …”. So, the matter is not yet resolved. President Băsescu’s comments are available in Romanian here.