President Iohannis: Unification of January 24, 1859 demonstrates importance of project to catalyze energies of Romanian people

President Klaus Iohannis stated on Monday that the Unification of January 24, 1859, demonstrates the importance of the existence of a project to catalyze the energies of the Romanian people, Agerpres reports.

"The Unification of January 24, 1859 demonstrates the importance of the existence of a project that catalyzes the energies of our people. In trying times, Romanians have shown that they can act with a common conscience to achieve a historical goal. Without creating external dissension, the Romanians skillfully used the international context and chose a ruler who lived up to this ambitious project," said President Iohannis at a battle flag decoration ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Carol I Park.

The head of state praised Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza's "act of bravery and assumption of leadership of the two principalities", who "laid the foundations of the irreversible historical process of transition to a modern state, deeply attached to European values."

"The Unification has been an ideal since the 1848 [pasoptistii were called the 48-ers - ed.n.] Revolution and took shape through the double election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, a clever strategy, generated by the deep patriotism and solidarity of the politicians of the time. In his short reign, Alexandru Ioan Cuza changed the course of history, he managed to consolidate the Unification by creating the first single Parliament and the first single Government. He was the one who laid the foundations of the modern Romanian state, carrying out numerous reforms in key areas such as the army, the electoral system, public administration, justice, education, agriculture or the fiscal system. At the same time, Alexandru Ioan Cuza obtained the recognition of the Unification by the great powers and its acceptance as a final and irreversible act, making known the fact that the will of the Romanian people could no longer be ignored," Iohannis stated.

The President emphasized that "the Unification of 1859 showed that ethnic, linguistic and cultural unity must naturally be followed by political-administrative unity, the pragmatic path towards consolidating the power of the United Principalities".

"In 1859, Romanians chose to build their future in accordance with European values and principles, and the fact that today Romania is a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance proves that despite the terrible trials history has subjected us to, the ideals of our people have always remained the same - freedom, democracy, national unity, and the proper functioning of state institutions. Another important element in the process of affirming national identity was the establishment of the war flag for the military units. At the ceremony of handing over the new military flags, Alexandru Ioan Cuza synthesized the significance of this national symbol, stating that the flag encompasses the entire history of the state. On the occasion of the 163rd anniversary of the Unification of 1859, I decided to decorate the war flag of the 282nd Armored Brigade "Unirea Principatelor" [Unification of Principalities], of the 8th Operational Tactical Missile Brigade "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" and of the 284th Tank Battalion "Cuza Voda"," President Klaus Iohannis went on to say.

President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and Senate President Florin Citu took part, on Monday, in the decoration ceremony of the war flags of 282nd Armored Brigade "Unirea Principatelor" [Unification of Principalities], of the 8th Operational Tactical Missile Brigade "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" and of the 284th Tank Battalion "Cuza Voda", at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Carol I Park.

The ceremony began with the singing of the national anthem and the performance of a religious service.

The head of state laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.