President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that in the context of rising prices, the government must find solutions so that the impact on the population is as small as possible. “The minimum income must ensure a decent minimum living,” said the president, who also said that pensions must be increased “to give retirees a chance at a minimum necessary income.”
“It is important to see how we ended up in this crisis, the rising prices, increasing inflation and then we’ll have the explanation. It is the war started by Russia against Ukraine. Measures are needed at national level to come up in support of the population”, the Romanian head of state said.
Iohannis said that Romania has a stable government that can come up with measures, but they are enforced “at a time”. “People expect immediate solutions, but the budget cannot be stretched indefinitely, and then wisdom and patience are needed”, he argued.
“I sometimes see politicians from various parties that rush up and say how bad it is. We must have a mature approach, look and find solutions”, the president added.
The President considers that “the minimum income must ensure a decent minimum living”. “This requires a determined government that comes with investments, with longer-term approaches, that comes with a well-developed National Recovery and Resilience Plan and these things will ultimately lead to the development of the general standard of living. When will this complicated phase end? First of all, there is a need to end the war waged by Russia, but there is also a need for recovery measures at national and European level, and both are being worked on and the effects are already visible “, the head of state added.
Asked about the increase in pensions, President Iohannis says that “it is immoral and incorrect for the price of a crisis to be paid by pensioners”. “Given that we have inflation, we have rising prices, it is obvious that pensions must also increase in order to give pensioners a chance at a minimum necessary income. I’ve said it a few times before and I don’t know if people understood what I meant. It is immoral and incorrect for the price of a crisis to be paid by retirees. (…) It seems reasonable to me that the level of this pension should be adapted to the situation. It is clear that the government must come and will come up with a serious plan that addresses this issue head-on “, Klaus Iohannis assured.
On national security laws: “Nobody wants a restoration of the old Securitate”
President Klaus Iohannis also aid on Tuesday that it was a major mistake that “someone, and we know who” considered it appropriate to reveal “off the record” about the national security bills. Iohannis insisted that there is no cause for concern, because no one wants a restoration of the old Securitate or a restriction of citizens’ rights, and the projects will change when they enter public debate.
“We have some laws in the field of national security that were made in the early 90’s when democracy was new. (…) Over time, we know that things need to be adapted to the context. For this, a project has been drawn up, now we are in the phase where we have the first draft to be analyzed by the government, CSAT, Parliament. Someone, and we know who, thought it would be a good idea to report them. This is a major mistake. This is a first draft, they will be debated, amended, they will enter the parliament and certain approaches will certainly be corrected. No one wants a restoration of the old Securitate or a violation of citizens’ rights. This is a misinterpretation. I will personally take care that where the draft did not have a proper form to be corrected,” the Romanian president assured.
The national security draft bills are on the table of the ruling coalition, with mass media saying that the documents give increased powers to the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service.