While in Brussels to attend the European Council meeting, President Klaus Iohannis stated that he had agreed with the European Council President, Donald Tusk, to have an informal meeting in Sibiu, on Europe’s Day on May 9, 2019.
Romania will take over the EU Presidency in the first semester of 2019.
“We agreed to have an informal meeting in Romania on Europe’s Day, on May 9, 2019, more precisely a meeting in Sibiu and it will probably be the last meeting where we’ll take conclusions regarding the European Union’s future and the strategic agenda,” said Iohannis.
The Romanian head of state hasn’t mentioned yet if the EU Summit scheduled in Romania in 2019 would take place in Sibiu.
Klaus Iohannis stressed that the second very important topic to be discussed in Brussels refers to the evaluation of the Brexit negotiation’s outcomes, where he said “there are no encouraging news for now”.
“I don’t think at this meeting we’ll be able to say that we can enter the second stage of the negotiations. However, the rights of the European citizens in the EU, including the ones of the Romanians who live there, are a topic which seems to be treated with openness on both sides,” Iohannis explained.
President Klaus Iohannis is in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to attend the European Council meeting, which will focus mainly on migration issues, the Union’s digital agenda, security and defence, EU-Turkey relations, the North Korean file.
According to a press release by the Presidential Administration, the European Council will also address the issue of the EU’s future, a context in which the Leaders’ Agenda will be analysed, a document proposed by the European Council President, detailing the timetable and topics to be discussed by European leaders at the end of H1 2019.
Also, a EU27 format session will be held, dedicated to talks on the UK’s exit from the Union, in order to assess the progress made so far in the negotiation process.
In the context of the European Council meeting, Klaus Iohannis will also attend the European People’s Party Summit and meet EPP President Joseph Daul and EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz.