December 1st Reception Rescheduled as President Iohannis Takes Off to Dubai for a 3-Minute Speech at COP28

On Romania’s National Day, President Klaus Iohannis will take off for Dubai, where he will deliver a 3-minute speech at the UN Climate Change Summit on December 2. The National Day reception at Cotroceni Palace, unlike previous years, will start at 14:00, allowing the head of state to depart for Dubai. He will address COP28 on global warming alongside Pope Francis, and the Prime Ministers of the UK, Italy, and Germany, as well as the Presidents of Israel and Palestine.

Fresh from his African tour, the Romanian president will make his second trip this year to the United Arab Emirates, specifically Dubai, for the UN Climate Change Conference. Klaus Iohannis’s speech is scheduled before more than 70,000 participants on December 2. Digi24.ro examined the Dubai Summit protocol, where all speakers are forbidden to exceed the 3-minute limit. Organizers state, ‘To be fair to all speakers, time limits will be strictly adhered to. An electronic/mechanical device will be used to mark the allocated 3 minutes for each speaker. This will allow all speakers to present their national statements. Parties are encouraged to ensure that their national statements do not exceed a maximum of three minutes.’

The same document confirms the presence of multiple heads of state at COP28 in Dubai. Pope Francis will lead the list of speakers on December 2, 2023. President Klaus Iohannis is scheduled to deliver his address after 9:20. In the same segment, the President of France and the Prime Ministers of Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, Sweden, Finland, and many others will speak.

The Presidential Administration has not yet disclosed the schedule for the Dubai trip. There is information suggesting that the president will have a four-day stay (between December 1 and 4) in Dubai, similar to the period of March 18-21, 2023, when he had an official visit to the UAE at the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Parade, reception, decoration, and takeoff Government sources confirmed to digi24.ro that the reception at Cotroceni Palace on December 1 will take place a few hours earlier than the usual schedule in previous years.

Thus, on National Day, the presidential champagne toast will be at 14:00, immediately after the military parade at the Triumphal Arch. The Presidential Administration has not yet made public information about the Cotroceni Reception; the only public information is about the military parade at the Triumphal Arch. H

owever, several government sources have confirmed that the Cotroceni Reception will take place starting at 14:00. On the same day, the President of Romania will award several medals and decorations. In this regard, the Presidential Administration has ordered several hundred national orders and decorations from the State Mint, with a total value of 3.01 million lei (approximately 600,000 euros).