President Iohannis attends informal meeting with Bulgarian, Austrian counterparts in Ruse

By Romania Journal Last updated May 4, 2018

President Klaus Iohannis is attending the informal meeting alongside the Bulgarian and Austrian counterparts in Ruse on Friday.

The meeting gets together the presidents of the three countries that will successively hold the EU Council Presidency this year and in the first semester of 2019.

“We are committed to work together to ensure coordination and continuity between the current Bulgarian Presidency of the #EUCouncil and the upcoming Austrian and Romanian ones,” President Iohannis has tweeted.

Talks have focused on the current European agenda in order to facilitate a good coordination and cooperation during the three mandates at the helm of EU Council, the Presidential Administration informed.

According to a Presidency’s press release, Iohannis expressed Romania’s interest in collaborating with Bulgaria and Austria to meet the common target to get the European agenda advanced in the interest of the citizens. At the same time, the President underlined that, while the EU Council Presidency, Romania will aim at promoting a pragmatic approach and feasible targets, so that European citizens should benefit of the European project and of its concrete results.

Klaus Iohannis and the Austrian and Bulgarian presidents attended the conference “The sustainable development of the Danube Delta and the regional interconnection”, organized by Angel Kanchev University in Ruse, Bulgaria.

Iohannis also had bilateral meetings with Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev and Austria’s head of state Alexander Van der Bellen.

Rule of law is no formality, zero tolerance to corruption, Romanian president saysWhile addressing the audience at the conference hosted by Angel Kanchev University, Klaus Iohannis has tackled again the topics of rule of law and corruption, stating that rule of law is a state of mind, not a formality.

“The decision making transparency, good faith in implementing the public policies, the enforcement of the judiciary system, all these are pieces from an institutional framework which is essential not only to guarantee the European values, but also to provide economic development, the investors’ confidence and our citizens’ welfare,” President Iohannis said.

“First of all, I am firmly convinced that values represent the foundation of the European architecture. I know values can face numerous challenges today. That’s why, the younger generation’s perspective in an Europe based on values is crucial for the future that we are building together. I strongly believe in democracy and the rule of law. It’s very important, for each of us, to understand that rule of law is not a simple formality, but a state of mind. It consists in the justice based on the acknowledgement and on the full acceptance of the supreme value of the human rights, of the strong institutions and of having zero tolerance to corruption,” the Romanian head of state added.

- Advertisement -