President Iohannis to have a stance on the broken ruling coalition, gov’t reshuffle on Wednesday

President Klaus Iohannis said in a meeting with the Romanian ambassadors that he will have an official stance on the government crisis on Wednesday, after ALDE had decided to quit the ruling coalition. Iohannis added he will also talk about the government reshuffle.

“Give me a good domestic policy so that I could make a good foreign affairs policy, Nicolae Titulescu used to say. We cannot disregard Romania’s domestic policy. I will have a public statement tomorrow about the current government crisis, about reshuffle, about the way to get out of this crisis, but you will return to your post and you will be asked what’s happening in Romania? How the crisis will be solved? How the elections will go? And you should answer that: Romania has a solid democracy, Romania has a democracy enhanced by the referendum of May 26 this year and which brought the Romanians clear answer”, Iohannis told the Romanian diplomats convened at Cotroceni Palace.

He vowed he will guarantee that the solutions for the government crisis are constitutional.

“For democracy, for a pro-European way, for a solid transatlantic approach, for the rule of law and a fair judiciary, enhancing and continuing the fight against corruption, you should reply this way: Romania will remain a democracy and a credible and stable partner within the limits set by the Constitution. There are solutions and I guarantee you the solutions are constitutional. I trust your professional involvement that is essential in this regard and I wish you good luck“, the head of state added.

About the meeting with Trump: The partnership with the U.S. has become more robust

On the other hand, President Iohannis referred to the recent meeting he had with American President Donald Trump, stating that the partnership with the U.S. has become more robust following the meeting, while his visit to Washington has been a success.

“The partnership with the U.S. has become more robust. The scale of our political ties has reached its peak after the encounters at the White House in June 2017 and the one last week. On August 20, I had again an excellent, very consistent discussion with President Trump. The joint statement that we adopted is marking the boost of our strategic partnership in essential sectors. We talked about the US’ consistent presence in Romania. We highlighted that, beyond the political and military part, the development is essential in other fields as well, the economic and investment sectors and we encouraged the investments in strategic projects for Romania, particularly on energy,” the Romanian head of state pointed out, while adding “it is necessary we further give a special focus on enhancing other partnerships and bilateral strategic relations”.

More criticism against current and former PSD heads on Romania’s losing the seat of non-permanent member in the UN Security Council

Furthermore, Iohannis resumed criticism against the PSD, especially against the ruling party’s current and former presidents, Viorica Dancila and Liviu Dragnea for Romania’s losing the seat of non-permanent member in the UN Security Council.

Iohannis is referring to Dancila and Dragnea’s statements on relocating Romania’s embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which led to the Arab representatives in the UN Security Council to vote against Romania.

“Regrettably, we cannot celebrate today, within the Annual Diplomacy Reunion, Romania’s obtaining a non-permanent member seat in the UN Security Council, even if you have taken huge efforts and obtained a considerable number of endorsements. Romania was boycotted by the irresponsible political statements made by some high ranking officials without having any mandate and which were opposite to some of Romania’s traditional stances”, Klaus Iohannis pointed out.

He argued that “serious side slips” have prompted a false impression that there is “a lack of predictability on some sensitive, complex foreign affairs files.”