\n
<\/p>\n
On November 16,
\n2014 Klaus Iohannis won the presidential election in Romania. Only a few days
\nlater, on December 21, he officially took over his mandate from his predecessor,
\nTraian Basescu, and became the new head of state. Iohannis’s speech before
\nParliament on Wednesday was not meant to be an activity report one year after
\nhis taking over the presidential mandate. As Klaus Iohannis himself described
\nit, this was meant to be a gesture of democratic normalcy. I wanted this year
\nthat ends to be one in which we have won back normalcy, both domestically and
\nexternally, by turning the idea of consultations from an empty concept into a
\nmeaningful one, with concrete effects, Iohannis has said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the
\nhead of state, it has become natural in Romania, in quite a short time, for the
\npresident, parties and civil society representatives to sit together at the
\ntable of talks. The year 2015 has also proven that the current political class
\ncan largely agree on matters concerning the country, one such example being the
\nunanimous decision to increase to 2% of the GDP the funds earmarked for defense
\nin 2017. Also, the promise to adopt the postal voting law has been kept. At the
\nexternal level, winning back normalcy means, according to Iohannis, to regain
\nthe country’s prestige and to strengthen its strategic partnerships. There have
\nbeen several clear goals: strengthening and extending the partnership with the
\nUS, strengthening strategic partnerships with the EU members such as France,
\nPoland, Britain and Turkey and strengthening ties with neighboring countries. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The stake in 2016 is to rebuilt trust in politics and in its ability to set the
\nright direction. It’s been 26 years since Romanians stood up against the
\ncommunist regime, and the best way to honour the sacrifice of those who gave
\ntheir life for freedom and democracy is to make a different type of politics.
\nFor this reason, President Klaus Iohannis has proposed that the theme of the
\nyear 2016 be the reconstruction of the political class. Political parties must
\ncarry out this mission, which involves new ideas, new practices and new people.
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis also wants a responsible government, and economic
\ngrowth that should mirror not only in figures but also in the living standard
\nof every Romanian. This is the time for change, Iohannis has said, urging the
\nRomanian political class to answer the needs of society. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis held a speech in Parliament to mark one year as president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":66553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[28945],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-66552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-klaus-iohannis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n