Klaus Iohannis, 100 days as President
The Romanian President speaks about his accomplishments in the first 100 days of his term in office
Corina Cristea, 01.04.2015, 13:57
Signing the agreement allowing for an increase in the defense budget, rebuilding trust between the state and citizens and Romania regaining its credibility abroad are some of the accomplishments that Klaus Iohannis says marked his first 100 days as president of Romania. During a press conference, the head of state also voiced his discontent with the way in which Parliament deals with requests made by the judiciary.
100 days after taking over the presidential office, Klaus Iohannis’s biggest discontent remains the way in which Parliament responds to requests coming from the judiciary and the fact that promises of introducing new procedures, aimed at making the endorsement of such requests more transparent and easier to apply, have not been kept. In the president’s opinion, this might affect Romania’s joining the Shenghen agreement, initially scheduled for March 2011, but which has not happened in reality yet.
Klaus Iohannis: “Each time an act of justice is blocked by Parliament marks a step backwards in regaining public trust and legitimacy, and the effects go beyond mere voting. As to the politicians suspected of corruption and their running from justice, I would like to say that there is one test which, if you fail, you cannot hide and nobody can help you. And I’m referring here to personal integrity, which cannot be faked, no matter how hard you try. In politics, if you’ve made a serious mistake, you just quit.”
But this is something that rarely happens in the Romanian world of politics, although the National Anti-Corruption Directorate is more active than ever, adding every day new names on the long list of officials accused of corruption. The problem is when chamber colleagues rally around a certain MP for which the Directorate files a request for lifting their diplomatic immunity in order to start prosecution, as it has recently happened with the former Social Democrat Transport Minister Dan Sova or Senator Varujan Vosganian, a former minister of the economy, who subsequently resigned from the National Liberal Party. That who does not learn from the lessons taught by history is deemed to repeat the past and to fail build a future, the Romanian head of state said. He drew attention to the fact that changing the political class and mentalities takes a very long time. However, such a process seemed impossible a few months ago, and we now see that it has already started. Resistance to change is a sign that change has started to happen, president Klaus Iohannis also said.
Klaus Iohannis: “It is possible to have a Romania of things well done, a country that knows what it wants and can do what it wants. This is a healing process for this country, which needs just one simple thing in order to function: it needs us all to do our job in a responsible manner. I said that as a president I would be a mediator and an integrator. After years of conflict I have managed to bring to the dialogue table political parties, public institutions, civil society, for talks on various issues. One of the outcomes of this approach has been the signing of the agreement on increasing the defense budget.”
Klaus Iohannis also recalled the formal visits he paid as head of state, saying that in those 100 days with him at the helm, Romania started to regain its credibility abroad.
