Klaus Iohannis announced on Monday that he is resigning as president, after Parliament began the procedure to suspend him from office. He said he is resorting to this gesture to spare Romania from possible negative effects. Ilie Bolojan, the leader of the Senate, will be interim president.
Iohannis argued that he resigned early because, although he was leaving office after the presidential elections in May, Romania would have entered a political crisis with negative effects on the external front.
February 12, 2025 will thus be Klaus Iohannis’ last day as President of Romania.
Klaus Iohannis announces his resignation from the position of president – full statement
“Hello!
Today, in the Romanian Parliament, the procedure for suspending the President was set in motion.
It is a useless move because, anyway, in a few months I will leave office after the election of the new President. It is an unfounded move, because I have never – I repeat, never – violated the Constitution. And it is a damaging move, because from here everyone loses, no one wins.
In a few days, the Romanian Parliament will vote on my suspension and Romania will enter a crisis.
Romania will enter a crisis because the referendum to dismiss the President is being launched.
This entire process will have effects domestically and will unfortunately also have effects externally.
Domestically, the referendum will be an eminently negative one. Society will be divided, some will agree, others will disagree. The entire discussion will be focused only on the negative. The entire society will be shaken. There will be no discussion about the upcoming presidential elections. There will be no discussion about how Romania will move forward. The candidates will not even be able to present their ideas in this negative amalgam.
Externally, the effects will be long-lasting and very negative. Absolutely no one among our partners will understand why Romania is dismissing its President after, in fact, it has already started the procedure for electing a new President. Absolutely no one will understand what the point of such an approach is when the incumbent President will leave anyway. In Romanian terms, we will effectively be the laughing stock of the world.
To spare Romania and the Romanian citizens from this crisis, from this unnecessary and negative development, I am resigning from the position of President of Romania. I will leave office the day after tomorrow, on February 12th.
God bless Romania!”
