- Title: Romanian President calls for urgent solution of country's internal crisis
- Date: 19th June 2017
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND ROMANIAN PRESIDENT KLAUS IOHANNIS ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (Romanian) ROMANIAN PRESIDENT KLAUS IOHANNIS, SAYING: "Regarding the political crisis in Romania: Of course, the chancellor won't give her opinion here, but we had a short conversation about it and I think I made our message very clear. We have an internal crisis in the government coalition, but Romania remains stable with a functioning economy. Furthermore, I have called for the involved parties to come to a solution as soon as possible, which is going to happen." PAN FROM REPORTERS TO IOHANNIS AND MERKEL (SOUNDBITE) (German) ROMANIAN PRESIDENT KLAUS IOHANNIS, SAYING: "It doesn't have any implications [on the EU]. We have an internal political crisis, which I have defined as an internal coalition crisis. European policies and Romanian foreign policies are not affected in any way, because these are mainly areas, in which I am strongly involved and my interest is to keep this in a good framework. And also because practically all relevant Romanian politicians share my opinion that European policies and foreign policies should be carried out in a solid and reasonable manner. In Romania, interestingly, in this questions we all share the same opinion." CAMERA IOHANNIS AND MERKEL LISTENING PHOTOGRAPHER IOHANNIS AND MERKEL SHAKING HANDS AND LEAVING
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2017 14:03
- Keywords: Romania government EU coalition crisis solution
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016LY19H5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Monday (June 19) said his country was facing an internal coalition crisis and called for all involved parties to find an urgent solution.
"It doesn't have any implications [on the EU]. We have an internal political crisis, which I have defined as an internal coalition crisis. European policies and Romanian foreign policies are not affected in any way," Iohannis told reporters on his visit to Berlin, where he held bilateral talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Iohannis added that solid and reasonable European and foreign policies were needed, all Romanian politicians would share this opinion.
Romania's ruling leftists filed a no-confidence motion in parliament on Sunday (June 18) against their Prime Minister, Sorin Grindeanu, escalating a conflict which government critics say reflects internal rifts over anti-corruption policy.
The Social Democrat Party (PSD) and its coalition allies withdrew their support for Grindeanu, 43, last Wednesday (June 14), saying he has failed to implement the PSD's broad governing agenda since it won a parliamentary election last December.
Grindeanu refused to resign and was expelled from the party.
Independent observers said the PSD is likely unhappy with Grindeanu's failure to relax Romania's anti-corruption rules earlier this year and wanted to oust him to ensure a different premier does more to protect party seniors facing graft charges.
Romania is seen as one of the European Union's most corrupt states and Brussels has kept its justice system under special monitoring since its 2007 entry. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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