President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday stated that he discussed with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, about Romania preparing to take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and underscored that Romania is a pro-European country and it will stay that way.
"Regarding to the Presidency of the Union Council we are about to take over I have already said from the beginning that Romania is a pro-European country. And it will stay that way. It is a country that is deeply committed to the process of consolidation of the Union and at the summit that we will organize during our Presidency we will contribute, I believe to a great extent, to the building of a very good future for the Union. (...) Our vision is a strong pro-European one and our strategic objective is a more profound integration with the Union. And we want this to result also from the manner in which we will organize our Presidency time. We are for a deeper integration," said the head of the state, at the joint press conference he had with Jean-Claude Juncker and European Commissioner Corina Cretu.
President Iohannis highlighted the four important dimensions to stay at the grounds of Romania's programme for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, namely: ensuring sustainable and balanced growth for all member states in the innovation and digitization areas, increasing convergence rate and connectivity, maintaining a safe Europe for its citizens, strengthening the global role of the European Union and promoting European values.
The head of state also specified that in preparing the Presidency of the EU Council he has "very many problems to solve." In this context, he thanked European Commission President Juncker for his readiness to support Romania, either through talks at leadership level or at technical level.
Iohannis also mentioned that the main files that Romania will have to deal with during its Presidency will be: Brexit-related negotiations on the multi-annual framework post-2020 and the future of the EU.
"We discussed about Romania too. There has been an interest in the events that we are facing back home these days, including in what happens in the justice area, but what I want to say from the very beginning is that all the discussions were positive, constructive and I enjoyed them, the head of the state said.
