President Iohannis receives Romanian Army's Badge of Honour

President Klaus Iohannis on Friday was awarded the Romanian Army's Badge of Honour by the Ministry of National Defence, at a ceremony to decorate military and civilians on December 1, the National Day of Romania, which took place at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

"I am excited. I cannot say that I am surprised, I found out 15 minutes ago what you were planning. You see, in the Romanian state there are various relationships, correlations, collaborations, but, in my opinion, from the experience of a president's term of office, the most special relationship - and I think the most important one for the existence of the national state - is the relationship between the president and the armed forces of Romania, which is why I tried - and you will evaluate in time if I managed - to build a trusting relationship, a relation of mutual respect and a relation that allows to raise the level of national security to a higher stage that guarantees to all Romanians that the state protects them in this true sense, of protection of the national identity. I think we have made some progress together. I believe that together we have taken decisive steps in this direction. I am thinking of the defence strategy, the allocation of 2% of the GDP in defence spending, of various constructions we carried out together with our allies and partners inside NATO. Romania in NATO is not only accepted, also respected and seen as a security provider. All this is due to all of us. I alone would not have achieved much in this area, and without the president you probably would not have reached this degree of collaboration and implementation of the projects," said Iohannis, after receiving the distinction from Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca, according to the Presidential Administration.

Iohannis in his turn decorated military and civilian personnel.

"It is my great pleasure at this solemn moment occasioned by the celebration of the National Day of Romania to carry on the tradition of appreciating the exceptional service provided to the Romanian state and people, recognising your merits for the entire professional career and for your contribution to the development of Romania's collaboration with our allies and external partners. This is a sign of the promotion of the values we celebrate each year on December 1 - duty, responsibility and patriotism. In the spirit of these values, you are called to respond to a diverse array of risks and conventional and unconventional threats, amplified by their hybrid manifestation, which covers all areas of the society. (...) At the same time, I want to express my hope that these decorations are also an impetus for you to continue with perseverance on the chosen path in the service of traditions and fundamental values of the Romanian nation," said Iohannis.