Candidate Iohannis: Romania has lacklustre position in NATO, EU

Photo credit: (c) Grigore POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Presidential candidate Klaus Iohannis, the chair of the National Liberal Party thinks that Romania has failed to stand out as a partner of NATO and of the European Union; speaking on Monday night at the Realitatea TV station, he said the country did not come up with its own ideas and approaches, hence a change is necessary in the foreign policy.

'Unfortunately, we have both in NATO and in the European Union a position I would qualify as insipid, odourless and colourless. We're somewhere around, we always agree with our partners — which essentially is absolutely correct, and I would do the same — but we could take a step further. We can have our own ideas, we can come with our own approaches, bring our own nuance. However, lots and lots of work are necessary for that,' he asserted.

He added that when he is president, he will act to make Romania 'heard and listened to' by its foreign partners.

'I want us to have a better profile within both NATO and the European Union. In my opinion, it's definitely not enough to say 'yes, yes, thank you, we too.' There are so many issues where we could bring our own opinion, a positive one, obviously, not a negative one. And it's precisely what I am going to do. I want my country to be heard and listened to, not be among others. (...) Now we don't matter much, we're somewhere around, some good guys, but lacking a profiled voice,' Iohannis claimed.AGERPRES

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