Iohannis: What Ponta claims is surprising and false; there haven't been interventions on Forestry Code

President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday said that he took note of Prime Minister Victor Ponta's statements on a possible influence at the Presidential Administration level on the Forestry Code and labelled these statements as surprising and false.

Photo credit: (c) Silviu MATEI / AGERPRES PHOTO

"A very curious statement, I have taken note of this statement in awe. The young Prime Minister says on TV he has information from the [intelligence] services according to which people of my entourage have allegedly met various representatives of some wood processing companies and lets people understand there could be some sort of influence peddling at the presidential level. This is both surprising and false. I have checked within the Presidential Administration and there has never been any discussion with the lobbyists, not even with former colleagues of the PNL [National Liberal Party] on this topic," the President said at the Henri Coanda Airport.

Iohannis announced that on Thursday morning he asked Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) head Eduard Hellvig to investigate with full seriousness the statements made by the Prime Minister and pointed out that if these statements are not confirmed the Prime Minister will be held responsible for the accusations brought.

"There has never been any indication that someone intervened for this matter, not with me, at any rate, and not with the Presidential Administration, either. Therefore, taking note of the Prime Minister's statements, I requested the competent bodies to check what kind of pieces of information did the Prime Minister dispose of, if they are confirmed or not. If they are confirmed, the required measures will be taken at once, if they are not confirmed, then the Prime Minister will be held...