President Iohannis: Symbolic moment for Romania; glad to take over EU Council Presidency from Austria

Romania is taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Austria, a trustworthy and good partner, President Klaus Iohannis said on Friday.

"It is a symbolic moment for Romania and we are glad that we are taking over this presidency from such a trustworthy and good partner as Austria," Iohannis told the joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

He underscored the very good institutional coordination and the support offered by Austria for achieving an efficient transition to the EU Council Presidency.

The Romanian head of state hailed the results Austria obtained during its mandate at the helm of the EU Council.

"I voiced our appreciation for the very good institutional coordination between the Austrian and the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council and for the support Austria offered for achieving an efficient transition. I hailed the results the Austrian colleagues have managed to obtain in a series of important files for the entire Union. In this context, I assured Mr. Kurz of Romania's entire openness and commitment to continue these efforts at European level," Iohannis pointed out.

 He said that he approached during the talks the topic of the UK leaving the EU, underscoring that this process must take place "of an orderly manner."

 "In respect to the process of UK's withdrawal from the Union, I reiterated the desire to conclude this process of an orderly manner during our presidency. The withdrawal agreement agreed on a political level by the EU and the UK remains the most efficient instrument for limiting the negative consequences of Brexit and for ensuring the legal certainty for the citizens and the business environment, and the conclusion will allow building a future ambitious partnership between the UK and EU," Iohannis stated.

The head of state said that EU's future budget must be balanced and fair.

 "Looking towards the future, we agreed that the new 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework represents an opportunity to support the advancement of European policies by setting a balanced and fair EU budget after 2020. In the European Council meeting of 13 - 14 December we assumed the goal of reaching a political agreement on a leadership level on the future budget by the autumn of 2019. Romania, as future presidency, is prepared to commit to a sustained pace for achieving this desideratum," the President also said.

He mentioned he discussed with Sebastian Kurz the migration issue and the 2019 Sibiu Summit.

 "We have discussed the need for security of the European citizens and the need to have a proper response to the migration crisis. Managing migration remains an area that requires the entire attention and we believe we'll be in the position of making progress in this file. (...) We have also discussed the European Summit of Sibiu, which will take place next year, on the symbolic date of 9 May, a summit devoted to the future of the European Union," Iohannis said.

Klaus Iohannis mentioned that Romania wants more Austrian investments in Romania.

 "On a bilateral level, we have discussed the economic relations and the potential meant to stimulate the intensification of economic exchanges and investments. Although Austria remains one of the main investors on the Romanian market, we are interested in new Austrian investments in Romania, in the context in which Romania offers a lot of opportunities. We have voiced the appreciation for the good integration of the Romanian community in Austria," Iohannis also said.
    
 President Klaus Iohannis welcomed Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Friday.

The visit of the Austrian official to Romania takes place in the context in which, starting 1 January 2019, Romania will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Austria. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, Alina Novãceanu, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Adina Panaitescu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)