President: Romania Can Still “Reasonably” Prepare For EU Council Presidency

“I wish you a lot of success in this regard. It is one second before midnight for us to undergo a reasonable preparation for the EU Council presidency and I think that it can still happen,” the president said in address to the Government’s delegation at the ceremony, led by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila.

The statements comes two days after Iohannis said that the country’s is not prepared to take over the presidency, following the sudden resignation of former European Affairs Minister Victor Negrescu last Friday.

He was contradicted by Dancila on Tuesday, who said that preparations are on schedule and that the president should abstain from such statements, as they can hurt the country’s image and reputation.

Finnish PM Juha Sipila announced on Tuesday that his country proposed Bucharest to take over the EU Council presidency instead, but the offer was rejected by Romanian authorities.