Acting Romanian President Ilie Bolojan says he has lost touch with former President Klaus Iohannis since he left Cotroceni. The transfer was civilized, but he has not collaborated with the former president in the last month, Bolojan also stated.
„We had an institutional collaboration before he resigned. We discussed the issues he was handing over to me. So, we had a transfer, I would say a good, civilized one. I haven’t collaborated with him since then, in the last month,” said Ilie Bolojan, the acting president, on Europa FM, when asked if he had kept in touch with former President Klaus Iohannis.
"It remains that whenever there are certain issues that will require us to provide certain information to collaborate, I have seen an open attitude from him in this regard," Bolojan added, as quoted by Mediafax.
What he found at Cotroceni
Ilie Bolojan also revealed that in the first days at the Cotroceni Palace, he was surprised by his colleagues' tension. "They would stand up when I passed by, I told them to stay calm," Bolojan said.
He also referred to the excessive use of the title "His Excellency" and mentioned that it helps him that he is not a confrontational person.
Moreover, Ilie Bolojan analyzed the relationship with the Government and people's expectations from the country's president.
"Sometimes Romanians have too high expectations from their president," stating that in Romania, the competencies of a head of state are much lower than the competencies of other leaders in other countries.
"It's mandatory," he added when asked about collaboration with the Government.
"Here, you have to collaborate because you have limited legitimacy (...) if you don't collaborate well with the Government as a president, you are disrespecting the country."