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BUCHAREST, JAN 28: Romania is "fully prepared" to join the Schengen area, 

Romanian prime minister Florin Citu told his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte 

in a phone conversation on Monday, January 25.

"Yesterday [e.n. Monday] I had a telephone conversation with the prime minister 

of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. We analyzed the promising prospects for 

cooperation between Romania and the Netherlands, focusing on strengthening 

economic relations and boosting political dialogue," Citu wrote in a Facebook post.

"Our legitimate goal of joining the Schengen area was one of the key points 

reached in the discussion with prime minister Rutte, to whom I told that Romania 

is, without a doubt, fully prepared to enter the Schengen area," the Romanian 

PM added.

The evolution of the pandemic and the vaccination process in the two states 

were two other topics discussed, Florin Citu also said. 

Romania's accession to the Schengen area since 2011, according to G4media.ro. 

In May 2019, during the EU summit in Sibiu, the Dutch prime minister said that 

Romania would be ready for admission to the Schengen area "when it complies 

with the rule of law and democracy."

In December 2018, the European Parliament adopted a report supporting the 

Schengen membership for Bulgaria and Romania.

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COURTESY romania-insider

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Ludovic Orban avoided answering clearly whether President Klaus Iohannis demanded his resignation from the post of prime minister, saying that the resignation was a personal decision, and to repeated questions from journalists Orban said he had made that decision after seeing the parliamentary election result .

Ludovic Orban made these statements on Tuesday, at the end of the PNL meeting on the negotiation strategy for the formation of the new government.

Orban said again that he considered it "a gesture of honor and dignity" to resign, to show that he is not clinging to office: "I considered it a gesture of honor and dignity after these elections to do this gesture. I did so for exactly the reasons I explained in the public statement. It is a decision that was natural to show that I do not cling to the position of prime minister, to show that I took into account the expressed will ".

"The resignation is a personal decision. It is a personal decision that I made ", said Ludovic Orban, when asked if President Klaus Iohannis was the one who asked him to resign.

Asked about the president's support, Orban replied: "It's not about support or non-support. I made a decision, I put it into practice ".

Asked if he had thought about the option of resigning before meeting with Iohannis, on Monday, in Cotroceni, Orban answered: “Certainly. When I saw the results of the vote ".

Ludovic Orban was also asked if he would like to be prime minister again, answering that he said very clearly that he had submitted his mandate and that he did not have this intention.

"In these conditions, I said very clearly: I submitted my mandate and I did not express this intention. We need stability, we focus on a parliamentary majority that has a very serious program that will lead to the development of Romania. There is only one answer - when an agreement is reached on a possible proposed prime minister, we will announce it ", said Ludovic Orban.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban announced on Monday that he is stepping down as prime minister, a year and a month after taking office, saying he is leaving with a sense of duty. Orban said he would coordinate the negotiations leading to a center-right government and expressed his belief that the PNL would have the capacity to give the future prime minister and form the backbone of the future government.

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COURTESY universul.net

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