Klaus Iohannis: I encourage parents to send their children to school. Things will work out

LIVE TEXT statements from President Klaus Iohannis:

Iohannis, on the start of the 2020-2021 school year

– Start of classes on September 14, in different conditions than previous years.

– At the moment, we only have a few locations where education will take place online only.

– Central and local authorities have implemented a series of procedures to limit the risk of spreading the virus. We cannot reduce the risk of infection to 0, but it is important to note that by following the basic rules, everyone contributes to the safety of the community.

– The decision to open schools, although not easy, is correct and necessary.

“I’m talking to the parents, who are concerned.” I encourage you to send the children to school and explain that for a while the school will be different, but if they follow the rules, we will overcome this situation well.

Iohannis, on local elections

– Measures have been taken to allow elections to be held so that citizens who go to the polls are protected.

– The provisional nature and lack of legitimacy of those elected are detrimental both to local communities and to democracy as a whole.

– Appeal to political decency, the creation of false expectations or the challenge of some sanitary measures are toxic electoral practices that harm the people.

Klaus Iohannis answers questions from journalists:

– It is natural to focus our attention on the exceptions. But thousands and thousands of schools in Romania have worked and solved the problems. The vast majority of children will go to school, things will work out.

– I am convinced that even for these exceptions, where problems are not resolved, solutions will be found in the coming days.

– I think that forms of protest can also be organized. As long as all applicable rules are met, the issue could be discussed.

– There would have been no money to increase the pension point even if we did not have a pandemic and an economic crisis. Both I and the Government wanted an increase in the pension point. It is unfortunate that PSD did not understand anything and continues to give some people the impression that more could have been done. These attempts by the PSD to correct through Parliament something that cannot be done is simply pathetic, populist, electoral, which does not honor them.

– Public finances cannot be expanded as much as we would like.

– There has never been a reduction in salaries or pensions, such a thing is excluded, it is stupid by the PSD. It is preferable that next year’s budget is discussed and approved by the new Parliament, which will be decided in the December elections.

– I am not going to make an assessment of the ministers of the Orban Government now or at any other time.

– We have to analyze what the WHO has said about stopping the tests of the vaccine bought by the European Commission.

– To the extent that the purchase of tablets for students has not been made, we face an unsatisfactory situation. If not all children will have tablets, the government and local authorities must work to ensure that students continue to receive these tablets. We have to be realistic, if things are resolved in the vast majority, then both the Government and the authorities will focus on the situations that need to be resolved.

– In my opinion, these festivities at the beginning of the school year should not be organized this year. It is difficult to control access, children coming to school for the first time come, it is possible to crowd and then have the opposite effect. In my opinion, I am not the Minister of Education, it is not good to organize such festivities. So, I will not participate in any holidays for the beginning of the school year.

– I hope, in the local elections, a record result of the NLP. The PSD occupies more than half of the local administration and I hope that the PSD will not occupy that much after the local elections. It is good to have reasonable expectations that NLP will get the most mandates it has ever gotten.