The NEW liberal ministers: Iohannis takes over Internal Affairs, Nicolaescu - Finances, Atanasiu - Economy

Crin Antonescu, leader of PNL, made several official announcements on Friday, regarding the new liberal appointments.

Klaus Iohannis will resign as mayor of Sibiu, a position he has occupied since 2000, to take over the position of Minister of Internal Affairs, left open after Radu Stroe resigned in January. In February 2013, Iohannis became a member of the PNL, accepting the invitation from Liberal leader Crin Antonescu, and was immediately elected as the party’s First Vice President.

Teodor Atanasiu will replace Andrei Gerea at the Ministry of Economy.

As rumored in the press, Eugen Nicolaescu will be the new Minister of Finances, while Cristian Busoi will assume the role of Minister of Health in Nicolaescu’s stead.

Crin Antonescu made the announcements after PNL’s General Meeting in a press conference with the nominees,

Andrei Gerea declared that a resignation was never an issue, but rather “going forward and faster with the party” with a new government team.

“I have accepted this vote, let us move on and do the things we need to do. A hot summer awaits (…) I’ve enjoyed Crin Antonescu’s respect and I thank him for nominating me four months ago”, Gerea said to the press.

“I will hand over my resignation to the prime-minister first thing in the morning. (…) Nobody had anything to say against me, this change comes from the desire to breathe new life into the government, we wanted a new team, probably compatible between the personalities that make it up. Antonescu had words of praise for me but like in football, even if the team is working, bringing a new referee can help”, Gerea continued.