Romanian president Klaus Iohannis turns 57

Newsroom 13/06/2016 | 14:18

Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis, who took office in December 2014, turns 57. He was born in Sibiu on June 13, 1959 and is Romania’s fifth president.

Born in a family of Transylvanian Saxons, Iohannis attended the German school and the Samuel von Bruckenthal high-school in Sibiu. In 1978 he enrolled at the Faculty of Physics of the Babes Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.

Iohannis became a Physics teacher in 1983 and five years later started teaching at the Samuel von Bruckenthal high-school. Upon entering politics, Iohannis was elected president of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR) in 2002, a party he headed until 2013.

Klaus Iohannis was elected mayor of Sibiu in 2000 and subsequently won three other terms, in 2004, 2008 and 2012. In 2007, during Iohannis’ second term as mayor, Sibiu was European Capital of Culture, becoming the first city in a European country to be awarded the title while still being a EU candidate state.

Iohannis became a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL) on February 20, 2013 and was elected party vice-president on February 23. On June 28, 2014 he was elected president with 95 percent of delegates’ votes. During the same congress the PNL and the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) merged to create the Christian Liberal Alliance (ACL). On August 11, 2014, the PNL – PDL National Politic Bureau nominated Klaus Iohannis as the ACL candidate. Iohannis received 54.43 percent of votes cast in the second round of the November 16, 2014 presidential elections, defeating Victor Ponta, prime minister at the time.

Klaus Iohannis assumed office on December 21, 2014.

In 2006, Iohannis was awarded The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2008 received the Order of Merit of the Italian Order – the 3rd Class/ Commander. In 2009 he received the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of LuxembourgGrand Officer, the Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic – Silver Cross as well as the Order of the Crown of the Belgian state. In July 2014 Iohannis was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Georgeta Gheorghe

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