In his first speech of the year, President Klaus Iohannis made a blunder when he listed in front of foreign ambassadors the names of the countries he visited during his 2023 three-continent tours.

On Tuesday, Iohannis received foreign ambassadors in Romania, to whom he spoke about “main foreign policy events and achievements in 2023.” The head of state told the ambassadors that last year he “paid increased attention to cooperation with the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America”, thus justifying his tours of the three continents, the cost of which is kept secret, by the fact that this is classified information.

The head of state noted that last year he “made more efforts to revive relations with Africa”, and “according to the same logic” visits to Latin America were also included.

Enumerating the countries he visited during his South American tour, Johannis made the blunder of mentioning Chile by pronouncing the word “cile”:

• “By the same logic, the April 2023 visits from Latin America to Brazil, Chile and Argentina were also included, during which I confirmed the interest of Romania, as well as the European Union, to develop political dialogue at a high level. “.

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Klaus Iohannis made 34 foreign trips last year, the costs of which amounted to more than 41 million lei (8.2 million euros), Kotrocenyul said, in the context of the fact that in 2023 there was a public debate on the cost of the president’s visits abroad, which are not presented in detail abroad on the grounds that they are classified information.

According to the response of the Presidential Administration to the request of Agerpres, the corresponding expenses for 34 foreign trips of official delegations led by President Klaus Iohannis in 2023 amount to 41,104,103 lei.

This money constitutes almost a third of the budget of the Presidential Administration for 2023, set at 135 million lei.

In 2023, Yohannis made several visits to the world, which became the first in the last 20 years when a head of state visited Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Kenya, Tanzania, Cape Verde or Senegal. Presented by the presidential administration as a diplomatic success, they have been heavily criticized domestically because of costs that are kept secret and because the destinations were seen as more touristy.

The presidential administration claims that Klaus Iohannis was not on vacation “in the sense defined by labor law” during his nine years in office.

• “Considering his constitutional obligations and powers, the President of Romania constantly fulfills his mandate.
• Thus, starting from the moment of taking the oath, President Klaus Iohannis was not on vacation in the sense of the concept defined by the labor law.
• We clarify that during the entire term of office, the President of Romania did not stop exercising his constitutional powers, this is confirmed by the decrees signed and published in the Official Gazette of Romania, as well as other actions arising from the prerogatives granted to him. This was reported in the Presidential Administration freedom, who asked if the president was on vacation from December 2023 to January 2024.