The latest U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest, Mark Gitenstein, declared for DCNews.ro that the demonstrations held in the day of the second round of presidential elections show that Klaus Iohannis’ election at Cotroceni means a “thorough” change in Romania. “Romanians are desperately seeking change”, one of Gitenstein’s predecessors, former American Ambassador to Bucharest Alfred Moses (photo) synthesizes the enthusiasm that accompanied Iohannis’ election as Romania’s President.
“I had an outstanding relationship with President Basescu and I have a normal relationship with newly elected President Iohannis. I do not know him that well, we had pleasant encounters since he was elected and I think he will be an excellent president for Romania. I have been to Romania on November 16, for a board meeting at the Fund (Proprietatea, editor’s note). I was in my hotel room, watching the news. I did not intend to walk down to University Square, I was talking to my wife on the phone and I saw a group of young Romanians waving three flags: one of Romania, one of the UK and one of the U.S. I realized that something was thoroughly changing in Romania. As I went down the stairs, the demonstration was just about to end. I saw these wonderful, energetic people and I understood, you know, that hopes and aspirations are really high. And I think that the challenge for President Iohannis is that he must live up to these hopes. They cannot be shattered again”, Gitenstein declared for Digi24.
Another former U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest, Alfred Moses, thinks that “Romanians invest their trust in change”.
“The fact that Mr. Iohannis was elected although he represented the German ethnicity and not the Romanian one, he had never detained a national position, as he came from Sibiu, a model city in the Carpathian Mountains, slightly different to the rest of Romania, all of these show that Romanians are looking for something different, that they invest their trust in change, that they seek change desperately and say that what was before was not enough. So, we will see. As I said before, I did not meet President Iohannis face to face so far, but I wish him and Romania the best”, Moses says, quoted by DCNews.ro.
