Intermist in office

Romanian head of state Johannis resigns

Klaus Johannis took his hat off.(Bild: APA/AFP)

Romanian President Klaus Johannis unexpectedly announced his resignation on Monday. He will resign from office within 48 hours, Johannis said. 

The conservative politician's move comes ahead of a possible impeachment after the right-wing populist opposition launched a corresponding procedure in parliament. After the annulled presidential election in December, Johannis had only been in office on an interim basis.

The right-wing extremist Calin Georgescu had won the first round of elections - but this was annulled by the Supreme Court.(Bild: Associated Press)

Although Johannis' term of office ended in December, the Constitutional Court referred to Article 83 of the constitution when annulling the election, according to which the incumbent head of state only leaves office after his successor has been sworn in.

Impeachment proceedings "useless" for Johannis
Johannis described the impeachment proceedings initiated against him as "completely useless" - on the one hand because he would have stepped down in a few months anyway, and on the other because he had never violated the constitution. However, in order to spare the country another political crisis with serious consequences, he preferred to step down. He will leave office on Wednesday, February 12, according to Johannis.

In accordance with the constitution, his office will now be temporarily taken over by the liberal Senate President Ilie Bolojan, who will now be the head of state until after the presidential election in May. The original election was annulled by the Supreme Court on the basis of intelligence findings that the campaign was manipulated via social media. The first round of the election was surprisingly won by the previously little-known right-wing extremist Calin Georgescu, who had mainly campaigned for support on the social network TikTok.