Romania: ex-president's luxury travel
Romanian interim president Ilie Bolojan has revealed details of his predecessor Klaus Iohannis's travel expenses which had long been kept under wraps. During his ten years in office, Iohannis made 193 foreign visits which cost Romania's taxpayers almost 23 million euros, and for which he liked to charter luxury jets. Opposition politicians and commentators condemn the exorbitant spending.
Key factor behind frustration
Spotmedia lashes out:
“Aside from a few wooden and irrelevant press releases, Iohannis never gave an account of the results of his trips. And it's not just his foreign policy record that's at issue here. Romania's tragic situation and the rise of extremists are a direct consequence of Iohannis' mandates. The frustration that is widespread among the people has also been fuelled by Iohannis' opulent lifestyle. It's no wonder he wanted to keep this under wraps. The fact that interim president Ilie Bolojan has now gone ahead and declassified this information shows that Iohannis also shamelessly lied when he claimed that he couldn't make the data available because doing so would contravene the law.”
No pay-off for Romania
Deutsche Welle's Romanian Service also finds the spending unjustified:
“Klaus Iohannis was keen on long trips abroad, and after official visits he wanted to see the sights of the surrounding areas. He stayed in Japan for almost a week, and his tour of Africa lasted two weeks. At first, Klaus Iohannis was modest and decent, but in his second term he wanted to experience luxury. Perhaps he was encouraged by those around him to stay in the most expensive hotels in the world, savour the most sophisticated food and drink and take the most expensive flights. ... It may be that Iohannis's trips abroad opened doors, but following these trips there was neither new investment in Romania nor an increase in exports to the sunny countries he visited.”