Iohannis of Romania/Luxembourg

Romania has surprised Europe by electing Klaus Iohannis, an ethnic German, as president of the country. There has been much speculation about an imminent powerful link of Romania to Berlin.

It seems that Mr. Iohannis is also perfect in relating with the European Commission. Jean Claude Juncker, the ex-Luxembourg prime minister, has recently said that he knows the new Romanian President for many years already, given that he, as mayor of Sibiu, has had close relations with Luxembourg.

"The Mayor of Sibiu links with Luxembourg were so close that Iohannis attended the signing of the Accession Treaty of Romania to the European Union in April 2005. He was however not invited by the country that signed the treaty, but by the small country that, at that time had the EU Presidency", writes HotNews, an episode which Iohannis also presented in his autobiographical book, "Step by Step".

Interestingly, Sibiu became the European Capital of Culture in 2007, together with Luxembourg (city), a relationship that mattered enormously, but also a historical one, if we refer to the Saxon origin from the Sibiu area. The first Saxons came from Luxembourg. "We can assume that there were people who came from the German speaking part, likely Flemish, that colonized Transylvania in the XII – XIII centuries", summarizes Iohannis in his book on the Saxon ethnic origin.

Dan LUCA / Brussels