Klaus Iohannis concluded his mandate as president of Romania on Wednesday, and Ilie Bolojan assumed the position of interim president.

The handover ceremony lasted about 30 minutes.

Iohannis welcomed Bolojan in the Honour Hall of the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, they took a photo together and had a brief meeting.

Later, a departure ceremony took place on the Marinescu Plateau. Klaus Iohannis saluted the Guard of Honour for the last time. The National Anthem of Romania was played and Klaus Iohannis saluted the national flag.

The departure ceremony was attended by numerous employees of the Presidential Administration and journalists.

Klaus Iohannis resigned from his position on Monday, following the initiation of the procedure for his suspension from office in Parliament. He argued that the suspension procedure would plunge Romania into a crisis and that 'absolutely no one will understand the purpose of such an action, when the sitting president will leave anyway.'

'In order to spare Romania and the Romanian citizens from this crisis, from this unnecessary and negative development, I resign from the position of president of Romania. I will leave office (...) on February 12. God bless Romania!,' Iohannis said.

The Constitutional Court confirmed on Tuesday the vacancy of the president's office and decided that Ilie Bolojan, the president of the Senate, would take over the interim role starting on February 12 at the Cotroceni Palace.

Klaus Iohannis served two terms as president of Romania. His last term was supposed to end on December 21, 2024, but the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election and decided that Iohannis would remain at Cotroceni until a new president was elected. The Constitutional Court's decision followed the declassification of information from the Supreme Council for National Defence, the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) and the Interior Ministry regarding the electoral campaign run by Calin Georgescu during the presidential election.

Ilie Bolojan will serve as interim president at the Cotroceni Palace until May.

The first round of the presidential election will be held on May 4, with the second round on May 18.

On Tuesday, a day before assuming the role of interim president, Ilie Bolojan suspended himself from the position of interim president of the National Liberal Party (PNL). AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Florentina Peia; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)