Bucharest, 10 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has resigned after parliament initiated impeachment proceedings against him.

He said on Monday that he wanted to spare his country a political crisis, because under Romania's constitution, an impeachment must be followed by a recall referendum.

Senate President Ilie Bolojan has been appointed to take over the office of head of state provisionally from Wednesday.

The Constitutional Court had actually ruled that Iohannis could remain in office until the next election, which is scheduled for May 4, following the presidential election that was annulled in December.

However, the governing National Liberal Party (PNL) and its coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), are now said to have advised Iohannis to resign early.

Romanian media commented that if the unpopular Iohannis remained in office, he would have been seen as a burden on the governing parties in the new election campaign.

Iohannis took office in 2014. Since his second term is now ending, he is not allowed to run for president again. He was supported by the PNL in 2014.

The Constitutional Court annulled the parliamentary elections of November 24, 2024, and ordered them to be rerun. The court ruled that voters had been manipulated by the illegal preferential treatment of a candidate on social media.

In a complete surprise, the far-right and pro-Russian politician Călin Georgescu won first place in the first round of voting. Georgescu, who was little known until shortly before the election, had mainly used the TikTok app to promote himself.

Romania's government criticized TikTok for failing to label Georgescu as a politician and his posts as election advertising. The public prosecutor's office is investigating.

Photo: EPA