November 14 (SeeNews) - Romania's president Klaus Iohannis has endorsed the appointment of George Ciamba as new European affairs minister, the presidential press office said in a statement on Wednesday.
George Ciamba is a career diplomat who has been working at the foreign affairs ministry since December 1990.
Ciamba was sworn in after the previous European affairs minister Victor Negrescu resigned several days ago, less than two months before Romania assumes the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU from the start of next year. The European affairs minister is primarily responsible for ensuring Romania's successful EU presidency in the first half of 2019.
The government announced Negrescu's resignation in a press release on Monday. It gave no reasons for Negrescu's move.
On Monday, Iohannis said the government was not prepared for assuming the presidency of the Council of the EU, but on Wednesday he sounded more optimistic. In a brief address to the government during the swearing-in ceremony of Ciamba, Iohannis said that he now thinks that "it can be done".