President-Elect: Romania Needs Deep Change

Romania's President-elect Klaus Iohannis has argued that the country is in need of deep change.

Speaking at his first press conference after Sunday's presidential runoff, Iohannis said that voters had made it clear that the country was in need of thorough change.

He claimed that the election results were a signal to him and to the political class.

Iohannis, as cited by ITAR TASS, suggested that it was time to get down to work.

He also called on the government to discuss the budget for 2015 as soon as possible.

Iohannis told journalists that Romania would continue its strategic partnership with US and would preserve its role in NATO and the EU.

He underscored that Romania would continue to be a serious and reliable partner.

Iohannis also thanked voters for their support and urged the Cabinet to punish the officials responsible for the poor organization of elections abroad.

Ethnic-German Sibiu mayor Klaus Iohannis wins 54.66% of the vote in the presidential runoff, with 96.5% of the votes counted, followed by Prime Minister Victor Ponta with 45.33%.