Iohannis, Klaus Werner

Iohannis, Klaus Werner, 1959–, Romanian political leader, b. Sibiu, grad. Babeş-Bolyai Univ., 1983. An ethnic German and a physics teacher and public school official, he was elected mayor of Sibiu (2000–2012) as a member of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR). He became president of the FDGR in 2001. In 2013 he joined the National Liberal party (PNL), becoming its leader in 2014. In 2014, as the PNL candidate, he defeated Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the Social Democratic candidate, to win the Romanian presidency. From 2016 to 2019, when the Social Democrats, now headed by Liviu Dragnea, were in power, he increasingly clashed with the government over corruption and defense issues. Iohannis was reelected in 2019.

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