Iohannis: We're between burnt product and delicious cake; this is Romania's evolution in last century

President Klaus Iohannis stated, on Saturday, that Romania needs a far more stable framework, so that youths studying abroad return home.

"We have all we need. We have educated people, possibilities, the desire of society, what probably needs to be studied is how we bring it all together, which is the catalyst. It's like we're preparing to make a very good cake and we have all the ingredients on the table: flour, sugar, nuts, butter, what have you, and we look at them and somebody asks: do you have all that you need? Yes, but from there comes the most important step - which is to put all the ingredients together so that it yields a delicious cake and not something burnt which is embarassing. We are oscillating between burnt product and very delicious cake. This is the evolution of Romania in the past century. We have gone through extremely good periods for Romania, obviously the Greater Union is the first extremely positive of the series, then we lost ourselves a bit, we went through the hardest dictatorships, with terrible results, we came back with a very positive event in December '89 and since then we're leading the path that was defined by all generations as a European and Euro-Atlantic path and I believe in some domains we are up to the challenge, but there is still a lot to be done," said the head of state at the Romanian Embassy in Paris, when asked a question in regards to the way in which youths studying abroad could be convinced to not leave the country anymore.

He emphasized the necessity to create a more stable framework, one predictable and solidly leading to meritocracy.

"We have valuable youths and you are living proof. We have very valuable youths in the country as well. The phenomenon that saddens me every time is that those in the country would come here, but you would not return and then the role of politicians is to analyze why it is so and what framework must be created in order to have the exchange. (...) We must have in view creating a more stable, predictable, more solid framework in Romania, we must go towards something that I and many others have called meritocracy, so that the youths who come back can make a simple calculation - what career they would have, what chances they'd have in their career, what stability they would have in their career, what chances they would have to progress significantly in that career and then surely some of you would start thinking if it would not be good idea to return to the country. We are in the midst of the process," said Iohannis.

The head of state participated, on Saturday, at the Romanian Embassy in Paris, at event dedicated to the Romanian contribution to the development of science and technology in the year of the Centennial of the Greater Union.

The event at the Romanian Embassy, hosted by the Romanian ambassador in Paris, Luca Niculescu, also saw the attendance of Professor Gerard Mourou, a Nobel Prize laureate, as well as Romanian students, graduate students and Ph.D. students in the region of Paris involved in scientific research.