Iohannis – Trump talks at the White House

Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, will pay a visit to the White House on August 20, on which occasion he will invite US President Donald Trump to visit Romania.

Daniela Budu, 14.08.2019, 13:54

On August 20, when he pays an official visit to the US, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will discuss with his American counterpart Donald Trump a number of important issues, among which energy security and the Visa Waiver programme. The Romanian President has said there are very important matters that need to be tackled, such as the Strategic Partnership, security aspects, NATO and the allocation of 2% of the GDP for defense and the economic ties.

Also discussed will be the equipping of the army, the fact that the two countries are together in Afghanistan as well as Visa Waiver. As regards the Visa Waiver programme, things must be sped up a little bit, Iohannis said Tuesday in Bucharest. He explained that, it is the American Congress that needs to take the decision of including Romania in the Visa Waiver programme. Also, this issue will be approached from the perspective of the US-EU visa reciprocity. In December 2018 the European Commission called once more on the US to lift visa requirements for all EU member states, Romania included.

President Iohannis has also said that the Americans are concerned about Europe becoming too dependent on Russia in the energy sector. “Energy is a sensitive and important issue. Energy security is a matter of national security,” the Romanian President has explained. Iohannis also wants to discuss with Donald Trump about the American military stationed in Romania, saying that the country can host more American troops. At Washington’s request, Romania has decided, at the latest meeting of the Higher Defense Council, to increase the number of Romanian military in Afghanistan.

At present, Romania has 1,033 military in foreign missions, of whom 762 in Afghanistan, as part of a NATO mission. On the other hand, a White House release says that the Romanian President’s visit to the US will occur as the country marks the 30th year since the fall of communism and the 15th year of NATO membership and that President Trump looks forward to celebrating these important anniversaries with President Iohannis. The two leaders will discuss how best to meet the many shared security challenges facing the United States and Romania and ways to advance fair and reciprocal trade and energy partnerships. Iohannis and Trump also met at the White House in 2017, when they discussed the perspectives of consolidating the Romania-US Strategic Partnership.

(Translated by ElenaEnache)