Top-level talks in Bucharest
High-ranking officials from the United States and Britain travel to Bucharest for official talks.
Corina Cristea, 15.01.2015, 13:54
US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland paid a visit to Bucharest, where she held talks with president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Victor Ponta and Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, the presidents of the two chambers of Parliament, as well as representatives of parliamentary parties and civil society.
Victoria Nuland is the first high-ranking US official to visit Romania since Iohannis took office in December last year. Her visit is part of a series of talks on Romania’s Strategic Partnership with the United States. Cooperation under this agreement is to be extended to the economic area. President Iohannis hailed the interest of US companies to invest in the field, encouraging their presence on the Romanian market. Victoria Nuland’s talks with Prime Minister Ponta focused on ways to boost and expand the Strategic Partnership, as well as the latest developments in the region. The two officials also tackled progress under ongoing political, military, security, legal and economic projects, with a focus on the energy and IT sectors.
The US Assistant Secretary of State believes Romania has seen major progress with respect to the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, also noting improvement in terms of political culture. However, the US official pointed out there are still a series of fields that require more efforts from the Romanian authorities, such as the predictability of the business sector.
On the sideline of her meeting with Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Victoria Nuland discussed potential joint projects aimed at supporting democratic reforms in Romania’s neighbouring countries and assisting these countries in their EU accession efforts. Romania also intends to implement the decisions adopted at the NATO summit in the United Kingdom fully and within the established timeline, with a focus on the NATO action plan to increase operational capability, Bogdan Aurescu has said.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was also in Bucharest on Wednesday, when he met Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu. The agenda of talks focused on anti-terror efforts, with Romania offering its support in tracking the jihadists returning to the UK from Syria and Iraq. The two officials also discussed how important it was for Romania that all EU Member States should observe the fundamental right of free movement of workers, who have a positive contribution to these countries’ GDP, as well as that of the European Union.
