The meeting of the US and Romanian Presidents at the White House

President Klaus Iohannis was received in Washington on Tuesday by his US counterpart, Donald Trump

România Internațional, 20.08.2019, 22:14

UPDATE

President Klaus
Iohannis has said, fresh from a meeting at the White House with President
Donald Trump, that he had an excellent meeting with the American President, during
which they discussed pragmatically and
openly ways to deepen and expand the strategic partnership and that he,
personally, will further be fully committed to developing the partnership with
the USA. President Trump has hailed the fact that the overwhelming majority of
Romanians are in favour of and support the relation with the USA, adding that during Romania’s tenure at the helm of the Council
of the European Union, Romania
had the opportunity to coordinate its efforts efficiently with the US as regards
dossiers of mutual interest.

I am confident that
our Strategic Partnership will further produce positive results. We have
adopted a joint declaration together and it is for the first time that we have
taken this step. It is a very important document for the progress of the
bilateral strategic Partnership and the development of this partnership in all
fields is essential, President Iohannis said.

President Trump has
expressed special appreciation for Romania’s
being the first allied state to allot, during his term in office, 2% of the GDP
for defence and thanked for Romania’s
presence in Afghanistan.
I have underlined, during the talks with president Trump, the importance of
increasing the US military
presence in Romania and we
have discussed about security in the Black Sea
area, president Iohannis has said.

A focal point of the
talks was also the bilateral economic relation. A memorandum of understanding
on 5G technology was signed on the occasion of the visit and we have also
discussed about Romania’s
inclusion in the Visa Waiver programme, to lift mandatory entry visas for Romanians
traveling to the US,
the Romanian head of state has also said.

I have assured President
Trump that I will further and firmly support the fight against corruption and
that Romania will further be
a trustworthy strategic partner for the US. I can say it’s been a very good
meeting with Mr. President, in a year with a rich significance: 30 years since
the 1989 Revolution and 15 years since Romania joined NATO. Against this
backdrop, I have expressed Romania’s
readiness to host bigger American contingents and President Trump was very open
to that. We want to have more military in the Multinational Brigade, in the
regional command that we want to set up. The issue will further be approached by
the defense secretary, Klaus Iohannis has also said.

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Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis and US President Donald Trump hold a meeting at the White House. The two leaders are set to 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, a White House press release reads.

The visit occurs as Romanians mark the 30th year since the fall of communism and the 15th year of Romanias membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

President Donald J. Trump has reaffirmed
and strengthened the United States’
partnership with Romania. The United States and Romania have growing security,
energy, civil nuclear, and cyber relationships that benefit both of our
countries. Our two countries will continue to work together to meet common security
challenges and enhance our economic and energy partnership even further, a White House press release writes.

The Visa Waiver Programme, joint security efforts and energy security are other focal points of the talks. Here are some highlights:

President Trump
intends to expand ties between our two countries by supporting Romania’s efforts to become eligible for entry
into the Visa Waiver Program in accordance with the requirements of United States
law.

Romania is
an invaluable NATO ally and supports United States and international security
efforts in the region and globally.

The United
States will continue working with Romania to support energy security in Europe.

The United States and Romania are strong supporters of
the Three Seas Initiative, which is important to increasing energy market
access and security.

Ahead of the visit, President Iohannis has said there are extremely important issues
that need to be tackled, such as the Strategic Partnership, security
issues, NATO and the allocation of 2% of the GDP for defense and the economic ties. The equipping of the Army, the fact
that the two countries are together in Afghanistan and other issues that have long been
pending, such as the Visa Waiver Program will also be tackled.

This is the second visit to the White House by Klaus Iohannis, after that of June 9, 2017, when he was the first leader in Central and Eastern Europe to be received by President Trump in the Oval Office.