Romanian-French relations

During his official visit to Paris, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis invited French president Francois Hollande to pay a visit to Romania.

Roxana Vasile, 11.02.2015, 13:07

In 2008, during the term of the former president Traian Basescu, Romania was the first country in south-eastern Europe to sign a strategic partnership with France, with which Romania has a longstanding relationship of friendship and cooperation. The partnership was later revised to lay more emphasis on the political, economic and cultural ties.

During a trip to Paris in 2013, prime minister Victor Ponta said he was determined, together with his French counterpart at the time, Jean Marc Ayrault, to implement as many joint projects as possible. Two years on, Romania’s Liberal president Klaus Iohannis was received by France’s socialist president Francois Holllande at the Elysee Palace in one of Iohannis’ first trips abroad since taking office.

This is not the first time the two leaders meet. On the 11th of January, they both took part in a massive rally against terrorism held in Paris in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Romanian-French relations and the strategic partnership between the two countries have an important political dimension and are based on intense sectoral cooperation, said Romania’s president on Tuesday. He requested France’s support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area and said he was confident a decision in this respect would be taken as soon as possible. Another topic discussed by the two presidents was France’s often distorted image about Romania and the Romanian community in France.

Klaus Iohannis:“We are confident that isolated actions, if treated with lucidity and moderation, cannot have a long-lasting negative effect on a consistent relationship based on mutual respect and political and cultural cooperation.”

The Romanian and French leaders also discussed the latest developments in the European Union, Europe’s priorities with regard to the fight against terrorism and the situation in Ukraine. At the Romanian embassy in Paris, Iohannis was met by Romanian nationals living in France, many of whom voted for him in November. Speaking about the management flaws that hindered the voting process abroad in the recent presidential elections, Iohannis promised that during his term in office he would make sure that the rights and fundamental freedoms of Romanians living abroad, including their voting rights, would be respected.