Romania and the Strategic Partnership with the US
Romanias president Klaus Iohannis says that Romanians living in the US have had a solid contribution to strengthening the Strategic Partnership with this country.
România Internațional, 08.06.2017, 13:21
Romania is the most pro-American country in the European Union and is devoted both to the EU and to its Strategic Partnership with the United States, which is a landmark of bilateral relations with this country, President Klaus Iohannis said during his visit to Washington. On Wednesday, the president attended a debate hosted by the Heritage Foundation devoted to the marking of twenty years since the bilateral strategic partnership was officially launched. The president said NATO and EU-US relations are the main pillars for security in Europe.
The Romanian official also mentioned the security and defense cooperation under the Romanian-American Strategic Partnership, which has reached a very high level with promising prospects for development, as well as joint commitments towards trans-Atlantic and NATO security. President Iohannis recalled Romania observed NATO’s recommendation to allot 2% of its GDP to military and defense spending.
In turn, Heritage Foundation Chairman Edwin Feulner, who also chaired the panel, spoke of the common values his foundation shares with the Romanian president: “the protection of individual rights, the importance of economic freedom, the rule of law, the value of meritocracy and the importance of freedom of expression”. Edwin Feulner highlighted the fact that economic and security cooperation between the two countries are at an unprecedented level right now. Also on Wednesday, President Iohannis met with representatives of the Romanian community at Romania’s Embassy in Washington. The President said the Strategic Partnership would be one of the main topics on the agenda of his meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Klaus Iohannis: “I very much want to have a positive first meeting with President Trump. I want to convince him that together we can make our partnership stronger and more comprehensive. We will certainly discuss about security developments on the Alliance’s eastern flank and about economic issues. We need American investors and other things that I’m confident are both on my agenda as well as on president Trump’s agenda”.
President Iohannis has said meeting the White House leader is important not only in political terms, but also for Romania’s economy and its people. Iohannis praised the Romanian community in the US for successfully integrating into American society through hard work, talent and honesty, contributing to economic growth in this country and strengthening the Partnership between Romania and the US. Moreover, President Iohannis highlighted the importance of Romanian language teaching as a symbol of national identity, saying there are over 100 Sunday schools with Romanian teaching in America at present.
(Translated by Cristina Mateescu)
