Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has talks with US President Joe Biden at the White House

U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes President Klaus Iohannis of Romania at the White House.

Diana Vijeu, 07.05.2024, 21:36

The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, who is currently on a working visit to Washington, has had talks with US President, Joe  Biden, at the White House.

The two leaders have approached topical issues on the bilateral and international agenda and have also celebrated Romania’s 20th year as a member of the NATO Alliance.

The two presidents  have underscored their continued support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s aggression. They have also reviewed the many areas in which Romania and the United States work together, including energy, economic cooperation and their shared democratic values.

President Biden has thanked President Iohannis for hosting U.S. servicemembers in Romania, and has recognized the many contributions that Romania, a stalwart NATO Ally, has made to security on NATO’s eastern flank, particularly in the Black Sea region, a White House press release reads.

In his opening remarks, the U.S. President Joe Biden has praised the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis for his leadership and for providing security assistance during the war in Ukraine.  “We were reminiscing for a moment before you came in that, back when I was a senator, 180 years ago, I fought very hard for Romania’s admission to NATO.  And you, you’ve exceeded every expectation. And 20 years ago, when you joined NATO for real, and every year since, our nations have grown only closer, in my view, closer and closer together.  And we see it in Romania and American troops serving side by side across NATO, and including in your country.  I believe there’s about 1,800 American forces there.  We thank you for that.  And, we see our work in strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. And I want to thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership, especially in the Black Sea.  You’ve been incredible.  You’ve stood up, and the help you’ve provided for Ukraine is real.  It’s significant. The unified support for the people of Ukraine,  you’ve allowed a number of refugees to come across, be in your country, about 8,000, they tell me.  A whole lot.  And that’s really something. And, also, your security assistance to Ukraine, moving Ukrainian grain. And I want you to know the United States is committed to standing with you. Today, we lay the foundation for the next 20 years.  I look forward to our discussions and just say that we’ve got a lot to discuss, so I’m looking forward to it”, President Biden said.

In his turn, President Iohannis thanked President Biden for the substantial contribution of the United States to ensuring the security of Romania and for strengthening the bilateral relationship:  “We managed not only to be members of NATO, thanks to you and others who really fought for us  20 years since Romania is a proud member of NATO, but we also managed to work on our bilateral relationship, which became stronger and stronger. We have a Strategic Partnership.  And I think by making this partnership strong, we also managed to make the transatlantic link strong.  In my opinion, a transatlantic link is the cornerstone of our democratic way of life, our values.   And so, this is obviously linked to the way we see the future of our nations; how we manage to make our nations work better, live better; how we manage to guarantee the security of our peoples; how we manage to make our economies grow.  And so, we have, really, a lot of issues we can discuss.  But also, sometimes I believe it is important to underline that we managed to move ahead and that we managed to have very positive results.  And, of course, we will discuss things we still have to achieve. And so, maybe just an example: We are working together on a visa waiver for Romania.  If this goes well, hopefully, not before long, we will have results. But unfortunately, the most important issue is to find the way to reinstall peace in Europe.  And helping Ukraine and the Ukrainians,  you set such a huge example how this can be done. Romania is trying its best, and we have some pretty good results.  I think it is decent.  But nevertheless, we have to find ways to prevent Russia to win this war in Ukraine.  And here we have to stay united.  We have to work together.  And we will, as far as I can see.”

President Biden added: “Let me just say one thing.  I don’t think there’s any NATO partner who has a stronger commitment to the Euro-Atlantic alliance than Romania and the United States.  And it’s a value set.  It’s what we believe (…)  And you’ve stepped up, and you’ve been incredible.  And what you’ve done and what we’re going to continue to do together, I think, is going to be significant, not only for Europe but for the whole world.”

According to the Romanian Presidential Administration, the top level dialogue represents a good opportunity to raise the profile of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US and to reconfirm the privileged bilateral relations between the US and Romania as well as  their multisectoral cooperation.

“I had a very consistent discussion today in Washington, D.C., with the President of the US, Joe Biden, at the White House, on the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States🇸, including cooperation on security, economic and energy issues. As we celebrate 20 years since Romania joined NATO, we also discussed our strong collaboration in securing the Eastern Flank of the Alliance, the strategic importance of the Black Sea region, as well as our support for Ukraine and strengthening transatlantic relations”, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis wrote on X, fresh from the talks he had with President Joe Biden, at the White House.  “I talked with President Biden about the Strategic Partnership between our countries, how we can make it stronger and how we can deepen it, so that it meets the challenges we face in this extremely complicated global context. I thanked President Biden for the substantial contribution of the United States to ensuring the security of Romania and of the entire Eastern Flank and, at the same time, for recognizing the strategic role of the Black Sea, in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” the Romanian  head of state told a press conference.

On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, President Klaus Iohannis will be awarded the 2024 Distinguished Leadership Award by the Atlantic Council,  in token of recognition for his career and  role as a trans-Atlantic and European leader.