Romania will remain a strong and reliable
\nstrategic partner for the United States as well as a committed NATO ally,
\nforeign minister Bogdan Aurescu assured his US counterpart Antony Blinken in a
\nphone conversation on Tuesday. From Washington, the new American secretary of
\nstate praised Romania for being a robust member of NATO and for its commitment to
\nthe consolidation of Black Sea security. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to a statement from the
\nRomanian foreign ministry, the talks underlined the importance of coordinating
\nwith partners who share the same values and strategic priorities and the need
\nto promote democracy and the rule of law, including by strengthening strategic
\nresilience at international level. The discussions also focused on the bilateral
\ncooperation currently under development in the civilian nuclear field and the
\nefforts to diversify the gas supply sources for Europe, with the importance of
\nthe strategic gas reserves on the Black Sea continental shelf being mentioned in
\nthis connection. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Secretary of state Blinken conveyed
\nhis country’s appreciation for Romania’s progress with respect to the rule of
\nlaw, the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption, which are
\nalso relevant in a regional context. He emphasised that these measures have a
\ndecisive contribution to creating an attractive business and investment
\nenvironment for American economic partners, highlighting that developing the economic
\nrelationship with Romania remains a priority. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the 2020 report
\nof the State Department, cited by Radio Romania’s correspondent in Washington, warns,
\namong others, that Romania is still struggling with widespread official corruption.
\nThe report notes that the judiciary took steps to convict and punish officials
\nwho committed abuses, but that the authorities did not have effective
\nmechanisms to enforce the punishments and delayed proceedings involving alleged
\npolice abuses and corruption, which resulted in many cases of acquittals. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Going back to the telephone conversation
\nbetween the Romanian foreign minister and the US secretary of state, the former
\nmade the case for the US’ financial involvement in various projects in Romania,
\nemphasising that, apart from an increased military presence in this country and
\nthe region, it is also necessary for the US to consolidate its economic and
\ninvestment presence. Aurescu also called for speeding up the Visa Waiver scheme
\nfor Romanians and expand cooperation in combating phenomena with negative
\nimpacts, such as human trafficking. The two officials also spoke about the tenth
\nanniversary of the coming into force of the agreement on the installation of
\nthe US missile defence system in Romania, and the fifth anniversary of the moment
\nwhen the missile defence facility in Deveselu, in southern Romania, became
\noperational. (CM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The foreign secretaries of Romania and the United States review stage of bilateral relations in strategic areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":88472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[19347,29826],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-88471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-romania","tag-usa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n