President Iohannis in Washington
The Romanian-American strategic partnership, signed 20 years ago, will be at the core of the talks in Washington between presidents Klaus Iohannis and Donald Trump
România Internațional, 06.06.2017, 13:07
The President of
Romania Klaus Iohannis is in Washington on a five-day formal visit, the central
element of which will be a meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump on June
9. Iohannis is the first Central and Eastern European head of state to be
received by the new US President since inauguration.
On the first day
of his visit, President Iohannis was the guest of honour of the Global Forum of
the American Jewish Committee. On this occasion, he received the prestigious
organisation’s highest award, Light Unto the Nations, granted to heads of state
and government in recognition of their important international impact on peace,
security, democracy and human rights. President Iohannis dedicated the award to
Romania and its citizens. In his address at the Forum, Iohannis said that
strengthening the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the fight
against corruption were his top priorities. He emphasized, on the other hand,
that denying the Holocaust and anti-Semitism endanger the health of democracies,
and mentioned Romania’s work as president of the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Klaus Iohnnis: I dare say Romania is a strong country, and its
strength is not given by geography or circumstances, but rather by the values
it promotes and by its constant resolve to play a distinct role in safeguarding
regional and transatlantic security, the President of Romania said. At a time
when extremism, xenophobia and radicalism are dangerously rising in Europe and
in the world, Romania has fully assumed its past and acts as a promoter of
tolerance, diversity and non-discrimination, Iohannis went on to say. On the
other hand, he added, Bucharest will remain one of the most reliable supporters
of transatlantic relations within the European Union. He warned that the US
needed the EU as a strategic partner, and that the security of the Union and of
Europe as a whole was relevant to the security of the US.
Iohannis also
discussed the strong ties between Romania and the USA, which in 2017 celebrate
20 years since the signature of the Strategic Partnership. I am looking
forward to meeting President Donald Trump at the end of this week and to
working together to make this partnership even stronger, deeper, broader and
more meaningful for both our nations, Iohannis said, highlighting the
excellent cooperation in the military field, the economic opportunities in
Romania, as well as fields such as education and research as areas of great
importance for the common future of the two countries.
