Romania is interested in strengthening its excellent bilateral relationship with the United States and with the representatives of the U.S. Congress, an institution with an active role in the development of the Romania-US Strategic Partnership, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said at a meeting on Tuesday at the Romanian Government House with a visiting delegation of the U.S. Congress led by Vern Buchanan, chairman of the Partnership for Democracy of the House of Representatives.
According to the government, Ciolacu said the visit is as an opportunity to strengthen the dialogue between the Romanian side and the American Congress and to offer, at the same time, a clear and honest image of the importance of the relationship between Romania and the U.S.
Part of an analysis of the current global situation, Ciolacu said that there is a need for a robust transatlantic partnership.
„The U.S. remains an indispensable ally in ensuring security in Europe. Romania is and will remain a pillar of transatlantic cohesion on NATO’s eastern flank, the closest, most active and predictable ally of the United States in the Black Sea region. The robust transatlantic partnership is an essential national interest to Romania, and we are working on strengthening all its components. Since taking over the office of Romania’s prime minister, we have built a very applied bilateral economic relationship and I am confident that we will continue this approach with the new American administration,” Ciolacu said.
He added that Romania fully supports the objective for the European Allies to strengthen their own forces and to take up additional responsibilities, being fully committed to ensuring support as a host country for the Allied troops and to further increasing the capabilities of the Romanian armed forces.
„In 2025, for the ninth consecutive year, we have allocated at least 2% of GDP for defence, with the possibility of expanding to 2.5% for acquisitions. When establishing this budget, we took into account the security situation near the border, the country’s membership in NATO and EU missions, but also our objectives to boost the national defence industry,” Ciolacu said.
Also discussed at the meeting was Romania’s accession to the Visa Waiver Program.
„Romania has met all the necessary criteria, some have even been exceeded, and we are convinced that this qualifies us to become members of the program. We will maintain the cooperative approach and we will provide the American partners with all the information regarding our contribution to the US efforts to secure travel and borders,” said Ciolacu.
The U.S. Congress delegation sent messages of support for Romania’s accession to the Visa Waiver Program, given that the country has met all the technical criteria and has worked closely with the US Embassy in that regard.
„Representatives of both parties, Republican and Democrat, said that inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program is an earned merit of Romania and will take steps to make this program active for Romanian citizens as soon as possible,” according to the government.
Ciolacu also underlined the government’s firm commitment to defending democracy, Romania’s Euro-Atlantic orientation, to securing fairness and transparency of democratic processes, as well as to guaranteeing freedom of expression.
The U.S. Congress delegation included: Vern Buchanan (Republican – Florida), Dina Titus (Democrat – Nevada), Lloyd Doggett (Democrat – Texas), Ted Lieu (Democrat – California), Neal Dunn (Republican – Florida), Ilhan Omar (Democrat – Minnesota), Anna Paulina Luna (Republican – Florida) and Andy Ogles (Republican – Tennessee).
Participating in the meeting on behalf of the Romanian government besides Ciolacu were Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacsu; Minister of Home Affairs Catalin Predoiu; Defence Minister Angel Tilvar; Minister of Economy, Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Bogdan Ivan; Minister of Foreign Affairs Emil Hurezeanu, and Head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery Radu Oprea.
