Klaus Iohannis, After the meeting with Joe Biden, on US support for NATO leadership: I decided to count

UPDATE at 22.18: The president was asked what the time horizon is for the lifting of US visas.

“There are a lot of technical discussions here. You know that the Visa Waiver is not a political decision. It is a decision that is based on statistical data. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy here took things very seriously. There are awareness campaigns, to improve the acceptance rate, and in this sense we can have the legitimate hope that in the fairly near future this matter will be resolved”, answered Iohannis.

UPDATE at 22.16: Iohannis stated that Romania will continue to support Ukraine, but considers it “unacceptable” to offer them the only Patriot air defense system that is functional.

“It is a rather intense discussion about who can provide Patriot systems to Ukraine. Romania has such systems and then, of course, we were also asked. And President Biden brought up this issue and I told him that I am open to discussing these issues, which means that I will have to discuss it at home, in the CSAT, to see how we can raise the issue, what we can offer and obviously what we can receive instead, because it is, in my opinion, unacceptable for Romania to remain without anti-aircraft defense”, he said.

UPDATE at 22.15: The head of state was asked if the talks with Joe Biden included support for his candidacy for NATO leadership. “And this point was reached in our tete-a-tete discussion and together we decided to continue the dialogue,” answered Klaus Iohannis dryly.

“Now, these discussions are not made public, and I’m not going to say what President Biden said. I’ll tell you what I said there. But the discussion was not a long one, it was a relatively short one. You asked me if there is a risk that there is no consensus (ed. for the headship of NATO, the consensus of the 32 member states is necessary). Yes! There is a risk. And that’s exactly why I think it’s very good to have two candidates who are both considered acceptable, because a strong organization also needs strong competitions”, added Iohannis, later, to an additional question on this topic.

UPDATE at 22.10: The President stated in the press statement held at the headquarters of the Romanian embassy in Washington that he thanked Joe Biden, in the meeting, for ensuring the security of Romania and the Eastern Flank.

“I emphasize that the topic of security is not only a strictly military one, but must be approached in a much broader sense, because the safety of our citizens depends on them and the support of the democratic principles on which our societies are founded,” Iohannis said.

He specified that Romania’s admission to the Visa Waiver Program was also addressed: “Our goal is to meet all the conditions for inclusion in this program and we are confident that this will happen in the not too distant future.”

UPDATE at 22.00: The discussions in the Oval Office lasted about 30 minutes, and at the end, a reaction of the head of state was posted on Iohannis’ Twitter account.

“I had a very consistent discussion today, in Washington, DC, with US President Joe Biden, about the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States, including cooperation on security, economic and energy issues,” Klaus Iohannis said.

UPDATE at 21.30: “We have many issues to discuss. Let me start by saying that we managed not only to be members of NATO, thanks to the USA, but we managed to work on bilateral relations, which became strong”, said Klaus Iohannis, in the first words addressed to Joe Biden.

The head of state added that there are also unresolved issues. “For example, we are working on lifting visas for the US and we hope to have results in a not too distant time horizon,” Iohannis said.

VIDEO: Associated Press

For his part, Joe Biden praised Romania: “We remembered a little before you entered, when I was a senator, 180 years ago, we fought a lot for Romania’s admission to NATO. You exceeded all expectations. And 20 years ago, when you really joined NATO, and every year since then, our nations are getting closer, from my point of view, getting closer.”

The US President thanked our country for allowing US troops to be stationed on its territory. “We see Romania and American troops serving side by side, in NATO and including in your country. I think there are about 1,800 US forces there. Thank you for that. And, and we see our activity in strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. And I want to thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership, especially in the Black Sea. You were incredible,” said Biden, who then also thanked for the help provided by Romania to Ukraine.

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UPDATE at 21.00: President Klaus Iohannis was welcomed to the White House by Joe Biden. There will be about an hour of private discussions in the Oval Office, then press statements by the head of state, which will not begin at 9:30 p.m., as scheduled, because of the 30-minute delay of the reception at the White House.

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Original news: On Tuesday, May 7, President Klaus Iohannis began a three-day working visit to Washington, in the USA, to be received at the White House by American President Joe Biden and awarded the following day for his “transatlantic and European leadership role”, sent the Presidential Administration.

The discussions between Iohannis and Biden, which will start around 21.00 Romanian time, approximately 30 minutes behind the announced time, will refer in particular to the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea area.

“A special place in the exchange of opinions between the two heads of state will be occupied by the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea basin, as well as the strengthening of security in the Euro-Atlantic space. The high-level dialogue will be a good opportunity to raise the profile of the Strategic Partnership with the United States”, the statement of the Cotroceni Palace states.

The American side transmitted that Joe Biden will thank Iohannis for hosting American soldiers in Romania and will recognize the contributions that Romania, “an unconditional ally of NATO, made to the security of NATO’s Eastern Flank, especially in the region Black Sea”. At the same time, the two will celebrate Romania’s 20th anniversary as a NATO member, the White House said.

After an hour of private talks, Klaus Iohannis will make press statements. Initially, they were scheduled for 21:30 Romanian time, but most likely they will be postponed by 30 minutes, because the meeting in the Oval Office was also postponed by the same time interval.

A day later, the President of Romania will receive the Distinguished International Leadership Award for the year 2024. “The US Atlantic Council has decided to award this award to the President of Romania for the year 2024, as a recognition of his career and his role as a transatlantic leader and European”, transmitted the Cotroceni Palace. The ceremony will take place on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, at 2:00 a.m. (Romanian time).

The head of state is accompanied in the USA by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminița Odobescu, and the Minister of the Interior, Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu.

Iohannis does not have US approval for NATO leadership

The working visit of the President of Romania to the United States takes place in the context in which Iohannis wants to obtain the headship of NATO. In February, the president said it would be unacceptable that after the European elections in June, no relevant position in the EU would be filled by a person from Eastern Europe.

A month later, on March 12, Klaus Iohannis announced that he is entering the competition for the post of NATO Secretary General, now held by Jens Stoltenberg. The main opponent is Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has not yet announced his candidacy.

Before Iohannis made his intention public, several countries, such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany, had publicly spoken out in favor of Rutte’s nomination. Later, the USA also confirmed through the ambassador to NATO that they support Rutte for the headship of the Alliance, not “friend” Iohannis.

In mid-April, Klaus Iohannis stated that there are “very intense” discussions that will continue, but “NATO issues are not discussed in public.” At this point, only two countries have not announced whether they are choosing him or Rutte.

The head of NATO has a four-year mandate, which can be extended, and is appointed by consensus obtained through diplomatic consultations by the 32 member states. At the moment, Jens Stoltenberg holds the position of Secretary General until October.

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