President Iohannis: Romania is one of the steadiest U.S. partners

President Klaus Iohannis received Thursday at Cotroceni Palace a delegation of the United States Congress, on which occasion he stated that Romania is one of the most reliable and steadiest U.S. allies in the region, the Presidential Administration informs.

The Romanian president has welcomed the presence of the US delegation in Bucharest and has underlined Romania’s interest in furthering the Strategic Partnership between the two countries, an essential pillar of Romania’s foreign policy.

Iohannis also highlighted the excellent state of political and militay cooperation between Romania and the US and has reiterated the need to advance the economic dimension of the Strategic Partnership, as well that to as further relations between the two states.

The head of state pointed to the importance of United States’ active involvement in the NATO acivities aimed at adapting and reassuring the pact’s Eastern Allies, including Romania, and of implementing the decisions adopted at the NATO Warsaw Summit on collective defense. Iohannis also noted that it was important to increase national spending on defense to 2 percent of the GDP, starting 2017, as well as the importance of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System, which employs the SM-3 interceptor, hosted at the Deveselu Air Base.

The agenda of the meeting also included topics of interest for the two countries, such as Brexit, the current developments in Turkey, migration, the current state of affairs in Ukraine and the importance to ensure the region’s energy security.