Mister President:

I am particularly honored to present to you the Letters of Credence accrediting me as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the United States of America, together with the Letter of Recall of my predecessor, Ambassador Sorin Ducaru.

I avail myself of this opportunity to convey to you, on behalf of the President of Romania and the Romanian Government, the warmest wishes for the New Year to you and your family, as well as continued success, happiness and prosperity to the American people.

Mister President:

These are pivotal times for my country. Despite our Communist past until the fall of the Berlin Wall, and after almost two decades of however difficult, but continuous political and economic reforms, Romania lived up to the trust and expectations of the great family of free, democratic and peace-loving countries.

Today, my country is a staunch ally of the US, a reliable pillar of the NATO Alliance, a committed member of the European Union, and an active advocate of a strong transatlantic partnership.

Our achievements would not have been possible without the US support for Romania’s accession into NATO, which set the stage for our full integration into Europe. Romania was always able to rely on the United States as a true friend and privileged partner. Romania is and will always remain an unwavering supporter of your vision of freedom and democracy from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.

In November 2002, we had the privilege of hosting You and First Lady Laura Bush in Bucharest where more than a 100,000 cheering Romanians welcomed the United States in the Revolution Square. Just as you saluted the Romanians, one especially memorable and poignant moment occurred, when a rainbow spread across the rainy skies. The people of Romania will not easily forget that instant, when we all felt the truth of your remarks: "God is smiling on us today.” We believe that shared feelings of respect and trust are reflected and confirmed by the every day reality of the excellent state of our bilateral relations.

Romania is preparing to welcome you again in Bucharest, alongside our Transatlantic Allies, for the upcoming NATO Summit. The US administration was instrumental in forging the decision to entrust Romania to host the NATO Summit in April 2008, the most important event ever to be organized in Bucharest, and we strongly believe this will be an important moment for the future of the Alliance itself. We further count on US support to have a successful Summit in Bucharest.

Romania enjoys an excellent dialogue with the US, as we are co-operating to ensure our common economic, security and prosperity goals, to promote democracy, economic development and other global and regional issues, such as energy security, nonproliferation, the fight against terrorism and organized crime. 

Our military are currently involved in operation theatres abroad –in Iraq, Afghanistan and Western Balkans, among many others - and have been praised for their courage and devotion. 2007 also marked the starting point of the implementation of the bilateral agreement concerning the access of US forces to training facilities in Romania, a concrete proof of the outstanding cooperation between our armed forces.

We have vibrant exchanges with the US on important issues and developments inserted on the international agenda as we are firmly determined to uphold the expansion of our common set of values in the wider Black Sea region and the Western Balkans.

Mister President:

I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to contribute to the growing friendship between the United States and Romania and to the strengthening of the strategic partnership between our two countries. Taking up my office, I will devote all my efforts to promoting stronger political and security relations with the United States, improved bilateral economic exchanges and, not least, to strengthening the ties with the Romanians living in the US.

In that respect, I cannot but underline the dedicated involvement of the Romanian American community in building bridges of friendship between out two nations and I sincerely hope that the US administration will continue to further support Romania’s endeavor towards accessing the Visa-Waiver Program.

I am strongly committed to further enrich and diversify the dialogue with the US administration with special focus on trade and investment, technology and innovation, state-by-state initiatives, education and cultural exchanges.

The current evolutions on the international stage, the close and enhanced cooperation between EU and US, the emergence of several conventional and non-conventional challenges in recent years set promising premises for more result-oriented future dialogue between our two countries.

 With these thoughts in mind, I look forward to deepening our bilateral cooperation on the issues laid out above, and on a personal level, I convey to you my own commitment, alongside that of the staff of the Romanian Embassy in the US, towards the achievement of these objectives.