Official Visit of the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Cristian Diaconescu,
to Washington (May 6-8, 2009)

 

 

Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu will visit Washington DC during May 6-8, 2009, to achieve a first high level bilateral contact after the new White House Administration took office.

“This visit is extremely important for Romania. We are resuming the high level political dialogue with our American partners after the change in administration. Our goal is to strengthen the strategic partnership between Romania and the U.S. and to identify new projects to work on together, that reflect our potential and the established relationship which binds our two countries”, said Minister Cristian Diaconescu before his visit.

The Romanian Foreign Minister will meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Adviser to the Vice President Anthony Blinken, Undersecretary of Defense for Political Affairs Michelle Flournoy, as well as with prominent members of U.S. Congress (Richard Lugar, Co-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, Benjamin Cardin, Solomon Ortiz - Chairman of the Romanian Caucus in the US House of Representatives and Chairman of the Subcommittee for Education in the Armed Forces Committee, Joe Wilson - Member of the Romanian Caucus and Foreign Affairs Committee, Robert Wexler - Chairman of the Subcommittee for Europe in the House Foreign Affairs Committee).

The agenda of the talks will include issues related to cooperation in Afghanistan and Iraq, and issues of priority for the bilateral relations, focusing on deepening the economic component of the bilateral strategic partnership. The visit will also allow opportunities for broad exchange of views on all issues of common interest on the international agenda; special attention will be given to developments in the extended area of the Black Sea.

Also, the Minister will have meetings with representatives of prestigious think-tanks in Washington. On May 7, the Minister will deliver a speech on issues of regional interests at the Atlantic Council of the United States, followed by a Q&A session. Mr. Diaconescu is also scheduled to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum, taking the opportunity to meet Sara Bloomfield, the Museum Director, Paul Shapiro, Director of Advanced Holocaust Studies and Radu Ioanid, Director of International Archival Program.

On May 8, the Minister will meet with members of the Romanian-American community in the Washington DC area (community leaders, Romanian-American journalists).