Foreign affairs minister Luminita Odobescu, on a working visit to the United States of America, stressed during meetings with senior US officials the importance of continuing US-EU-NATO cohesive action and maintaining a consistent and multidimensional approach to harnessing the potential that the Black Sea region offers, informs a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) press release sent to AGERPRES.

Minister Luminita Odobescu met on Thursday with Michael Carpenter, director for Europe at U.S. National Security Council, with Samantha Power, administrator of USAID, as well as with representatives of US think-tanks: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), Atlantic Council, Hudson Institute, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), RAND and Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

The minister of Foreign Affairs was also a keynote speaker at the „Romania-US Economic Forum” organised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).

During the bilateral meeting with director for Europe at U.S. National Security Council Michael Carpenter, topics of interest for the Romania-US bilateral economic and security agenda were discussed, as well as regional developments, including in the context of the preparation of the upcoming NATO Summit in Washington, informs MAE.

Minister Luminita Odobescu presented Romania’s priorities for the NATO Summit in Washington. The two officials stressed the importance of strengthening support for Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and other partner states in the Black Sea region.

The common interest of Romania and the US in strengthening the resilience of partners in the Black Sea region, with a focus on the Republic of Moldova was the topic of the discussion of the Romanian minister with Samantha Power, administrator of USAID.

According to the cited source, Minister Odobescu appreciated the sustained work and important role of USAID in supporting the Republic of Moldova, in which context she mentioned the need to further provide assistance to maintain and strengthen the resilience and capacities of the neighbouring state in managing threats in the areas of energy and critical infrastructure, as well as in strengthening capacities to combat disinformation and cyber threats, underlining the interrelated nature of the actions and objectives of Romania, the EU and the US in this framework.

Discussions with the US think-tanks focused on developments in the Black Sea region.

The Romanian minister of Foreign Affairs underlined the increased global relevance of the Black Sea region, which plays a key role in strengthening the resilience of the international order in the face of direct challenges.

Luminita Odobescu pointed out that the developments in the Black Sea region are, for the entire Euro-Atlantic environment, the main framework for highlighting its own capacity for sustained action in support of this order of norms, the way of managing the challenges in the region being an important model for other regions.

The Romanian minister welcomed the strengthening of the US strategic approach to the region, including by the Administration’s mandate granted by Congress to draft a Strategy for the Security and Development of the Black Sea Region, reads the MAE press release.

At the same time, she stressed the importance of continuing US-EU-NATO cohesive action and maintaining a consistent and multidimensional approach to harnessing the potential the region offers, including in terms of interconnectivity.

She presented the measures implemented by Romania in the responsible promotion of security, stability and resilience in the Black Sea region and reiterated Romania’s strong support for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

At the „Romania-US Economic Forum”, Minister Odobescu reviewed Romania’s main strengths as an investment destination. In this context, the Romanian official highlighted the evolution of economic relations between Romania and the US, presented the main bilateral energy projects and reiterated our country’s interest in supporting Ukraine’s economic reconstruction efforts.

AGERPRES