The launch of the U.S. – Romania Strategic Partnership 25 years ago was a watershed event, former President Emil Constantinescu said on Wednesday after the unveiling of the photo exhibition ‘We the People’, staged in Bucharest’s downtown University Square, according to Agerpres.

„The strategic partnership between the United States of America and Romania, launched 25 years ago, produced important strategic-military, political, economic, cultural and social consequences,” said the former President.

In his speech, U.S. chargé d’affaires ad interim David Muniz spoke about developments over the last quarter of a century.

„It was 25 years ago when President Clinton stood in Piata Universitatii and proclaimed, ‘The Romanian people have won the world’s respect for moving so far, so fast, and for believing in yourselves and your future…’ and he added, ‘Stay the course, the future is yours.’ He was right, and so was President Constantinescu when he stated, ‘We have laid this bridge built by human beings across an ocean which God has set between you and us. It is a bridge of common values.’ It is these common values we honor today, and in these dark times, we are reminded again of the importance of sharing them,” the diplomat pointed out.

Muniz went on to say that „these two leaders could not have foreseen what this region would face twenty-five years in the future, but they clearly understood the timeless benefits of democracy and Alliance … and together they created the U.S.-Romania Strategic Partnership.”

„The benefits this quarter century of Partnership have brought belong to every single one of us … American, Romanian, Ally and friend alike,” he added.

Referring to the freshly opened exhibition, he said that „every picture on display speaks to our accomplishments. We pledged to shared security – and Romania in 2022 is a stalwart and essential NATO Ally. We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the world’s most dangerous places. We have cheered Romania as it has moved from a recipient nation to an exporter of peace and security.”

Secretary of State with the National Defense Ministry Eduard Bachide said that „the photos selected by the organizers of this impressive exhibition illustrate not only the evolution of a collaborative relationship, but testify to the friendship between our peoples, to the important achievements we accomplished together and of which we are equally proud of.”

„The defense capacities installed in Romania pose no threat to anyone, in no case to Russia, as the Kremlin’s propaganda suggests, but on the contrary, they contribute to the defense of the allied territory against potential threats,” Bachide said.

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The traveling exhibition ‘We the People’, which celebrates 25 years of U.S. – Romania strategic partnership, organized by the U.S. Embassy in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the Diplomatic Archives Unit, the AGERPRES National News Agency, in collaboration with the University of Craiova – was unveiled on Wednesday evening in Bucharest.

The thematic photo essay explores the diplomatic, security, economic and cultural relations between the Romanian and American people, proving, in a display of interactions between the two nations, that the U.S. – Romania Strategic Partnership is accessible to everyone. The exhibition extensively captures the interactions between the two peoples ever since the beginning of the Partnership, in 1997. The 150 photos of the exhibit create a personal framework for the Strategic Partnership of the past and present, providing the opportunity to experience the friendship and collaboration between the two peoples in a new way.

The AGERPRES National News Agency contributed 20 images from its photo stream and its Photographic Archive. Also, the Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Archives Unit contributed 13 photos.

The exhibition was already presented in Craiova and Timisoara.

In Bucharest it can be seen until November 30 and will subsequently travel to Sibiu (December 8 – January 10, 2023), Cluj-Napoca (January 11 – February 7, 2023), Iasi (February 8 – March 7, 2023) and Constanta (March 9 – April 6, 2023).

Agerpres