President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that Romania can have the „justified hope” that, „in a fairly near future”, it will be included in the US Visa Waiver Program.

„There are a lot of technical discussions here. And know that Visa Waiver is not a political decision, it is a decision based on statistics. Our Foreign Ministry and embassy here took things very seriously. There are campaigns to raise awareness, to improve the acceptance rate and, in this regard, we can have the legitimate hope that in a fairly near future this issue will be resolved,” Iohannis told a news conference at the Romanian Embassy in Washington, DC after a White House meeting with US President Joe Biden.

He added that the Visa Waiver issue was also tackled during the meeting in the Oval Office.

„We also addressed the issue of Romania’s admission to the Visa Waiver Program, which is very important to all Romanian citizens. Our objective is to meet all the conditions for inclusion in this program and we are confident that this will happen in the not-too-distant future.”

Iohannis was on a working visit to Washington, where, on Wednesday May 8 he was scheduled to receive the Distinguished International Leadership Award 2024, on May 8 at the Atlantic Council Distinguished Leadership Awards gala.

On May 7, he was welcomed at the White House by US President Biden.

AGERPRES