President Klaus Iohannis received, on Tuesday, the new ambassadors of the United States of America, Kathleen Ann Kavalec, of Turkey, Ozgur Kivanc Altan, of the Republic of Slovakia, Peter Hatiar, and of the United Mexican States, Amparo Erendira Anguiano Rodriguez, on the occasion of which they had presented their letters of credence, according to Agerpres.

The US ambassador in Bucharest spoke to the president in Romanian.

„Mr. president, please allow me to hand you the letters by which Mr. Joseph Biden, the president of the United States of America, accredits me as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Romania and the letters of recall of my predecessor,” said the diplomat.

For his part, Iohannis addressed Kavalec in English: „Welcome to Romania! You have a very good accent.”

In the discussion with the ambassador of the United States of America in Romania, president Klaus Iohannis welcomed her return to our country, after her previous post at the US Embassy in Bucharest, in the period 2005-2008.

President Klaus Iohannis expressed his appreciation for the role assumed by US president Joe Biden and the Washington administration „for ensuring unity within the transatlantic community and achieving close coordination between transatlantic and global leaders in order to manage the security situation in our country’s vicinity, with an impact on Euro-Atlantic security”, the Presidential Administration says.

In this context, the Romanian president thanked for the consistent increase of the American military presence in Romania, after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, which demonstrates the strong support of the USA for the security of Romania and its European NATO allies, especially those on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance.

During the discussions, president Klaus Iohannis reiterated the common interest in recording concrete progress regarding Romania’s accession to the Visa Waiver program.

Ambassador Kathleen Ann Kavalec appreciated the solidity of the bilateral Strategic Partnership and confirmed the objective of working with the Romanian authorities for its consolidation. At the same time, the American official conveyed the appreciation of the USA regarding the efforts and support that Romania gives to Ukraine and the Ukrainian refugees.
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In the discussion with the ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, Ozgur Kivanc Altan, president Iohannis reiterated, in the context of the catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey on February 6 and caused tens of thousands of victims, the solidarity of Romania and the Romanian people and the willingness to continue to offer support. The president sent his condolence to the affected families and speedy recovery to the injured.

He appreciated the very good Romanian-Turkish relations, based on the Strategic Partnership, sustained political dialogue and dynamic cooperation in a large number of sectors. Also, Klaus Iohannis welcomed the joint decision of the two countries to establish this year the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, a structure that will strengthen the strategic dimension of the bilateral dialogue, taking into account the effects of the conflict in Ukraine and the regional and global developments. At the same time, the dimension of economic cooperation was emphasized, especially trade, investments, energy security.

The Turkish ambassador in Bucharest conveyed the Turkish authorities’ thanks for the compassion and help offered by Romania in these extremely difficult moments for his country. Also, the Turkish ambassador reiterated the goal to work on strengthening the Strategic Partnership bilaterally and on close coordination within NATO and at the European level.
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In the meeting with the ambassador of the Slovak Republic, Peter Hatiar, the president of Romania mentioned the excellent state of the Romanian-Slovak bilateral relationship and appreciated the intense political-diplomatic dialogue of the last period. President Iohannis also highlighted the role played by the Slovak minority in Romania and the Romanian minority in the Slovak Republic in the development of human relations and ties between the two countries.

The president and the Slovak ambassador expressed their common interest in deepening bilateral and European coordination, as well as within regional formats such as the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) or the Bucharest 9 (B9) format, based on the similarities of views, approaches, behaviors and interests.

The Slovak ambassador conveyed his country’s active support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area.
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On the occasion of the meeting with the ambassador of the United Mexican States, Amparo Erendira Anguiano Rodriguez, the president of Romania expressed his appreciation for the positive dynamics of the relations between Romania and Mexico and emphasized the importance of the development of economic cooperation in the context in which Mexico is the second most important commercial partner of Romania in Latin America.

For her part, the ambassador of the United Mexican States highlighted the very good level of the bilateral relationship between the two countries, as well as the common desire to intensify cooperation in economy, trade, education, culture and tourism.

Agerpres