Romania's president Klaus Iohannis said on Monday, June 14, that he invited his US counterpart Joe Biden to visit Romania. According to Iohannis, the US leader "agreed to try to organize such a meeting."

The Romanian president made the statement at the end of the NATO Summit in Brussels, where he reportedly had two brief discussions with Joe Biden. The first one took place at the beginning of the summit when Klaus Iohannis and Polish president Andrzej Duda greeted Biden and expressed their gratitude for his presence at the B9 (Bucharest Nine) Summit.

"Obviously, we also wanted to make sure that we still have a solid strategic partnership and that we have the full attention of the United States' strategic partnership for the eastern flank. President Biden assured us that he is particularly committed to supporting Romania and Poland to improve this relationship," Iohannis said, according to News.ro.

The second discussion took place towards the end of the NATO Summit when Klaus Iohannis also invited Biden to Romania.

"[…] I told him I want us to continue the very good conversation that we started; we had our first meeting in 2015, when he was vice president Biden. I really want to strengthen the strategic partnership between Romania and the United States of America. He agreed to try to organize such a meeting and assured me once again that he is very dedicated to this partnership," Klaus Iohannis explained.

The Romanian president also said on Monday that the decisions taken at the NATO Summit in Brussels respond to Romania's security interests.

"Today's summit was one of visionary decisions. Starting from the NATO 2030 strategic reflection process, launched in London in 2019, today we set major directions of action for the next decade, including developing a new strategic concept, a decision I strongly supported. Decisions to further strengthen its military position of deterrence and defence, strengthen its political profile, increase engagement with partners, increase resilience and maintain technological advancement have reaffirmed support for a stronger, adapted, active and globally relevant Alliance, ready to defend its citizens and territory. I emphasize that today's decisions respond to Romania's security interests, and through the results obtained, we have achieved the major objectives set for this summit," Iohannis said at the end of the Brussels Summit.

Increased NATO presence in the Black Sea region, a deeper EU-NATO partnership, and support for NATO's open-door policy are among Romania's priorities as presented at the summit, Iohannis also said in his statement.

The Romanian president also shared a message on Facebook, where he said that, through the decisions adopted at the NATO Summit, "the security of Romania and its citizens is better ensured."

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Klaus Iohannis)