Romania marks 20 years in NATO with events in Washington DC
Romania will celebrate 20 years since joining NATO with an extraordinary concert to be held at the famous Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC, the very hall where the NATO Treaty was signed 75 years ago.
The concert, titled 'Faith, Freedom and Friendship. Celebrating 20 years of Romania’s NATO membership', will take place on Saturday, April 20. It is organized by the Romanian Embassy in the United States and the 'Procred Music' Association, with the support of sponsors.
Representatives from the US Congress, the State Department, the Pentagon, members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Washington, representatives of religious organizations in the United States and of all Romanian church denominations in America, representatives from the associative and think-tank sectors, as well as a large number of American and Romanian-American attendees have confirmed their presence at the event.
The concert will feature dozens of exceptional artists from the 'Procred' Choir, the National Philharmonic of the United States, and soloists Alexandra Crișan, Diana Rad, Luminița Anghel, Nico Matei, Gabriel Henrique, Remus Alăzăroae, Nick Casciaro, Kurt Davies, and Emanuel Cîrstea, conducted by George Natsis and Andrei Tudor. It will be broadcast live in Romania at 9:00 PM.
The concert will be preceded by a gala dinner on Friday, April 19, honoring a series of Romanian and American personalities who contributed to Romania's NATO accession process.
NATO's Deputy Secretary-General, Mircea Geoană, himself one of the promoters of Romania's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance both as Romania's ambassador to the US and as foreign minister 20 years ago, will be a special guest at both events.
The event will celebrate Romania's contribution to the peace and security guarantees enjoyed by every NATO member state.
“NATO membership marked Romania's return to the Western community, affirming its adherence to common values and providing Romanian citizens with the most solid security guarantees in history,” the Embassy of Romania to the US said.
“These two events are meant to mark one of the most important moments in Romania's history: the return of our country to the family of Western democracies, from which it was brutally removed by the establishment of communism after World War II. Romanians have always shared the values of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Now, Romania is and will remain a reliable ally, a significant contributor to the security of the North Atlantic Alliance, and a major bastion of the Eastern Flank, especially in a region of such geostrategic significance which faces a multitude of security challenges,” stated Andrei Muraru, Romania's ambassador to Washington.
Romania was the first former communist state to join the Partnership for Peace (PfP), NATO's complex cooperation format with partner states, a membership that this year marks 30 years. The country joined NATO formally in 2004.
This year also marks 75 years since the founding of the North Atlantic Alliance, 25 years since the accession of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and 20 years since the accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
(Photo source: Embassy of Romania to the US)
