Former SRI head George Maior received a favorable opinion for the ambassador position in USA in parliamentary foreign policy committees on Tuesday. The opinion is only consultative, Maior getting 18 votes in favor, one against and an abstention.
During hearings in the committee, Maior underlined the importance of the strategic relationship between Romania and USA, while saying it is inadmissible that USA rank only 11th on investments in our country.
Informing he has already talked about the main elements of his term as ambassador with president Klaus Iohannis and PM Victor Ponta, George Maior said that his main target as Romania’s envoy to USA would be to continue the actions aiming visa removal, arguing that the Strategic Partnership would have only benefits by including Romanian in Visa Waiver program. Maior also underlined the ten points of the Strategic Partnership Declaration “must continuously fathomed and enhanced within the political dialogue with the American authorities”.
He stated that another “constant concern” of his term would be enhancing the relation with the Romanian community living in the USA.
However, Maior warned that the Strategic Partnership must be fathomed on the bilateral economic dimension. “I find it unacceptable that the USA, the most important economy in the world, is the 11th investor in Romania. This must be rectified,” Maior said, adding he will go attracting US investments, mostly on IT and energy.
As far as the foreign policy is concerned, the former SRI head pointed out that Russia represents “a threat to the region”. “This thing must be underlined to the American factors (…) to be aware that there is an active risk for Romania and for the other countries in the region,” Maior said.
President Iohannis approved the designation of George Maior as Romania’s ambassador to US on April 30.
Emil Hurezeanu gets the committees’ green light for Germany
Emil Hurezeanu also got the green light as ambassador to Germany in Tuesday’s joint foreign committees session. He obtained 19 votes in favor and only one against.
He told the lawmakers that the role of the Romanian community in Germany could be much improved, and there is no “ Romanian invasion”, as there is an important percentage of high-educated people on the German labour market.
Hurezeanu explained there is breakdown in trust at the society level in Germany, mostly expressed in the media, as the Romanian officials’ visits have no well-deserved response.
Hurezeanu also advocated for the improvement of the economic diplomacy, arguing “we shouldn’t be satisfied with the commercial exchange level with Germany” as there is a higher potential.