The cancellation of the November 2024 Romanian elections was taken into account when the Trump Administration excluded our country from the Visa Waiver program, shows an internal note of the National Security Council, not disclosed so far, but obtained by Daniel Lippman, from Politico.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in March that Romania had lost its chance to be admitted to the U.S. visa waiver program, in part to “ensure border security and immigration control.” But an internal NSC memo, previously unpublished, shows that the Trump administration also considered another factor: Romania’s failure to comply with what the White House considered democratic norms after it canceled last year’s election.
“There are strict requirements to qualify for the Visa Waiver Program, which it was unclear whether Romania actually met when the Biden administration rushed the process in its final days. Separately, we are concerned about antidemocratic actions in Europe,” a White House official told Politico.
Romania has drawn the ire of Vice President JD Vance for barring far-right politician Călin Georgescu from running in this month’s election, which was canceled after he won last year.
The “summary of conclusions” memorandum of the NSC policy coordination committee meeting on March 14 shows that there was some internal dissent over the move. The US Embassy in Bucharest said that “removing Romania from the list of targeted countries could harm the image of the United States,” according to the document.
But the committee, chaired by Andrew Peek, the NSC’s senior director for Europe and Eurasia, said it was important to ensure that Romania “respects the democratic process and holds free, fair, and transparent elections.”
The meeting was organized to decide how to contribute to “the Administration’s broader effort to prevent the deterioration of democratic norms and practices in Europe more generally,” according to the memorandum.
“Protecting the integrity of our immigration and visa system is essential to ensuring national security,” a White House official told NSD (National Security Daily – Politico’s newsletter). “There are strict requirements to qualify for the Visa Waiver Program, requirements that Romania clearly did not meet when the Biden Administration rushed the process in the final days of its mandate. We also have concerns about anti-democratic actions in Europe, including the use of the law against certain views.”
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said she was “grateful for Romania’s close partnership over the years to strengthen security cooperation” and that the country could be reconsidered for inclusion in the program in the future.
A Romanian Embassy spokesperson said in a statement that such considerations regarding democratic norms “are not part of our dialogue with U.S. officials” and that “based on the assessment of U.S. agencies that led to Romania’s designation as a VWP participating country, Romania meets the legal requirements of the program.”
“Romania reaffirms its full readiness to hold discussions with the United States, as close strategic partners, on ways to resolve this issue in the future,” the spokesperson added. “The decision to ban Mr. Călin Georgescu’s candidacy was taken within the existing constitutional framework by an independent authority, not by the Romanian government.”