UPDATE: President Iohannis meets Victoria Nuland: Some things took a favorable turn, others didn’t

President Klaus Iohannis welcomed the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, Victoria Nuland at Cotroceni Palace on Monday, noting it has been a year since their last meeting and that during this time many things evolved positively, while others evolved less.

Victoria Nuland came at Cotroceni Palace accompanied by US Ambassador in Bucharest Hans Klemm.

At the beginning of the meeting, president Iohannis said it is his pleasure to meet Victoria Nuland again.

“It has been one year since we last met. A lot of things changed during this time, some took a favorable turn, others not such a favorable one, and today we’ll have the chance to talk about a few of them,” the Romanian President pointed out.

In her turn, Victoria Nuland said she enjoyed coming back to Romania within her annual January visit, as it is an occasion to talk ‘as allies’ about common priorities.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said on Monday, in a press conference at the US embassy, that the United States are impressed on the whole about the DNA activity in fighting corruption, and that it supports the anticorruption prosecutors including with training and technical support, but said that in democratic societies it is important to maintain a balance between the safety of citizens and the right to privacy. Nuland also said the investigation of cases reached such a level that, if a few years ago it was a question of results, now the civil society talks about this balance, considering that this is a ‘very healthy’ issue.

The U.S. official also mentioned she had already met other Romanian official authorities, with the meetings evolving very well. She met PM Dacian Cioloș on Sunday evening and the Defense minister Mihnea Motoc on Monday morning.