Romanian foreign minister Oana Țoiu to meet US state secretary Marco Rubio

Oana Țoiu, Romania’s foreign minister, is set to meet US state secretary Marco Rubio on Wednesday, October 8, according to the public agenda of the Department of State. This is the first high-level meeting with a representative of the Trump Administration after the annulment and rerun of the presidential elections in Romania.

The meeting will take place at 2:30 PM in the US, that is, 9:30 PM Romania time. After the meeting with the US counterpart, the Romanian official will see the representatives of the member companies of the American Romanian Business Council.

This is not the first time that the two will talk. Țoiu and Rubio talked on the phone on July 31, tackling issues such as security and defense, energy, as well as cooperation in migration management.

The meeting carries more importance than usual, since several representatives of the US Administration and members of the MAGA movement harshly criticized Romania for the annulment of the 2024 presidential elections in the first months of the year. The most vehement were vice president JD Vance and Elon Musk, then special adviser to president Trump. The latter also shared a message in support of pro-Russian Romanian politician Călin Georgescu, who was later sent to trial for attempted coup.

Since then, Romanian officials have been striving to re-establish friendly relations with the Trump administration. The Romanian government agreed with Donald Trump’s plan to hike NATO defence spending to 5% and constantly highlighted, through representatives, the importance of the US troops in Europe.

As part of the charm offensive, on Wednesday, October 8, recently appointed presidential advisor Valentin Naumescu noted in a message posted on Facebook that there are arguments in favor of Donald Trump receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Israel-Hamas conflict.

(Photo source: Senator Marco Rubio, Oana Toiu on Facebook)