Romanian PM travels to Washington DC, New York during working visit to the US

Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu is on a working visit to the US, which kicked off on December 2 and includes trips to Washington DC and New York and meetings with high-ranking American officials. The governmental delegation includes defense minister Angel Tîlvăr, foreign affairs minister Luminița Odobescu, and economy minister Radu Oprea.

PM Ciolacu began his visit to the United States of America at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, where he commemorated, on Sunday, the victims of the genocide of the Second World War, Digi24 reported.

“The US Holocaust Memorial Museum is a powerful reminder that we cannot simply look at anti-Semitism as something from the past. We must all pledge our commitment to see that history does not repeat itself,” he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The 🇺🇸 US Holocaust Memorial Museum is a powerful reminder that we cannot simply look at anti-Semitism as something from the past. We must all pledge our commitment to see that history does not repeat itself.#NeverAgain pic.twitter.com/XMXIyL1Y5U — Marcel Ciolacu (@CiolacuMarcel) December 3, 2023

Later the same day, Marcel Ciolacu also met with representatives of the Romanian community in the US. During the meeting, he said that dropping the visa requirements and joining the Visa Waiver program would “become a reality from 2025.”

“I am firmly convinced that with your help […], the waiver of visas and the Visa Waiver program will become a reality from 2025,” he said, according to News.ro.

During the visit to the US, the Romanian prime minister is also set to have meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Other highlights of the visit will be the meetings in New York with Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations and Dennis Frances, the President of the United Nations General Assembly.