Your Excellency, distinguished representatives of the Embassy of the United States of America here in Bucharest, it is a great privilege and a great honor for me to be this afternoon together with you, and to present for the second year, in a row, the best wishes on behalf of the Romanian authorities and the Romanian Government.
I have just landed from a great country and a good friend of Romania, but I was very committed to succeeding to be here, this afternoon, to express our warm feelings regarding another great country, great democracy, a very good friend of Romania, United States of America.
Unfortunately, as I have landed, the bad news have come, and I would like to express our sorrow and our solidarity in front of the loss that you suffered, the 24 year young, Romanian employee, who lost his life. I think that confronted with this kind of tragedies, our partnership and friendship could prove to be a strong one and we should show solidarity and be united when confronted with this kind of situations.
Another bad news that has come, it was another loss – a former Prime Minister, Radu Vasile, who was in office in difficult times for Romania, also passed away and I would like to express my condolences to his family, all his friends, and to thank you very much for the feelings that you expressed, regarding this loss to Romania.
But the bad news is fortunately not the only ones, there is also very good news regarding our special partnership. I should recognize from the very beginning that compared to last year’s celebration, I can feel a much cooler atmosphere; last year was a very warm time for Bucharest and Romania. Now, I am very happy to see that a stable and predictable country, Romania can prove to be a stable and reliable partner for the United States of America.
You have mentioned the military cooperation and I would join you in praising the activity of our brave soldiers together shoulder by shoulder in Afghanistan and in some other parts of the world. I would also mention our commitment to begin this year the implementation of our missile defense system project but the military cooperation is not the only one which is developing, during these days.
Romania is a committed member of the European Union in having a successful agreement of trade and cooperation between the European Union and the United States, and I think that will prove a great achievement for the United States and the members of the European Union, increasing our trade, creating new jobs, and creating new opportunities for both sides.
In terms of the economy, I would mention as you did, and my personal appreciation for your companies’ involvement in many fields, including the energy because that gives Romania an unbelievable chance to have in the near future our energy independence and safety which will be a great achievement for the country, and which will provide us all the opportunities to use the undiscovered up to now potential of the country.
I would like to express once again our best wishes for your great country, your great people, our commitment to be reliable partners and friends.
I would just conclude I hope my English was not worse than your Romanian, and I succeeded to convey my messages, just to say once again: “La multi ani, Statelor Unite ale Americii!”

Thank you very much.