US Congress delegation - meetings with interim president Bolojan, PM Ciolacu and Romanian Mps

A delegation of eight members of the US Congress, Democrats and Republicans, led by Vern Buchanan, will meet on Tuesday in Bucharest with interim president Ilie Bolojan, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, and Romanian parliamentarians.The US delegation arrived in Romania on Monday evening.According to the officially announced program, the representatives of the US Congress will be received by the interim president, Ilie Bolojan, at 11:00 at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.At 16:00 they will have talks with prime minister Marcel Ciolacu at the Victoria Palace of Government.   Presidential advisor Cristian Diaconescu announced, last Friday on private broadcaster Antena 3 CNN, the visit of the US Congress delegation to Bucharest."I confirm that at the beginning of next week a significant delegation of the US Congress is expected to come to Romania, with contacts at all significant decision-making levels in Romania. This is very good. There will be another development in this regard by the end of this month. It is important, because the strategic elements that are of interest to us and to the Americans will be discussed. There is also the Black Sea strategy, which the US Congress developed last year with bipartisan support, and both Republicans and Democrats will be present in Bucharest. (...) We will also discuss the annulled elections. We are ready. We will give answers about what happened, but also guarantees about what will happen. It is a step forward," said Cristian Diaconescu.The members of the US Congress will also meet Romanian parliamentarians.Vice-President of the Romanian Senate Robert Cazanciuc said on Monday that the visit to Romania of a delegation from the US Congress represents a message of "strategic partnership" between the two countries."I will also attend this meeting tomorrow [April 15], it is a mixed delegation of Republicans and Democrats. I went a year ago, two years ago, on several visits to the United States, I went to Congress, I went to the Senate. Each time, the meeting was with Republicans and Democrats. I never went only to Republicans or only to Democrats. We sought to keep that balance because that's the way it is in the United States. It's a message of strategic partnership between Romania and the United States. There are two pillars in Europe on which the United States have always relied - one in the north, which is called Poland, and one in the south, which is called Romania," said the social-democrat senator at the Palace of Parliament.The leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) senators, Daniel Fenechiu, emphasized the "very good" relations of the Romanian parliamentarians with members of the US Congress."The world believes Romanian-American relations strictly come down to entrance to [president, editor's note] Trump. This is incorrect. Many parliamentarians from Romania have very good relations with congressmen from the United States, there are bilateral relations, there are friendly relations. I believe that, ultimately, Romanian-American relations are on an upward trend, the things that interest them in principle will be discussed with the US delegation. We will all lobby in the sense that Romania is a democratic state and that the decisions of the Constitutional Court are respected. They will probably be curious, they will ask us questions, we will ask them, and this dialogue will certainly result in a better position for Romania in the region," Daniel Fenechiu said.