Declarații de presă susținute de premierul Marcel Ciolacu în cadrul vizitei în SUA

Press statements by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on his visit to the United States

Marcel Ciolacu (...;)There are several meetings both at the Senate and the House of Representatives. As you well know, the US defense budget is voted now, it includes the Black Sea security for the first time. It is natural to desire the inclusion of this bill, which the US Congress has already agreed upon, and President Biden evoked it at the Vilnius Summit. It is rejoicing for me the fact that all congressmen we met understand the difficult situation that Romania is going through. And everybody thanked us for the help extended to Ukraine and especially to the Republic of Moldova. We will continue the meetings at the Senate, and we will later have a meeting with representatives of an important U.S. company, with the Google representatives.
Reporter: What is the concrete outcome of this visit, you discussed again lifting visas for Romanians. What were the conclusions today?
Marcel Ciolacu: You know very well, that we spoke with every congressman, they all endorse us. Greater efforts not only on the part of the Romanian state but from all Romanians are required if we want to join this program in 2025.
Reporter: Regarding the defense, you had a very important discussion today with one of the largest arms manufacturing companies, how will this materialize in investments in Romania?
Marcel Ciolacu: We all know about the pilot training program, primarily Romanians, but also Ukrainians, this program is carried out together with the Netherlands and the Lockheed Martin company. And naturally, we had discussions this morning, because everything was done very quickly, I think also thanks to the Minister of Defense, Mr. Angel Tilvăr. The whole process took several months and this program is already operational. We discussed that the F-16 maintenance works and the capital repairs at this moment should be carried out with a joint venture and on Romanian territory. We are currently cooperating with Lockheed Martin on the maintenance system, but we want to expand the area of interest a bit.
Reporter: Did you talk about the F-35 purchase?
Marcel Ciolacu: We all know: that Romania made the decision, and now we are waiting for the U.S. Congress's decision. All acquisitions must pass through the United States Congress, I have also discussed it with the congressmen, and the decision will be a favorable one.
Reporter: During this visit, did you also propose setting up a hub, on Romanian territory, in the Black Sea area? I understand that you also had discussions with Google representatives. Are they interested in participating in such an investment?
Marcel Ciolacu: Im going to have a meeting with Google representatives. I said yesterday: that I want the USA to be the main non-EU partner of Romania and I want it very clearly: As long as the USA has deployed over 2,000 American soldiers and state-of-the-art military logistics on Romanian territory, I think we can also create a hub for American companies that will lead naturally to the development of Romania, and the reconstruction of Ukraine in the future.
Reporter: You mentioned a stable economic environment. What does this mean? That Romania is not going to change taxes from one day to the next?
Marcel Ciolacu: Romania enjoys a stable economic environment because otherwise, we would not have had some direct investment of almost 20 billion euros in two years. If you make some exceptions for certain categories, it does not mean it is an unstable economic environment. On the very contrary, a stable environment means that everyone pays the due taxes.
Reporter: Mr Prime Minister, you spoke about recalling Romania's ambassador to the United States? You made a statement in this regard.
Marcel Ciolacu: I have not talked to anyone about any recall, it is not in my power as prime minister to recall an ambassador, but in the president's powers.
Reporter: Did you state that you would have done it if you had been the president?
Marcel Ciolacu: We didn't get to talk. The only thing I did - I talked to Minister Odobescu, who is a member of the Government. I think we are talking too much about this subject and too much about a character who has been overtaken by the diplomatic quality he had.
Reporter: From a diplomatic point of view, do the representatives of Romanian diplomacy in Washington, fulfill their responsibilities in terms of promoting Romania's interests?
Marcel Ciolacu: I do not want to enter into details, as the context is not a favorable one, I don't want to talk now about Romanian diplomacy, which does its duty everywhere for an exception or an emotional moment of an ambassador.
Reporter: Yes, it is an exception in the area of a strategic partnership.
Marcel Ciolacu: Usually in life, as often in politics and diplomacy, when you go up by jumping certain stages to a too high level, there usually comes a moment when you make yourself a laughing stock.
Reporter: Did Muraru skip stages?
Marcel Ciolacu: I don't know, check for yourself.
Reporter: Related to Schengen.
Marcel Ciolacu: Please.
Reporter: Did you ask for American support to put pressure on the Austrians? Today and tomorrow is the JHA Council.
Marcel Ciolacu: We are on the agenda. I repeat. We could not be on the agenda only if we wanted to force a vote that we knew beforehand, not necessarily Austrias vote against Romania. We would have known very clearly the Netherlands' vote against Bulgaria. The procedure in the Netherlands is more complicated than in Romania. It is necessary a vote through Parliament. So one goes with a mandate from the Parliament to vote in a European Council.
Reporter: Is there any chance?
Marcel Ciolacu: There are chances and we also had discussions in Spain, in Germany, with the President of the Commission, and we also had discussions with the President of Romania, because we coordinated ourselves in this context. I had discussions with the Minister of the Interior, Cătălin Predoiu. The only solution at this point is to wait for the Netherlandss reaction and it will come soon. You know that I also had discussions with Mr. Frans Timmermans regarding Bulgaria, about convening an extraordinary European Council, an extraordinary JHA on this topic.
Reporter: What do you want from Google, data center, what exactly will you propose to Google representatives?
Marcel Ciolacu: A data center in Romania. I think we are the most entitled to have this. Thank you very much!
Reporter: How many people could work there?
Marcel Ciolacu: I think Microsoft has almost 5,000 employees in Romania, and Google has about 500. Do we all know what a data center means in Romania? Tremendously! Thank you!

Source: Gov