Romanian term as EU Council president celebrated

Islamabad : The Embassy of Romania in collaboration with the Centre for Global and Strategic Studies hosted a reception at a local hotel on Friday night to mark the completion of the six-month Romanian tenure as the president of the Council of the European Union and to bid farewell to Ambassador of European Union Jean-François Cautain.

The event was attended by diplomats, politicians, bureaucrats, journalists and civil society members in large numbers.

At the start of the event, Romanian Ambassador Nicolae Goia said after taking over the EU Council’s top office for the first time in January 2019 under the motto of ‘cohesion, a common European value’, his country proved its strong attachment to the European values and worked for the convergence of the Union’s members, protection and development of citizens, and social progress.

“We proved promptitude, efficiency, and professionalism during our EU Council presidency, which came in a complex and dynamic context marked by the European elections as well as the developments related to Brexit by an ever-changing international environment,” he said.

The ambassador said as the EU Council president, Romania had advocated equal civil rights and freedom, own interests, and dialogue as the main decision-making instrument.

He said his country also had good consultations with other European states on the EU agenda of freedom, security, and justice for citizens.

“As my country is handing over the EU Council presidency to Finland, I’m confident that the European project will further advance under Helsinki’s generous motto of a sustainable Europe, a sustainable future,” he said.

The EU ambassador, who had assumed the office in 2015 and will relinquish it shortly, congratulated Romania for holding successfully holding the EU Council presidency and said the position had benefitted both Bucharest and EU.

“The EU Council presidency had a great symbolic value for Romania, which led to significant results for Romania as well as for the EU,” he said. Jean-François Cautain thanked the Romanian envoy for good wishes on his farewell and said he was returning with great memories and good friends.

Special assistant to the Pakistani prime minister on information and broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, who was the chief guest on the occasion, congratulated Romania for successfully holding the EU Council presidency and said the office was a good opportunity for the south eastern European country to develop its people and generate more economic and commercial activities by connecting itself with EU member states,” she said.

The premier’s special assistant appreciated the Romanian embassy and CGSS for organising the successful function and said more and more such events should take place to promote people-to-people contacts to strengthen Pakistan’s relations with Romania and other European Union states.

CGSS president Major General (r) Syed Khalid Amir Jaffery said the EU Council presidency was meant to promote dialogue among European countries to protect citizens from internal and external threats.