Starting from Jan. 1st, 2019, Romania will assume the EU Presidency, according to the remarks made by H.E. Mihai Ciompec who spoke such remarks during the 2018 Romania National Day diplomatic reception held in a downhotel Seoul on Nov. 28th evening.

Regarding its top 4 priorities of the Romania 2019 EU Presidency, Ciompec described as follows: 1) The Europe of convergence: Growth, competitiveness, & connectivity 2) The Europe of safety 3) Europe, a global player and last but not least 4) The Europe of shared values.

Touching upon the fact that Romania's future lies undoubtedly within the European Union, Ciompec pointed out that it is up to each of us to make sure this project is headed in a good direction, adding in this regard, we hope that Romania's first term as Presidency of the EU Council, guided by the need to ensure the fulfilment of a common interest, will have a impact on the entire Romanian society.

According to its romania2019,eu website, Romania is undergoing intense preparations in view of the upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the semestrial mandate starting with January 1, 2019. The Romanian Presidency will cover a period of utmost importance for defining the Union’s future, which will include the expected completion of the Brexit process and charged by a symbolic load, with the European citizens sharing a sense of unity, solidarity, and common future.

“Holding this mandate, a first for our country, will represent both an unprecedented challenge, and a significant opportunity. Romania will be at the core of the European decision-making process, holding an important role in facilitating the process of reflection on ways to develop and consolidate the European project, the process of negotiation to develop the community acquis and, implicitly, to consolidate cooperation between the Union’s Member States.”, Romania Amb. Ciompec said in front of about 300 invited guests.

From another note, Romania Foreign Minister Melescanu made an official visit to the ROK from November 22 till 24 this year, marking the first visit to the ROK by a Romanian Foreign Minister in five years, according to the Embassy of Romania Seoul.

Conjunction with such high-ranking official visit to Korea from Romanian side, Ciompec said in his welcome remarks: “The ROK and Romania had become strategic partners in a short period of time since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990. “ He also voiced hope that the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership this year would become a new opportunity to take the bilateral relations to a higher level.

Expressing satisfaction over the fact that robust economic cooperation between the two countries was underway on the basis of Romania’s steady economic growth, and Korean companies’ active business activities in Romania, Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa and its Romania counterpart also agreed to continue to work to increase trade and investment between the two countries based on the ROK-EU FTA, Ciompec conveyed.

According to MOFA officials, in addition, the two sides agreed to work together to make concrete progress in cooperation projects in a range of areas, including the construction of large-scale transport facilities and infrastructure, such as railways and highways, in Romania; the modernization of nuclear power plants in Romania; and ICT and e-government. They also agreed to facilitate exchanges in the cultural and academic sectors.

Minister Kang talked about the latest progress in the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including the outcome of the third inter-Korean summit, held in Pyeongyang in September, and asked for the Romanian government’s continued support for the ROK government’s efforts to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, and to establish a lasting peace on the Peninsula, according to MOFA.