For one country, it is a great honor & priviledge for it to assume a rotating Presidency of its regional bloc such as EU (European Union). In a nutshell, it means that regional bloc member countries send their confidence to its rotating country during 6 months.

Romania which joined EU 12 years ago, assumed its first EU Presidency for the first tiem in its EU joining history during 6 months this year. Touching upon Romania President Klaus Werner lohannis’ remarks at the launching event of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Bucharest, Jan. 10th, 2019, Romania Amb. Mihai Ciompec said proudly: “12 years after becoming a EU member, Romania takes a forefront role at the European level, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, [---] with the primary goal of contributing to strengthening a more cohesive more united and stronger Europe”.

Within the paradigm of cohesion, the Romanian Presidency’s work agenda will focus on 4 main pillars, which will be reflected in the specific actions of 10 configurations of the Council of the European Union, as well as in the events that will take place throughout the semester, according to Ciompec.

As Romania envoy pointed out them, 4 main pillars will be *Europe of convergence, *A safer Europe, *Europe, a stronger global actor, and last but not least *Europe of common values.

Reflecting such huge interest, most EU ambassadors in Seoul were on hand at the commemorating reception held on Jan. 18th evening at the Romania Embassy located in Dongbinggo-dong, Seoul including Germany Amb. Stephan AUER, British Amb. Simon Smith, Finland Amb. Eero Suominen, Bulgaria Amb. Petar Andonov, Latvia Amb. Peteris Vaivars, and more.

The first Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is to take place against a backdrop of large-scale developments that will determine the shape of the European Union, according to the diagnosis of Romania Amb. Mihai Ciompec.

To sum up, such large-scale can be summarized as the reflection on the future of the Union; the United Kingdom’s process of leaving the EU; the transition towards a new legislative cycle as a result of European elections in May 2019; and implicitly the end of the European Commission and European Parliament’s terms of office.

So at the same time, challenges on the international scene deem necessary an active role of the Union at the international stage, pointed out Ciompec.