Bridges to Asia

Romania has been continuously appreciated as a trustworthy partner by the countries in Asia. The bilateral relations between Romania and the Asian countries are free of direct political issues and with a rich history and dynamic developments over many years. Likewise, the relations between Romania and the Asian states are similarly robust at multilateral level, with a particularly strong cooperation at the UN, ASEM, ASEAN and other international formats.

As a former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Indonesia and Pakistan and Chief of Mission to Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Finland and Estonia, as well as a former Director of the Asia Pacific Division and former Director General of the Asia Pacific, Near and Middle East, Africa and Latin America Department of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have actively and directly participated at the further strengthening of the relations between Romania and Asian countries for over four decades.

In the aftermath of her 1989 democratic breakthrough, Romania has channeled utmost efforts towards deepening the integration within the European and Euro-Atlantic structures with an aim to safeguard her new democratic path, security and well-being of the Romanian people; it is against this backdrop that the bilateral relations with countries in other regions of the world have apparently developed at a different pace.

According to the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, the country’s bilateral relations with her partners in Asia, and not only, are expected to gain momentum starting with 2023: “At the same time, the investment of new energy is needed to reconnect or keep close, as the case may be, Romania's friends and partners in the Middle East, the Gulf, Africa, the Indo-Pacific and Latin America. In the current moment of global crossroads, it is not geographical distances that matter, but the proximity of values and action in mutual support when needed.” (Speech at the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy, 2022)

It is in this ambit that IRSEA continues to actively support, through all its means and its status as officially recognized think-tank, Romania’s steady efforts to further strengthen her long, continuous and sincere bilateral relations with her partners and friends in Asia.

There is a need to know each other better, which is the target of IRSEA’s newest programme “Bridges to Asia”- an avenue opened for High Officials, Ambassadors, partners of IRSEA and professional analysts, from both Asia and Romania. The programme is hence designed to reflect the particular importance attached to the bilateral relations between Romania and the Asian countries.

Ambassador (p) Gheorghe Savuica