"The Romanian presidency at the Council of the EU is an excellent chance for Romania to reaffirm its commitment to the values of the European Union and strengthen its role among the EU member states and, at the same time, to promote its national values and show its contribution to the European culture," said the Romanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Dan Mihalache, on Tuesday, at the launch in London of the Romanian presidency at the Council of the European Union.
In his introductory speech, the said Ambassador brought to mind that, while holding the presidency, Romania will focus on four topics of major interest: a Europe of convergence, a safer Europe, a Europe to be a stronger player at global level and a Europe of shared values. Moreover, the Romanian presidency's main objective is to place the European citizen at the core of its mandate, according to a press release of the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Among the guests to the event held at the ICR (Romanian Cultural Institute) headquarters in London, in 1 Belgrave Square, they were representatives of the British Government, of the central and local authorities, members of the diplomatic corpus accredited to London and representatives of the Romanian community and business environment.
They also held speeches Lord Howe, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords of the British Parliament and Minister of State for Defence, and Caroline Wilson, Europe Director at the Foreign Office.
The most important moment of the evening was the concert performed by the members of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), which marked a double anniversary: the launch of the Romanian presidency at the Council of the European Union and Romania's National Culture Day.
The event in London, launching the Romanian presidency at the Council of the European Union, was organised by the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland together with the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.