ForMin Melescanu: I told Tillerson that once in a while there are quorum issues in Parliament

Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu says he has reassured United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the Senate's Defence Committee will give the green light to the Government's bill for the Army endowment, providing for the procurement of seven Patriot missiles, with the possibility for the Higher Chamber plenary to vote for the piece of legislation on the same day. 

Asked whether during the 15 November meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson he also discussed about the Patriot missiles acquisition, Minister Melescanu stated on Monday: "No, but he asked me about the quorum [in the Defence Committee - ed.n.] last week and I told him there are quorum problems every once in a while. By no means does it refer to the issue at hand and the current governing coalition holds a comfortable majority in Parliament, as I told him, next week, that is today, we will have the Committee greenlights, and possibly its adoption in the Senate's plenary." 

Minister Melescanu specified that blocking the acquisition was never a question. 

According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, other topics were tackled during the discussions with Tillerson such as "bilateral relations, issues of interest in the relations between Romania and the US, related to political dialogue, the development of economic relations, our contribution to NATO's security system." "Also cooperation within international institutions, I even requested support for Romania's accession to OCDE [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] during the current year. It was a relatively short talk occasioned by a technical stopover in Bucharest, but in my opinion it was a great sign. The atmosphere was very good and one of the first things I did was to invite Mr Tillerson to pay an official visit to Romania," Melescanu added. 

Last Wednesday, the US Embassy in Bucharest informed that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson halted in Bucharest on the way back from a trip to Asia. He was welcomed by Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu. AGERPRES .