Romania – United States relations

Romania – United States relations

Romania	United States

Romania – United States relations are bilateral relations between Romania and the United States. U.S.-Romanian diplomatic relations were formally established in 1880, with the appointment of Eugene Schuyler, a renowned and talented diplomat and historian, as the first American diplomatic representative to Romania. One hundred and twenty-five years after Schuyler first took up residence in Bucharest, the U.S.-Romanian bilateral relationship has matured into a strategic partnership that encompasses a wide range of political, military, economic and cultural ties. Particularly after Romania embraced democracy in the 1990s, U.S.-Romania relations broadened and deepened, leading to U.S. support for Romania’s entry into NATO and setting the stage for its full integration into Europe. Today, Romania is a strong ally of the United States, and the two countries work together to build democracy, fight terrorism and promote regional security and stability.

According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 43% of Romanians approve of U.S. leadership, with 12% disapproving and 45% uncertain.

Informal contacts between Romania and the United States can be traced back to the earliest days of American history. Captain John Smith, who later emigrated from England to Virginia, is believed to have fought in Transylvania against the Ottomans around 1601-1603, and Benjamin Franklin wrote of a meeting with a Transylvanian priest, Samuel Damien, who visited Philadelphia while traveling around the world. News about Romania occasionally appeared in the United States as early as the 1700s, while Romanian publications also discussed developments in America, first publishing the works of Benjamin Franklin in the 1800s. In 1846, one of the future leaders of the Romanian Revolution of 1848, Simion Barnutiu, translated the American Declaration of Independence. A number of Romanian immigrants to the U.S. fought in the American Civil War, and one, Gheorghe Pomut, attained the rank of Brigadier General. Commercial and consular contacts can be traced back to the 1830s and 1840s, after the Romanian principalities had begun to win increased autonomy from Constantinople. In 1843, the first U.S. commercial ship anchored at Braila Harbor in Romania’s Dobrogea area. In 1858, the United States appointed its first U.S. Consul, Henry Romertze, to the town of Galati to assist with naval travel, and in 1867, Louis J. Czapkay, the first American Consul to Bucharest, was appointed.

Following Romania’s independence in 1878, U.S. Secretary of State W.M. Evarts upgraded America’s representation in Bucharest to that of a Legation by appointing Eugene Schuyler as Diplomatic Agent and Consul General on June 11, 1880. Schuyler wrote Secretary of State Evarts thanking him for the appointment, saying “The history and condition of Rumania have long interested me, and I feel highly honored to be the first on the part of the United Statesto begin regular diplomatic relations with that country. Ishall leave nothing in my power undone to further the good relations between the two countries.” The following year, Schuyler’s rank was upgraded to that of Resident Minister. Shortly after Schuyler’s arrival in August 1880, Romanian General Sergiu Voinescu left for the United States on a mission to convey news of Romania’s independence to American officials, including President Rutherford B. Hayes, who received him that November. Back in Bucharest, Schuyler, then one of America’s most distinguished diplomats who was known for having translated Turgenev and Tolstoy into English and for his biography of Peter the Great, applied his talents to the task of developing U.S. and Romanian relations. During the next four years, Schuyler negotiated a bilateral commercial treaty, a consular convention as well as another for the protection of trademarks, promoted bilateral trade, wrote countless dispatches on Romanian political and economic issues, traveled extensively, mastered Romanian, and gained the respect and admiration of leading Romanians. Schuyler left Romania in August 1884 after the U.S. Congress failed to appropriate continued funding for diplomatic missions in Greece, Serbia and Romania as part of a cost-saving measure. The mission in Bucharest was thus downgraded to a consular post, which it remained until Congress authorized the reopening of the Legation in 1891. Nevertheless, Schuyler’s successful tenure laid the groundwork for a strong bilateral relationship that was to grow and mature over the coming decades.

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Wikipedia