Romania took hold of my heart in 2015 and since then has consumed my mind and soul. As with any genuine commitment, my relationship with this beautiful, complex country has grown and deepened over time as I have learned of its many tragedies, as well as its many triumphs. I have surrendered myself to Romania. [...] As I continue my Romanian journey, I marvel over the resiliency and fortitude of the people. I am fortunate to have developed close relationships, familial in many ways, with many Romanians. And I am eternally grateful to have been granted a Fulbright and honored to become part of this amazing community.
Declaration of the Board of Directors Marking 25 Years since the Launch of the Strategic Partnership Between the USA and Romania
© Photo: U.S. Embassy in Romania
The cooperation in the domain of education and research has been a solid platform for the political and economic relationships between the United States of America and Romania, a fundament for consolidating and promoting democracy.
Twenty-five years ago today, the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Romania signed the Strategic Partnership agreement, a visionary political and diplomatic document, that became a landmark of Romanian foreign policy and a pillar of stability and democracy in South-Eastern Europe. Since that moment, the bilateral USA – Romanian ties have permanently grown and consolidated, getting tighter and including new areas of political, economic and social life. This fact was confirmed and institutionalized in 2011, by issuing the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century Between the United States of America and Romania, a document that establishes a firm support to the U.S. – Romanian relationship: political dialogue, security, economy, interpersonal contacts, science and technology, research, education, culture.
The Joint Declaration in 2011 is momentous not only thanks to its political dimension and its strategic role, but also through the fact that it expands and strengthens the American-Romanian cooperation in a number of domains, including those of education and research. This is an area with long traditions in the U.S. – Romanian relationship, as the first interpersonal contacts and educational exchanges, facilitated by an intergovernmental agreement, occurred more than sixty years ago. The inception back in 1960 of the Fulbright Program in Romania represented an important step towards the development of inter-academic American-Romanian exchanges, in order to promote academic excellence and, in general, for the cooperation between the two states. After the fall of the communist regime and the setting up of the Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission in 1993, education and research have played an extremely significant role in the U.S. – Romanian relationships, as a framework for the enhancement of the cooperation between the two countries. The best proof are the Fulbright Grantees, the over 3,500 Romanian and American professors and young researchers – many of them contributing to Romania’s democratization and development since 1989.
Today, the strength of the Strategic Partnership between the U.S. and Romania is also owed to the relations built in the domains of education and research, to the contacts among Romanian and American students, professors and researchers, to the transnational mobilities and exchanges of experience, to the diversification of dialogue and to joint projects between the academic and scientific communities of the two countries. The cooperation in these two domains has been a solid platform for the political and economic ties between the two countries, a fundament for the consolidation and promotion of democracy.
Political diplomacy is more efficient as it is prepared, accompanied and enhanced by cultural diplomacy, which, in its essence of „soft power”, may and has to contribute to the development of relations within the Strategic Partnership Between the U.S. and Romania. The Fulbright Commission and the programs administered by it always have and will be acting in this spirit, contributing to promoting and sustaining institutional cooperation between the two countries.
Bucharest, 11th of July, 2022
The Board of Directors of the Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission