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Ambassador Jinga received a visit from the class 2016 of student officers of USAWC
Upon the proposal of Major General William E. Rapp, Commandant of the U.S. Army War College (USAWC), on 8.04.2016, the Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN, Ambassador Ion Jinga, has received a visit from the class 2016 of student officers of USAWC, which includes Romanian Colonel Cristian Teglas. The visit is part of the annual study trip to New York the students of the prestigious American college take, as part of their USAWC international study programs.
The Permanent Representative of Romania has welcomed the opportunity to meet the future generation of high level military leaders, and thanked student-officers for their interest in Romania and its contribution to the United Nations.
Beginning his speech with a quote from former UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjold: “The UN was not created to take mankind to Heaven, but to save humanity from Hell”, the Romanian Ambassador has recalled that the UN has saved millions of lives from war, poverty, disease and famine, but its role is tested today again, in a most dramatic manner, in the context of proliferation of threats to international peace and security.
Ambassador Jinga presented from a historical perspective Romania’s longstanding commitment to promoting regional and global peace and security, based on the legacy of the great Romanian diplomat Nicolae Titulescu who was twice elected President of the League of Nations and continued as a UN member state since 1955. During the last 25 years, over ten thousand Romanian military personnel participated in UN peacekeeping operations. He underlined that Romania aims to remain an active contributor to preventive diplomacy, conflict prevention, peace building and mediation, both in UN debates and negotiations, as well as on the ground:
“Nowadays, Romania is participating with military, police and protection personnel in 10 out of the 16 peacekeeping operations and in two UN political missions, such as in Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Afghanistan, in countries which continue to be present high security risks. At this time, Romania is the only country in the world which provides close protection teams in high risk areas for the protection of high level UN officials, and is the biggest contributor of UN police officers from the European Union.”
Highlighting solidity of the strategic partnership between Romania and the United States of America, the Ambassador stated that: “Peace and security can be achieved only through common efforts of all UN member states and with the contribution of the major geopolitical actors, through ensuring durable socio-economic solutions and good governance, protection of human rights and promotion of the rule of law. Fulfilling these conditions will certainly contribute to restore trust in the world order. All of these goals can only be achieved, though, through cooperation and dialogue.”
At the end of the meeting, Colonel Cristian Teglas offered to Ambassador Jinga, on behalf of all students, the USAWC coat of arms.
U.S. Army War College, one of the top institutions where future military leaders are trained, offers scholarships to foreign officers on the basis of rigorous performance criteria and of their potential of advancing in military career. Each year, as part of the curricula, students are taking part in a study visit to a series of civil, military, cultural and academic institutions, including in New York, at the headquarters of the most important international organization.