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National Day of Romania celebrated in New York in the presence of the UN Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly
The Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations hosted a reception for the celebration of our National Day on 1 December 2016. According to a press release sent by the Mission to ACTMedia, the event was attended, for the first time, by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson, a? well as by many ambassadors, diplomats coming from all regions of the world, UN high officials (among them four Under-Secretaries General), as well as Romanian international staff.
Following the National Anthem of Romania, the Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN, Ambassador Ion Jinga, highlighted the special importance of the month of December in Romanian history: „The Great Union of 1 December 1918 was the accomplishment of so many generations’ dream for freedom, unity and national dignity. It consecrated Romania’s attachment to the principles of tolerance, mutual respect among people and countries and respect for other cultures, and demonstrated the modern vision of the unified Romanian State. December was a turning point in our history in 1989, when a general uprising broke down the dictatorship regime and Romania returned to democracy. December is also special because on 14 December 1955 Romania became amember of the United Nations.”
Moreover, the Romanian Ambassador to the UN stressed that “With the multitude of global challenges our planet faces today, we need more than ever the UN to be placed at the heart of the multilateral system. Romania firmly believes that the UN can and must continue to assume such a central role.” At the same time he reassured the audience by saying “We will continue to devote our enthusiasm, energy, political and diplomatic resources to promote the UN fundamental goals: peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.”
Ambassador Ion Jinga expressed his gratitude and admiration for the work of UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and underlined that “After ten years as Secretary-General, Mr. Ban’s legacy is about the power of relationship, engagement, dialogue before confrontation and profound humanity.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, following brief introductory remarks in Romanian, expressed his appreciation for the substantive democratic progress of our country, as well as for Romania’s contribution for the UN efforts in the fields of peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights. He underscored the work of Romanian staff in the UN, including Romanian officers who risk their lives for the protection of UN high officials. Last but not least, he welcomed the cooperation with the Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN, Ambassador Ion Jinga, whom he characterized as: “one of the most active and visible Ambassadors from the New York diplomatic community”. UN Secretary-General quoted from one of the articles published by the Romanian Ambassador in Huffington Post, in which he stated: “Diplomacy represents power, and ideas are more powerful than blood and money, as the UN has been able to replace weapons with ideas, and battlefields with conference rooms.”
In his intervention, the President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, commended Romania’s activism and its outstanding commitments in UN during the 61 years since joining the Organization, as well as the high professional standards of Romanian diplomats and staff in the UN. Among others, he described the respect that the Romanian Ambassador to the UN enjoys in the UN community, which prompted him to appoint Ambassador Jinga as Co-Chair of the complex UN Security Council reform intergovernmental negotiations process.
On the occasion of the celebration of the National Day of Romania in New York, a photo exhibition was organized on the 30 November 2016. It featured, for the first time at the UN Headquarters, photos from AGERPRES archives, which illustrate significant moments on the activity of our country at the UN, as well as on the cultural, social and sport events