Brief History of U.S.-Romanian Political Relations
SOURCE: Romanian Embassy Website

On June 14, 1880 Romania and the United States established diplomatic relations at the level of diplomatic agency and two months later they were elevated at the level of legation. The diplomatic relations were interrupted on December 12, 1941 and then resumed on February 7, 1946 at the level of legation. On June 1, 1964 the diplomatic relations between the two nations were elevated to the level of embassy.

On November 8, 1993, as a result of the mutual interest in strengthening the U.S.-Romania relations, Romania was granted anew the “most-favored-nation” clause by the United States, which aimed at enhancing the economic ties between the two countries. In August 1996, due to the progress achieved in reforming the economic sector towards a fully market economy, the U.S. Congress made this status permanent, thus paving the way for further economic transformation.

On July 11, 1997, on the occasion of the official visit of the U.S. president William Jefferson Clinton to Romania, the Bilateral Strategic Partnership was launched. This Partnership represents an extended framework of cooperation aimed at strengthening the bilateral relations, supporting the process of reforms and Romania’s reintegration in the Euro-Atlantic community, as well as at promoting Romania's role as a factor of stability and security in south-eastern Europe. Since its inception, the Bilateral Strategic Partnership between Romania and the U.S. has served as an essential landmark for Romania’s foreign policy as well as a supporting mechanism for Romania’s domestic efforts to modernize its politics, economy, military, and public administration.

After September 11 2001, Romania contributed significantly to the international coalition led by the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq in the fight against terrorism. This contribution along with the sustainable economic progress served as the fundamentals of the United States’ support for Romania’s ascension to the NATO alliance.
The high level of bilateral cooperation in combating unconventional risks such as drug and human trafficking, and financial fraud as well as their close cooperation in this respect led to the opening of an FBI bureau in Bucharest on May 20, 2011.
On May 10, 2003, the U.S. Department of State concluded that Romania’s economy finally qualifies as a “market economy” which improved trade exchanges between the two countries as well as American investments in Romania.
Another important landmark of the bilateral relations is the Access Agreement concerning the U.S. military forces in Romania, signed on December 6, 2005, and which came into force on July 21, 2006.

On June 17, 2010, on the occasion of the visit of the Undersecretary of State for Ellen Tauscher, the bilateral negotiations on the legal framework of Romania hosting ground-based interceptors as part of the antiballistic missile defense system were launched.
In 2010, the two countries celebrated 130 years of bilateral relations. The Parliament of Romania and the U.S. Congress celebrated this moment by adopting on September 2, 2010 and respectively on December 22, 2010 two resolutions which reaffirmed their mutual agreement to work together to further strengthen the strategic bilateral relationship.

On September 13th, 2011, the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century between Romania and the United States of America was adopted at the highest level in Washington DC. The Joint Declaration confirms the excellent, long-term and ever developing Partnership between our two countries. It also lays out the pillars of our relation: political dialogue, security, economy, people-to-people contacts, science and technology, research, education, culture. A Task Force implementing the provisions of the Joint Declaration was launched on October 31st, 2012.

On September 13th 2011, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Teodor Baconschi and US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton have signed, in Washington DC, the Agreement between Romania and the United States of America on the Deployment of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System in Romania.