Victor Ponta asks Nicușor Dan to attend the summit in Saudi Arabia: “A historic opportunity”

Former Prime Minister Victor Ponta is asking President Nicușor Dan to accept the invitation to participate in the EU–Gulf Cooperation Council (EU-GCC) Summit, arguing that the meeting could bring Romania significant diplomatic and economic opportunities.

In a Facebook post, Ponta states that participation would represent a “historic opportunity” for our country and could mark the first visit by a Romanian president to Saudi Arabia. The former prime minister recalls that he visited Riyadh in 2015, while serving as prime minister, but says that no Romanian head of state has so far traveled to this country.

“The Romanian saying ‘Even the one-eyed stork is provided with a nest by God’ is still valid! The invitation addressed to the President of Romania, alongside the other 26 heads of state and government, to participate in the EU–GCC Summit is a historic opportunity for Romania, which I hope we will not miss!” Victor Ponta wrote.

According to Victor Ponta, Nicușor Dan would have the opportunity to discuss matters with the leaders of the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.

The former prime minister believes that Romania’s presence at the summit would also send a message of solidarity with Saudi Arabia, in the context of the attacks mentioned in his post. He also maintains that the meeting could help revive Romanian-Arab economic projects initiated in 2015 and which, he says, were subsequently frozen. Ponta hopes that the president will decide to attend the summit.