NEWS OF THE DAY - JUNE 5

Romania has demonstrated that it is a trustworthy partner for the US and NATO, said on Thursday, in Constanta, the head of the Pentagon Chuck Hagel. I want to congratulate Romania for its entry into NATO ten years ago. Your country has proven that it is a trustworthy partner for the US and NATO. I am very proud to have been part of the US Senate when we supported Romania, Romania's entry into NATO. I know how much President Obama and the USA appreciate this friendship of the Romanian people and we appreciate most the warmth and hospitality of the Romanian people towards us, said Hagel, after visiting, together with the Minister of Defence, Mircea Dusa, the cruiser USS Vella Gulf.

* The security situation in the region has changed dramatically, Romania's Defence Minister Mircea Dusa said Thursday in Constanta, adding that Romania appreciates the political and military efforts deployed by its allies at NATO level and in bilateral settings. Dusa on Thursday met visiting US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel in Constanta, where they visited the USS Vella Gulf ship, moored in the Constanta Harbour. 'Your visit to our country has a very important significance, because it is for the first time that a US secretary of defence visits Romania after 2004, the year when Romania became a full NATO member. Romania's accession to NATO was the most important national strategic project in Romania after 1989 and you were among the most influent voices to plead for Romania's inclusion in a second wave of NATO expansion,' Dusa told a joint press conference with Hagel.

* On an official visit to Dublin on Thursday, Speaker of Romania's Chamber of Deputies Valeriu Zgonea was welcomed by Speaker of the Irish House of Representatives Sean Barrett, to whom he...