A US senator abolishes in Bucharest the critical report from Congress that questioned the annulment of the elections in Romania: “An ideological and erroneous document” / What it says about the current Romania-USA relationship

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who visited Bucharest on Monday for meetings with Romanian officials, including President Nicușor Dan, said that the US is still a friend of Romania and that, thanks to this partnership, NATO is stronger – “a message for Putin”.

“Romania should certainly continue to consider the United States as a friend, because the United States considers Romania a friend and a very important ally,” said Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire senator, leader of the Democratic group in the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at a discussion with Romanian journalists on Monday.

Shaheen, an opponent and critic of the current Republican administration in Washington, emphasized, during the discussion, that “while governments and leaders may change, the relationship between the Romanian people and the American people will continue.”

“We are pleased that, thanks to this partnership, NATO is stronger, Romania is stronger, and the United States is stronger, and this is a very important message that we must convey to our adversaries, especially to Vladimir Putin and Russia,” the senator said.

Shaheen gave this answer to a question regarding the state of relations between Bucharest and the current Republican administration in Washington, which, among other things, blocked Romania's access to the Visa Waiver program and decided to withdraw some soldiers from our country.

“An ideological and partisan document”

She was also questioned on the subject of a preliminary report from the Republican-dominated Legal Committee of the House of Representatives, which at the beginning of this month questioned the decision to cancel the elections in Romania and accused the European Commission of interfering in the elections in our country.

On this, Shaheen was firm. “The House Judiciary Committee report is an ideological and partisan document that nobody in the US defense establishment or the public is paying attention to,” she said.

“We consider it erroneous, unfounded, and we don't pay any attention to it, so Romanians should also ignore it, because it won't lead anywhere, I can guarantee you that,” added the senator.

“The majority party in the House of Representatives has decided to take a very partisan approach on all kinds of issues, and this is one of them,” Shaheen insisted.

The preliminary report of the Judiciary Committee of the US Congress, a preliminary investigative document drafted by the committee's staff, and not a final conclusion, formally adopted by Congress, concluded that the European Commission regularly interferes in the national elections of EU member states, including Romania.

The report referred to Romania's 2024 presidential election, when the Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round, won by Călin Georgescu, and said the decision was made after Romanian intelligence services alleged that Russia had secretly supported Georgescu through a coordinated campaign on TikTok.

TikTok's internal documents presented to the US commission appear to contradict this version of events, the report said. TikTok informed the European Commission that it “found and was not presented with evidence” to support the Romanian authorities' key claim of Russian interference, the report said.

“We consider it very important to have American troops on the eastern flank”

The senator also spoke on the subject of the partial withdrawal of some American soldiers from Romania, following a decision by the Trump administration taken last fall.

“I didn't agree with that decision,” she said, stressing that Congress needs to be involved in making those decisions.

“One of the things we included in the Defense bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support in both chambers, was the requirement to assess and liaise with Congress before making such decisions,” she said.

“We hope that this will happen in the future and that they will hear from a bipartisan Congress that we believe it is very important that we continue to have American troops on the eastern flank,” the Democratic senator added.

No news about the lifting of visas

Shaheen did not necessarily have good news for Romania regarding our country's access to the Visa Waiver program.

“Regarding the Visa Waiver Program, I was here in 2023 and understood the importance of the Program for Romania. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and I returned to the United States and introduced legislation that advanced under the previous administration, the Biden administration,” she said.

“Unfortunately, it was blocked under the Trump administration, we will continue to promote it, because we know it is important for Romania,” she said.

The United States announced in May 2025 the exclusion of Romania from the Visa Waiver program, which assumed that Romanians could travel without visas for tourist or business purposes. Romania responded by saying that it regretted the decision and stressed that it had met all the requirements to be included in this program.

What did the senator do in Romania and what is the connection with Budapest

Shaheen has shown constant interest in our country and the Black Sea region in general. In 2024, she was a co-signatory of the senatorial commission's statement condemning Russia's interference in the electoral process and the manipulation of voters through TikTok, and before the second round of the presidential elections in May, she signed another letter urging Romanians to vote for a pro-EU and pro-NATO option.

She said Monday that during her short visit to Romania she met with the president, the foreign minister and the defense minister and visited the training center where F-16 pilots are trained.

“We were very impressed by the activity there, and I think it reinforces the reason why we are here and the message we want to convey to the Romanian people and our allies, namely that Romania has been one of America's strongest, most loyal and important allies, which we saw again today, in the meetings we had,” she said.

Shaheen was also happy that “the US ambassador to Romania, Darryl Nirenberg, will be arriving in Budapest soon” – confusing the capital of Hungary with that of Romania, a confusion for which she later apologized.

“It is useful for the President of Romania to meet with President Trump”

Asked if she discussed with Nicușor Dan about his trip to Washington, where he will participate as an observer at the first meeting of Trump's Peace Council, the senator answered in the negative.

“The president and I did not discuss his trip to Washington. The defense minister asked me about it and I told him that, in my opinion, Romania should do what the president and officials in Romania think is in Romania's best interest,” she said.

“And I think it's helpful for the president to meet with President Trump so that they can discuss, in any forum, issues of mutual interest,” the senator added.