From left: Ambassador of Romania to China Basil Constantinescu, former President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to China Nicolas Chapuis, Ambassador of Finland to China Jarno Syrjälä Photo: Yin Yeping/GT

A reception to mark the closing of Romania's first historical European mandate took place at the Romanian Embassy in China on July 8. The former president of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Belgium Herman Van Rompuy, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to China Nicolas Chapuis and ambassadors from the EU member states participated in the event. 

The event started with an opening speech by the Ambassador of Romania to China Basil Constantinescu, in which he reviewed what the mandate of the Presidency of the EU Council means to Romania and the EU. "The mandate of the Presidency of the EU Council has been a historical moment for Romania and a forefront role at the European level. "Throughout our presidency, we aimed to consolidate the fundamental values that the European project sits on, which are the respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and rule of law," the ambassador said. "We take great pride in the fact that, under our presidency, China had an important place on the agenda." Constantinescu also noted that they are confident that Finland, as the current presidency, will make all the efforts for a "Sustainable Europe." The Ambassador of Finland to China Jarno Syrjälä also attended the event.