Belgian State Visit to Romania – Day 1

King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium are on a three-day state visit to Romania, at the invitation of the Romanian President, Traian Basescu. The Belgian royals left from the military airport of Belgium this morning, and arrived in Bucharest in the early afternoon. They were welcomed by the Romanian President and his wife.

The King and Queen first attended the ceremonial greeting of the guard, and had a first meeting with the President at the Presidential Palace. After that, King Albert and Queen Paola followed different schedules. Queen Paola visited the Muzeul Satului, an open air village museum which shows the traditional Romanian village life. She was introduced to traditional Romanian folk dances and folk music, as well as some traditional arts.

King Albert met up with several important politicians, like the president of the Senate, Mircea Geoană, and the President of the Chamber of Representatives Roberta Anastase, at the Victoria Palace, where the Romanian Parliament was installed after the reign of Ceaucescu. The King is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karel De Gught, and a delegation of academics and entrepreneurs. The visit is expected to bring forth several economic and academic agreements.

The first day of the visit will be concluded with a state dinner.

The following days, the King and Queen will pay tribute to the statue of the Unknown Soldier, and they will meet up with the Belgian community in Romania. They will also visit Sibiu, one of the major economic regions in Romania, and especially a little town called Cristian, which is “adopted” by the Belgian university city Leuven.

This is the first visit of King Albert II to Romania, and it is the only planned state visit of the King and Queen in 2009.

For a discussion of the visit, see here.
For pictures, see here (belga)

Filed under Belgium
Tagged Albert II of Belgium, Government, Parliament, President Băsescu of Romania, Queen Paola of Belgium, Romania, State Visit.