Senior official Ciamba, sworn in as new minister-delegate for European affairs

At the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Wednesday, George Ciamba was sworn in as the new minister-delegate for European affairs, with President Klaus Iohannis underlining on this occasion that the preparations for Romania's presidency of the Council of the European Union have reached the home stretch. 

"I wish you success along with the other members of the government so that we may enter the finish line with the preparations for the presidency of the Council of the European Union," Iohannis told Ciamba. 

Turning to the members of the government attending the ceremony, Iohannis said: "It is a second before the 11th hour so that we get reasonably prepared for the presidency, which I think is still possible. Good luck!." 

The office of the minister-delegate for European affairs was previously held by Victor Negrescu. 

George Ciamba is a career diplomat working with Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) since December 1990, according to the MAE website. 

In November 2012 he became secretary of state in charge with European affairs. Previously, Ciamba was Romania's ambassador to Greece. 

Between July 2003 and September 2005, he was secretary of state for multilateral affairs and then for global affairs at MAE. As such, he coordinated the files of the EU Intergovernmental Conference, NATO, the Council of Europe, the UN and other international organisations.