On Friday, May 2, 2008, two former presidents of the Republic of Romania, Ion Iliescu and Emil Constantinescu, met with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Phanar in Istanbul, Turkey. Following their meeting both presidents issued separate statements:

Ion Iliescu: “It was a great pleasure to have the possibility to meet with His All Holiness. He is a big friend of Romania. He was several times in Romania. I have also visited him sometimes in Istanbul. So, using the occasion of being in the Economic Forum of the Marmara Foundation we had this opportunity to meet His All Holiness into a very good, friendly, open dialogue, as it is the tradition of our relations”.

Emil Constantinescu: “We have a very long tradition of cooperation with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch. I visited him in Istanbul during my official state visit to President Demirel in 1999 and we received also the visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Bucharest. We consider the excellent work of him for understanding in Balkans and the entire Europe”.