By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The US Embassy held a farewell ghabqa for outgoing US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina Romanowski on the end of her tenure and her role in promoting bilateral relations in various fields. Romanowski said in a press statement that it has been an honor to serve as the 18th US Ambassador to Kuwait, thanking HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the Kuwaiti people for the hospitality extended to her during her stay in Kuwait, which reflected the deep-rooted ties between the two countries.

US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina Romanowski poses for a group picture with journalists at the US Embassy in Kuwait.

"In the coming month I will be ambassador to Iraq, but I will miss Kuwait, its diwaniyas, food and bicycle rides. I will miss the unique vibrancy of conversations in Kuwait. Your country has been my second home for the past two years," she said.

US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina Romanowski with ambassadors and guests at her farewell ghabqa.

"Despite the pandemic, our countries achieved many accomplishments together. I have been in Kuwait for two years and it is very sad to leave after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. But even during the pandemic, we accomplished a lot and expanded our relationship with the government of Kuwait and the medical sector. We had two strategic dialogues and visits by senior officials, with more to come after travel restrictions were eased to discuss cybersecurity, food security and the economy," Romanowski added.

On the freedom of press, the ambassador said Kuwait is full of ideas and discussions, adding the US Embassy encourages the Kuwaiti press. As for the US Department of State's human rights report, she noted the report is based on facts on the current situation for Kuwait to work on. "We have been having a big debate in our country and we have discussions with Kuwait. In the case of the human rights report, we worked directly with NGOs and the Kuwaiti government for the information in the data we published to be accurate. We provided the Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a copy of the report. There are some areas where we hope to see progress; we have seen improvements with female judges," Romanowski said.

The US ambassador emphasized that the embassy is working on the governmental level in terms of training on issues of corruption, money laundering and transferring funds to terrorist groups. "We also work for women empowerment with NGOs and the society to encourage them to build domestic violence shelters. We will have a special report later on religious freedoms," she added.