October 23, 2001

Baltics to Black Sea

by

James Morrison

Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase arrives in Washington next week to report on his country's progress in its drive to join NATO and to express Central Europe's support for the war against terrorism.

His three-day trip, beginning Oct. 30, will be the most extensive visit by a Central European leader since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Romanian Ambassador Sorin Ducaru said yesterday.

Mr. Nastase will meet Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, other administration officials and congressional leaders. His schedule is not yet finalized because it is "being affected by the anthrax scare," Mr. Ducaru said.

In a major speech at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Mr. Nastase will "express the solidarity" of Central Europe and discuss how nations "from the Baltics to the Black Sea" that are not NATO members "are acting as de facto NATO allies" in the fight against terrorism, Mr. Ducaru said.

He said all of those nations have offered some help in the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan. Romania has provided refueling areas for U.S. aircraft.

Mr. Nastase will also report on a declaration adopted by 10 Central European nations at a summit meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, Oct. 5 that condemned the terrorist attacks as a "threat to the whole word."

The declaration also said the attacks make a stronger case for the expansion of NATO.

The lesson we draw from the terrorist attacks in the United States is that the security of America and Europe is more intertwined than ever before and that the Atlantic alliance and its enlargement are more important than ever," the declaration said.

Mr. Ducaru said the prime minister will also discuss Romania's military reforms, which include higher defense spending and a reorganization of the army to reduce its top-heavy officer corps inherited from the communist era.

Mr. Nastase, a social democrat committed to a market economy, represents a "new generation of leadership," the ambassador said.

Romania is one of the leading nations considered as likely candidates for NATO expansion.

After his Washington visit, Mr. Nastase will travel to New York to meet Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and visit "ground zero" at the remains of the twin towers.