January 31, 2005

Strong Ties With UK , US Key To Romanian Natl Security-Pres

LONDON (AP)--Romanian President Traian Basescu said Monday that strong relations with Britain and the U.S. were a priority for his country's national security, which he said could be undermined by separatist movements in the region.

Basescu, who held talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair, said he had sent a deliberate "political signal" by making his first Western visit as president to Britain .

"Our relations with the U.K. and the U.S. represent a priority for us from a national security point of view," he said, briefing reporters at the Romanian Embassy in London .

Weapons and drugs smuggling posed a threat to his country and members of the European Union, he said, when asked to spell out the greatest threats to Romanian security.

But the presence of several "emerging democracies in former Soviet Union states" such as Moldova , Ukraine and Georgia , coupled with tensions in Georgia 's separatist region of South Ossetia , and in Trans-Dniester, a Russian-speaking separatist province in Moldova , also "represent an element of risk."

Basescu, who has offered military bases in his Balkan country to Washington and NATO, said he wanted Romania to play a bigger role in the Black Sea region.

He said Romania could help cement stronger ties between the alliance and the E.U. and other countries in the region, particularly Russia .

"I will try to open the political and commercial relations with Russia ," he said. "We must be a kind of bridge between Russia and Euro-Atlantic countries."

Romania 's bid to join the European Union was high on the agenda in talks between Blair and Basescu. Blair pledged to support Romania 's efforts to join in 2007, but in a joint statement indicated the country must continue the fight against corruption.

The two leaders "stressed the importance of improving the business climate in Romania , especially through a far-reaching and impartial campaign to combat corruption at all levels."

Basescu, who ran for president on an anti-corruption platform, said he was optimistic his reforms would help cut graft. He said he had made the judiciary independent from government.

Britain has extended Romanian assistance in its fight against corruption. It sent two government advisers, one in police affairs and one in customs, to help Romanian authorities and would send an "anti-corruption co-ordinator" soon to work in the president's office, the Romanian Embassy said.

According to Monday's joint statement, Blair and Basescu said they would support Moldova 's and Ukraine 's hopes of joining the E.U. and "help promote stability, security and further European integration in the Western Balkans."

Basescu also met British Home Secretary Charles Clarke, Prince Charles and Jean Lemierre, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.