President Traian Basescu met on Monday, January 31 st , the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on the occasion of his official visit to Great Britain.

During their meeting, the two leaders decided to work for the successful integration of Romania into the EU on 1 January 2007, according to the timetable agreed at the European Council in Brussels, on the basis of the implementation of Romania's negotiated commitments. Prime Minister Blair expressed the UK's continuing strong support.

The British Prime Minister and Romanian President drew attention to the strategic importance of Romania's status as the eastern border of NATO and, from 2007, of the EU and agreed to work closely together to include the issue of the Greater Black Sea region on the Euro-Atlantic agenda. 

The two leaders reviewed the objective of expanding the area of democracy, stability and prosperity beyond EU's future borders and agreed to join their efforts with other current and potential EU member states in order to support the implementation of the EU's Action Plans with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine and to help promote stability, security and further European integration in the Western Balkans.

The two leaders also assessed the political developments in the Middle East, stating their willingness to further contribute to the democratic stabilization of the region. Prime Minister Blair underlined the value of Romania's international peacekeeping commitments, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo. They also praised the close bilateral cooperation within NATO and the UN Security Council, and on European Security and Defence Policy.

Noting that 2005 signified the 125 th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the two leaders agreed that there were now opportunities to work more closely together.