Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Dean,
I would like to thank you for your wishes and for your words of kindness and friendship that you have addressed to the Romanian people. We highly appreciate these thoughts, at this particular moment, as we begin a New Year, a year in which we place so many of our hopes. The first thoughts that I would like to share with you, however, are related to the current difficulties for millions of people in South-East Asia . I would like to express, once again, the solidarity and full compassion of the Romanian citizens with the people in the countries that have been severely affected by the catastrophe caused by the December 26th earthquake. As you know, to the best of its ability, Romania has taken part in the unprecedented efforts of the international community by showing solidarity with the people in need, through humanitarian support. We have also expressed our willingness to participate in the reconstruction process underway in these countries.
It is true that we have concluded a year marked by violence, war, and suffering. But it was also a historic year for Europe , a year that opened up the road to achieving the dream of unity for the Europe of 27, a year that witnessed the signing of the Constitutional Treaty. It also meant the year in which the European Council, in December, concluded the accession negotiations with Romania and Bulgaria .
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2005 is a decisive year for the success of the project to build modern Romania . The European Union makes and will further make a crucial contribution to the development of Romania , and to the welfare and prosperity of its citizens. The EU's support that we have benefited from has been unprecedented throughout the history of Romania .
We have a precise calendar for EU integration, which entails the signing of the Accession Treaty in April 2005 and the accession on January 1st, 2007 . Upon the signing of the Accession Treaty, Romania will participate as an active observer in all EU activities, including those of the European Parliament.
In this regard, our priority for 2005-2006 is the fulfilment of all the commitments we undertook during the pre-accession negotiations and the successful implementation of the profound reforms. We are currently undergoing a process of severe monitoring by the European Commission, and an assessment of our progress is due by the end of the year. When I engaged in the presidential race, I was aware that a difficult period will follow, a period of hard work that is needed in order to conduct with rigour our preparation for the EU accession and to set in order this “construction-site” of modernizing the society, the Romanian economy.
As I have previously stated, we cannot speak about Romania 's integration with dignity in the European Union without solving Romania 's major problems: corruption and poverty. I have pledged to be a President who translates words into deeds. I am determined to ask the public institutions to take action and to be efficient in countering corruption, in securing the freedom of the press, and in furthering the reform of the judiciary. I have already announced that the next meeting of the Country's Supreme Council of National Defence will endorse a decision to declare the plague of corruption, a risk to our national security, and we are committed to fight this with utter intransigence.
The reforms that we are to undergo this year - many of which extremely difficult - serve the interest of modernizing our society and economy. No one will ever gain if Romania joins the European Union still unprepared. In the long run, our goal is to transform the European integration effort into tangible benefits in the living standard of each and every Romanian citizen.
We want a strong Romania inside a strong Europe . I promise you, Your Excellencies, that our New Year's meeting in January 2007 will give us the opportunity to celebrate all together a genuine achievement, which will be the actual accession of Romania to the European Union. I undertake this commitment, first and foremost, before the 22 million citizens of Romania .
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Within the present European construction, Romania takes the responsibility for securing an enlarged part of the Union 's external border, being confident that we do have the necessary strength, creativity, and ability to be a pillar of stability and security in and between the Black Sea region and the Western Balkans, two areas of ultimate regional strategic importance. The twenty-first century's Europe can no longer have grey areas of instability, underdevelopment, or lack of democracy. It is high time to include the issue of the Greater Black Sea region on the Euro-Atlantic agenda.
I want Romania to become a pillar of primary importance, capable of attracting our Western partners' economic interest in infrastructure, energy, communications, and trade projects in this area. The success of this campaign will rest upon the increasing of stability in the region, as well as the enhancing of confidence in the local investment environment. The positive developments in Georgia and, recently, in Ukraine , give us hope that such an effort is worth being taken up.
We will work together, in a pragmatic way, with our regional partners, according to their specific strategy, with Turkey , Bulgaria , Georgia , with the countries in our Eastern Slavic proximity and the Caucasus . We will rely on the experience we have acquired through the good-neighbourliness relations and the South-East European cooperation ventures. This expertise needs to speed up Romania 's repositioning on the strategic map of the Pontus Euxinus basin, by using new bridges of cooperation in the political, economic, and security spheres.
The evolution of Romania in full resonance with the European Union needs all the main references of the European project. That is the way in which we envisage to include the direct and straightforward, strategic dialogue with the United States , as well as the special relationship with the United Kingdom .
A strong transatlantic relation is the benchmark of Romania 's contribution as a NATO member to promoting democratic values, stability and security in our relation with neighbouring regions. We make consistent contributions to the EU missions and we have assumed an involvement in the conflict-riddled areas, together with our allies. We will be active partners in the construction of a Europe with credible defence, which will contribute to the strengthening of NATO. This will be our message at the NATO Summit in Brussels on February 22nd.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
By strengthening our regional platform we intend to draw in an enhanced European interest in infrastructure projects pertaining to pan-European corridors IV, VII and IX, that cross the Romanian territory. This is not only a national interest. It sould be in the interest of Europe , of United Europe, to have strong links between east and west.
It is in the interest of Central Europe to be connected through the Danube and the Black Sea to the economies of the countries in their eastern neighbourhood and in Asia .
It is in all our interest to open access routes between our economies from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea , or between the West and eastern markets, through modern high-ways along pan-Europeans corridors IV and IX. For these reasons I believe that European investments in these infrastructure projects hold a strategic importance for the future European Union. Involvement of partners from other continents would be more than welcome and in accordance to competition requirements that are in effect.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The European perspective of the Western Balkans could become the ground vector of a historic change in the destiny of all the States in the area, having unprecedented consequences for the European and Euro-Atlantic project. The Western Balkans are still a source of concern, and of hopes as well. An optimistic scenario cannot become reality without the support for the Balkan states to achieve their European goals and for promoting the “open-doors” policy in the run-up to the Euro-Atlantic integration of the entire region. This is the message that we also would like to convey on the occasion of the South-East Europe Cooperation Process – SEECP Summit, to be hosted in Bucharest in April.
At the same time, Turkey 's European integration perspective demonstrates that Europe is also prepared to accept diversity as a common state of any community.
We are firmly determined to contribute to the success of the European Neighbourhood Policy and to the European anchoring of the Republic Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro , Ukraine and Georgia , being convinced that in this way we can insure the democratic stability and joint participation to the prosperity of Europe .
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The relationship with the Republic of Moldova will be a priority of my mandate as President of Romania. The European future of the Republic of Moldova must be assumed as a moral obligation of the entire Romanian society. The identity of language, culture and traditions is the gift of history. The protection of this identity is, however, our duty.
We will not cease to support the positioning of the Republic of Moldova on the natural course of development related to the EU and we will continue to uphold its economic and social stability. Based on the European Neighbourhood Policy and the existence of a privileged bilateral relationship, our aim is to establish a European partnership between our countries.
As I have previously stated, we will consistently pursue the observance of the OSCE commitments on Transnistria undertaken in Istanbul , and we will support an increased involvement by the European Union, together with the United States , in settling this source of instability along the Eastern border of Romania and of the European Union.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The strategic bilateral relation of partnership with the United States of America is a key and privileged benchmark of Romania 's foreign policy. I anticipate an intense dialogue with President Bush as the relationship with the US represents an effective instrument to support the domestic efforts in the field of political, economic, military, and administrative reform. We work together with the United States on all-important issues, in the spirit of common democratic values. The strategic vision of the Romanian-American relation will be distinctly highlighted in the cooperation on the Greater Black Sea projects.
America knows that it can rely on the Romanian contribution in the global campaign against terror. A testimony therefore is our actual loyal participation, alongside our partners, in the efforts by international community to consolidate security, stability and reconstruction in the hotbeds where this campaign in conducted.
On the bilateral agenda, we are interested in materializing the strategic projects that directly involve Romania as a NATO member, and, at the same time, we will fully pursue enhanced economic relations at the level of a privileged partnership. This means consistent and balanced trade, solid and increased American investments in Romania , including the high-tech field where we have an excellent potential to involve young Romanians.
Concurrently, our partnership relations with the European states represent the cornerstone of our successful European integration. We will continue to rely on the special relation with the United Kingdom , where I intend to pay my first official visit by the end of this month, and on the understanding of France , with which we share more than a historical tradition or a geopolitical context, and which, alongside Germany , has represented the motor of Romania 's integration process. The expertise and the support of Italy , Spain , the Netherlands , Belgium , Poland and all the member states are extremely valuable for the success of Romania 's accession.
One of the priorities of my mandate will be the development of a paragon of good neighbourliness relations, having as benchmarks our relations with Hungary . With our Southern neighbour, Bulgaria , we will make the voice of South Eastern Europe heard in NATO and the EU.
I would like to hail, within this framework as well, President Yushchenko's victory, and I hope this victory will bring democratic stability in Ukraine and the creation of the premises for a European partnership relation, in the spirit of good neighbourliness. We are looking forward to the new authorities in Kiev responding with European solutions to the cooperation offers by Romania , and we will seize every opportunity in order to voice our openness and overture to closer relations with Kiev , in the spirit of the Euro-Atlantic convergence.
We envision developing a pragmatic and efficient political dialogue with the Russian Federation , which we wish to be our stable partner on the economic and regional arena. I am convinced that we can rapidly make up for the wasted time and develop the potential to cooperate in projects pertaining to infrastructure, transport, energy pipelines in the Black Sea area and the adjacent zones. However, the top economic priority remains narrowing the great gap of the trade balance.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We believe that Romania can bring in as an added value to the Council of Europe and the OSCE its own expertise in the fields of minorities, human rights and inter-denomination dialogue. We are firmly committed to protect the identity of all minorities that live in Romania , stating that, from our point of view, autonomy on ethnic grounds is not conceivable.
Next week I will be attending the commemorative ceremonies in Auschwitz , marking 60 years since the liberation of the people from the Nazi camps. In this context, I want to make it clear that I will be intransigent with any kind of extremist, xenophobic or anti-Semitic manifestation, and I will not tolerate Romania being associated with attitudes of this kind. I will back the work by the International Commission on Holocaust Study and our country's effective involvement in the International Reflection Group on the Holocaust. The morale reparatory gestures to the Jewish community and the initiatives in the field of education will come to testify to the earnestness of the Romanian approach in order to solve the problems of the past.
We are also planning on further supporting the projects that will offer real employment and education opportunities to the citizens of the Roma community and we want our successes to set up an example of conduct in Europe .
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For Romania , the Asia-Pacific region is the next landmark of her diplomatic race, as a key element in the international geo-political architecture, which provides still unexplored opportunities for our country to gain a new international profile.
Romania will develop broad partnership and co-operation relations with China and Japan . We envision offering the countries in the region an incentive to take part in building up and using the facilities provided by the Constanta seaport and the Danube – Black Sea Canal, as the main connecting point between Europe and Asia.
Our participation in the Aichi World Exhibition in Japan will provide a good opportunity for the promotion of Romania 's economic, technical-scientific, and cultural potential, and the assertion of Romania 's economic importance for her partners in Asia-Pacific. We will continue to focus our attention on India and the Republic of Korea .
As for the Near East and Africa , we have planned to join, in a pragmatic way, the promotion of our economic interests and the attaining of the European Union foreign policy goals.
Romania 's regional expertise in South-Eastern Europe, her involvement in projects of stabilization and neighbourliness represent a valuable portfolio that we will share in all friendliness with our partners in Afghanistan , Iraq , and the Near East . We will encourage the involvement by the Romanian non-governmental organizations in such projects.
We have hailed the encouraging result of the presidential elections for the Palestinian National Authority, which prompts us all to share trust and confidence that wisdom and civic spirit are possible. We trust that the authorities of the State of Israel and the newly-elected Palestinian authorities stand ready for a positive development in the Middle East . Israel is a special partner to whom we are completely open to pragmatically cooperate with, on the political and economic areas.
We are taking part in the international efforts for the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq , and we will fulfil the commitments undertaken alongside our coalition partners. The January 30 elections should represent the moment of a decisive development for the Iraqi people, and we hold that these elections should mean a confirmation of the integrity, sovereignty, and the beginning of the democratic stability of this country. We would like to further develop as much practical as possible partnerships with countries adjacent to Iraq for the reconstruction and economic relaunching projects.
We reassert our full openness to develop active, pragmatic relations with the countries in Latin America , with an important economic dimension, in co-operation with our partners in the EU.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2005 should mark a decisive phase for peace and multilateralism.
In its capacity as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Romania has outlined a coherent performance that will mirror the profile of a responsible and predictable partner. We intend to participate in consolidating a new consensus on global security, as we are convinced that efficient multilateralism is key in achieving sustainable solutions.
The recent tragedy in the Pacific urges us to act and decide based on the lessons learnt in the field of joint action at the global level. Let me express my support for President Chirac's proposal to create a UN humanitarian rapid reaction force, based on specific regional capabilities, capable of acting at a global level.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have asked our diplomacy to always place the Romanian citizens' interests at the core of our foreign policy, as a fundamental landmark of its activity. This is the reason why we will take greater care of the fate of the Romanians who work or study abroad. We do need to be successful in signing agreements on the migration of the labour force and on social security.
At the same time, however, we commit ourselves to discouraging illegal migration, securing the borders and educating the Romanian citizens on the consequences entailed by their decision to emigrate. We have the responsibility to implement flawlessly the common European policies in the field of Justice and Home Affairs, and I will relentlessly make sure that our commitments are adequately fulfilled.
Also, we will provide support to the associations of Romanians living abroad, in order for them to preserve our values and culture. I intend to request a clear inventory and co-ordinated action in order to bring to the limelight the Romanian cultural assets abroad and to provide an active cultural presence. We must do our utmost to consolidate the links between Romanians leaving abroad and their homeland.
The civil society's intellectual input will play an essential role in Romania 's foreign policy activities. The partnership thus forged would guarantee communication with the public opinion and would contribute to awareness raising in the field of foreign policy, first and foremost on issues regarding European integration.
Your Excellencies,
We are at the onset of a diplomatic year from which Romania has particularly ambitious expectations. Our success will primarily depend on the seriousness of our domestic agenda, but also on the effectiveness of co-operation with each of your countries.
We are grateful for your efforts in offering opportunities for enhancing this co-operation. We are also grateful to our European partners for their substantive assistance granted in the run-up to our accession.
Please convey our message of respect and friendship to your authorities, alongside our wishes of prosperity, peace and progress to your people. I wish you, your families and colleagues a fruitful year and every success.
Thank you.
