Bush takes corruption pledge seriously

The American administration has sent an official to Bucharest to talk with the Romanian authorities about ways for co-operation and solutions to the several problems that might come between Romania and its NATO accession ratification. “Corruption has to be fought beyond the party lines,” Elisabeth Jones, European and Eurasian Affairs Assistant Secretary with the US State Department says. “I want to go before Congress and be able to tell the lawmakers that promises have been kept,” Jones added. She met PM Adrian Nastase and Foreign minister Mircea Geoana on Monday. Jones said she had been met with a lot of openness and determination from the Government to cope with issues such as corruption, transparency or the rule of law. “There are several ideas we and the Romanian authorities came up with and we keep working in this regard,” U.S. Ambassador Michael Guest said. Still, how will things be tested to see if they are headed the right direction? Elisabeth Jones says we will be able to tell “when the business climate is sufficiently clear and attractive, when the investors already here are convinced to stay and those still hesitating are convinced to enter the Romanian market.” ZF