Defence minister sees NATO accession

The US House of Representatives last Wednesday passed a bill called “Freedom Consolidation Act” backing NATO expansion at the Prague summit next year, the Romanian Embassy in Washington announced on Thursday.

The bill agrees 55 million dollars in security assistance to be granted to seven countries applying to the NATO. Romania will be granted 11.5 million dollars, the largest amount allotted to a NATO applicant country, as compared to Bulgaria, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia.

Republican Doug Bereuter, leader of the House delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, sponsored the bill, which is now at the Foreign Relations Committee.

A similar bill was introduced on October 24 in the US Senate. Romanian Premier Adrian Nastase during his visit in Washington met with 11 Senators and the discussions focused on obtaining the US Senators’ support for this bill.

The Romanian Embassy to the US contacted all the embassies of NATO applicant countries in order to draft a joint letter asking for the US Senate support in endorsing the legislative package.

The Thursday vote is only a stage in US settling an official position regarding NATO expansion. If the US Senate agrees with the bill, the next to decide on it is President George W. Bush.

On the other hand, Romanian Defence minister Ioan Mircea Pascu on Saturday said that Romania was likely to become a NATO member, within an area with stability and security problems.

Pascu said that Romania, as a strategic partner of NATO and as member of the Partnership for Peace, joins the “new type of war” against terrorism and plans to increase its contribution to Balkan Peace Operations with more troops.

Romania needs credibility in order to enter NATO and this objective can be attained by meeting the criteria set by the North Atlantic Alliance. “Beyond statements, there is a genuine political will to attain these objectives,” Pascu said.

According to the Defence minister, the Government is paying more attention to the army and has increased the budget allotted to the Defence Ministry in 2002.