US Vice President Biden arrived in Bucharest Wednesday evening
Date: 22-10-2009
US Vice President Joe Biden arrived Wednesday evening in Bucharest and on Thursday he has to meet President Traian Basescu, Senate Chairman Mircea Geoana, acting Prime minister Emil Boc and leaders of the Opposition. Biden's visit to Bucharest is part of a Central Europe tour started on October 20 in Poland that will end on October 24 in the Czech Republic.In the three countries to visit, Biden is approaching a vast area of issues, from trade and investment expansion to the consolidation of democracy and cooperation, both within NATO and at bilateral levels, in order to meet the common challenges against security. Biden is also expected to reaffirm the America's commitment to its partnership with Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic in the areas of security, defence, climate change and economy.
On Thursday in Bucharest, Biden will be welcomed by President Basescu and he will meet Senate Chairman Mircea Geoana, acting Prime Minister Emil Boc and chief of the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) Crin Antonescu. Biden will also deliver a speech at the Central University Library in which he will speak about the relationship between the US and Central Europe.
Biden's visit to the three Central European countries occurs shortly after the US discarded a project for mounting a missile shield on Poland and the Czech Republic.On September 17, US President Barack Obama announced a new approach of the missile shield project in Europe following a review by the US Administration of Iran's ballistic threats.
Romania and the US have a strategic partnership that covers several areas of bilateral interest, from national security to economy. In 2005, Romania made available to the US Army training facilities at military bases. Romania, a NATO member state since 2004, has often pointed to its geo-strategic position in the Black Sea that provides an opening to Asia and the Middle East.
In December 2004, then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed in Bucharest an agreement on the use and control of four Romanian military bases: Mihail Kogalniceanu, Babadag, Cincu and Smardan.The first US troops were deployed to the Kogalniceanu base in 2007, where also housed was the Joint Task Force East.
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During the briefing on Biden 's european tour , the national security advisor TONY BLINKEN said:
“First, and most obviously, the trip comes at a historic marker, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. So the Vice President is going to mark the moment. But his focus is going to be much more on the future than on the past. In his view, the real validation of 1989 is less in what we took down and more in what we built, and continue to build together -- strong democracies, strong partnerships that deliver for people in all of our countries and beyond.
Second, I think you'll see a lot of focus and reaffirmation on the substance of those partnerships with the countries of central Europe. Let me just touch quickly on a few of them. We have the very strong security partnership. All three countries the Vice President will visit are members of NATO. As NATO members, we're committed to each other's defense. All three make important contributions -- with soldiers and civilians -- to the allied effort in Afghanistan, just as they have in Iraq and in the Balkans. With all three, we benefit from strong defense cooperation, including joint training and exercises. And with all three, the Vice President will discuss the new missile defense architecture we're proposing for Europe. That architecture, as you know, is designed to meet a current threat with proven technology. It's adaptable to future threats. It will be deployed sooner than the previous program, and cover all the countries in NATO.
We also have a partnership for energy security and combating climate change. The countries in central Europe have a particularly critical role to play in diversifying energy sources and suppliers, promoting efficiency, strengthening the European grids. And, of course, we have a strong partnership for trade and investment, and these partnerships are all the more important as we emerge from the global economic downturn.
Third, and finally, the United States and the countries of central Europe are really transitioning from a local agenda to a global one, and the Vice President will talk about that during the trip. The United States is thinking about the region less in terms of what we can do for central Europe, and more in terms of what we can do with central Europe. The countries are no longer "post-Communist," or "in transition." They are full-fledged members of the NATO alliance and the European Union with serious and substantial responsibilities.
The partnerships I already mentioned go well beyond local interests, and right to our common global responsibilities -- from Afghanistan to Iran, from energy security to global economic growth. And we're also looking at our partners in central Europe for leadership, in an area they're uniquely qualified to provide, advancing democracy.”
