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Romania has become full-fledged member of NATO
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The Prime Minister of Romania
deposited in Washington on 29 March 2004, together with his
counterparts from Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and
Slovenia, the instrument of ratification of the North Atlantic
Treaty. Following this, the seven countries have become full-fledged
members of the Alliance. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General of NATO and by Mr. Colin Powell, US
State Secretary. 29 March represents the conclusion of the last
stage of the process of Romania’s joining NATO, which began in
Prague, in November 2002, when Romania was invited to enter the
Alliance. The broadest enlargement of the Alliance will be
instrumental to consolidating the efficiency of the Alliance in
combating new threats to security, especially terrorism. By joining
the Alliance, Romania strengthens its profile of a stabilizing
factor and supporter of democracy and international security.
Romania considers that the process of NATO enlargement is not over
and supports its continuation, firstly by including the other three
members of the Vilnius Group, namely Albania, Croatia and Macedonia.
The way ahead
In Instanbul, in June 2004 Romania
participated for the first time as Ally in a NATO summit. This
meeting has been a remarkable event in the history of the Alliance,
as NATO is adapting itself to the security threats of the 21st
century. Topics of specific interest for Romania, such as the
security of the Black Sea region and the stability of the Republic
of Moldova, found a distinct place in the final communiqué of the
summit.
During the past year, the Alliance
made good progress with its ISAF mission in Afghanistan, and helped
with securing the first presidential elections in this country.
Romanian troops have been there, participating both in ISAF and in
Operation Enduring Freedom. Now NATO looks at ways to better
coordinate the two missions, in an attempt to strengthen the
contribution to the stabilization of Afghanistan as well to the
fight against terrorism.
In Istanbul, the Heads of States
and Governments of the 26 Allies took the historic decision to help
the Iraqi authorities with the training of their security forces.
Romania offers its support to the NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I),
and our troops are also part of the international coalition present
in the country.
The strategic partnership between
NATO and the European Union has been strongly enhanced once the
responsibilities of the SFOR mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina were
handed to the EUFOR. This proves that the region of the Balkans has
reached an irreversible level of stability. Kosovo remains a
challenge, but hopefully the province will make progresses this year
towards democracy and shared Euro-Atlantic values.
In the meantime, the Government of
Romania is determined to advance with the reform of our armed forces
and the strengthening of our military capabilities, in order to be
able to provide the best support to NATO’s endeavors and to increase
our profile within the Alliance. We will continue to contribute, as
a responsible and active Ally, to NATO’s operations and missions.
Useful links:
The Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Romania:
http://www.mae.ro
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