Loading ...President Traian Basescu, who is paying a two-day official visit to Lebanon on April 15-16, met the members of the Romanian community living in that country and he remembered the beginning of his professional career, on the occasion, also talking with his hosts about the health problems they face.
'It is here that the Mircea Brig took me to, namely Alexandria was the first, and Beirut the second port of call, on my first voyage when I was a student of the Naval Institute, 'President Basescu said on Wednesday as he was applauded by over 100 people present at Romania's Embassy in Beirut. He also expressed regret that conflicts had seriously afflicted the region.
'Anyway, it was at the time when Beirut was called Paris of the East and Lebanon the Switzerland of the East. Unfortunately, the country has been experiencing so many wars ever since, that I think it would have never deserved. I try to imagine how this country would have looked like unless wars had tormented it,' Romania's President stressed.
On the other hand, Basescu referred to the talks with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Sleiman pointing out that his visit was aimed at establishing the Romanian-Lebanese cooperation in fields such as defence and energy.
Lebanon ranks third in terms of Romania's commercial ties in this area and the bilateral commercial exchanges doubled in 2008 compared to 2007, Romania's President said, adding that he and Sleiman also talked about students exchanges, about the increase in Romania's support to the young people willing to study in Romania. Basescu added that the talks with President Sleiman also tackled the topic of the political situation in the region.
'A particularly important issue both countries are concerned over is related to the peace process in the region and Romania now ended a cycle of meetings with the heads of the states in the region, so that our stance should genuinely represent an authorized standpoint within the EU,' President Basescu pointed out.
The Israeli-Palestinian problem is a key issue for the peace in the East, he added. 'Romania's stance would have been incomplete without a discussion with Lebanon's president after having met Egypt's president, Jordan's king, Syria's president and the president of the Palestinian National Authority.
Anyway, we know what we have to do inside the EU and to our satisfaction it is nothing else but Romania's traditional stance on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,' President Basescu said, adding that Palestine needs sovereignty over its entire territory, while Israel needs to be ensured security.
Basescu told the Romanians attending the meeting at the Embassy in Beirut that President Michel Sleiman praised the small but prestigious Romanian community living in Lebanon.
'Your are a good label for Romania through your presence here,' the Romanian leader said. After the speech President Basescu was asked many questions mainly about travel visas, and many of the attendees gave him presents.
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