Financiarul

The missile shield and the relations with the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the energy security were among the topics approached during the talks between Romania’s President Traian Basescu and the U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, at the presidential Cotroceni Palace on Thursday.

The U.S. Vice President praised the professionalism of the Romanian soldiers in the operation theaters and wished the Romanian people success in the election process, and at the same time he emphasized the qualities of U.S. Ambassador in Bucharest Mark Gitenstein.

You and President Obama strongly support the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. We appreciate very much Romania’s cooperation (…) our relations are anchored in a set of common values and together we approach topics such as security, commercial relations, investments and a whole range of issues where we treat each other on an equal footing, U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden said during a joint news conference with Traian Basescu.

The U.S. leader praised the Romanian troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Western Balkans, underlining that the Romanian military fulfill their missions with great skill in places with very difficult regions, and the United States are very grateful for their service and sacrifices.

Likewise, he said he appreciated very much that the Bucharest Government embraces the new missile shield plan of the Obama Administration.
Biden added that the United States want Romania’s neighbors to continue the steps toward the democratic reforms viewing their integration in the Euro-Atlantic structures, referring to the Republic of Moldova included.

In the context, President Basescu said that during the bilateral talks he called to support for the new Government in Chisinau.
‘Moldova was another topic of the bilateral talks and here we called for political and economic support for the newly formed Government,’ said Basescu
At the same time, he mentioned that the issues approached during the bilateral discussions regarded the relations with the Russian Federation and Turkey, but they were also aimed at topics related to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

‘Last but not least, we have approached problems related to the security in the Black Sea area and we drew the conclusion that pragmatic ties are necessary with the Russian Federation and equally with Turkey, in the region, as they are two important regional powers,’ Base scu stressed.
Biden said that during the bilateral talks there were also approached topics related to the energy security and Romania’s role in the support and the development of the corridors to bring new energy sources to Europe.

Giving more details, Romania’s President emphasized there were discussed issues related to the project of the liquefied gas terminal in Constanta (southeastern Romania) and the Constanta¬Trieste oil pipeline. ‘The liquefied gas terminal in Constanta stays a joint project. We also discussed that the P8 project is a priority aimed at the Constanta-Trieste oil pipeline,’ Traian Basescu concluded.