(18 Jul 1998) English/Nat
Romanian President Emil Constantinescu is visiting Washington in an effort to convince the American government that his country is emerging successfully from its years of communist rule.
He was welcomed on Friday with U-S Defence Secretary William Cohen in a ceremony at the U-S Pentagon.
Constantinescu has been pushing for his country's entry into NATO, but Washington has warned that economic and military reforms must come first.
President Emil Constantinescu was greeted with a full military ceremony when he visited the Pentagon for talks with Defence Secretary William Cohen.
After decades of stagnation under a cold war dictatorship, Romania is looking westwards.
It has undertaken a campaign to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which is fast becoming Europe's key peacekeeping body.
Constantinescu has been trying to convince the U-S that Romania should be among those nations included in a second wave of NATO expansion.
In the first wave of NATO expansion, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were invited to join the military alliance.
On Wednesday, Constantinescu told a joint session of the U-S Congress that Romania does not want to be an economic burden, but rather a trusted ally.
But last year, NATO told Romania it needed to develop its economy and democracy before it could be in the running for membership.
Constantinescu acknowledged that it has been difficult to rebuild Romania's economy, but insisted that the nation could be an anchor for southeastern Europe.
Critics worry that Romania's inclusion would isolate Russia and lead to more entangling military commitments.
But Constantinescu has said the present time is as crucial to the future of Europe as were the years after World War II.
Some members of Congress strongly oppose further expansion of NATO.
And Defence Secretary Cohen assured Romania that it has a good chance of candidacy in the future, but only after serious reforms.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I believe that Romania remains a very strong candidate for future accession. The door to NATO membership remains open - we have insisted in the past and will in the future that those countries, Romania and others included, will have to reform, make reforms in their economic systems and also in their military in order to qualify."
SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, U-S Defence Secretary
Constantinescu said he believed his country was behaving in the right way for membership, although he recognised the need for further reform.
SOUNDBITE: (Romanian)
"Romania has reaffirmed the fact that it is acting as if it were already a NATO member. It has undertaken responsibilities and obligations in this sense and we underline the importance of the economic nature of the reforms to support these efforts."
SUPER CAPTION: Emil Constantinescu, Romanian President
Constantinescu met on Thursday with U-S President Bill Clinton, with whom he discussed the strategic partnership between the
U-S and Romania.
But despite his diplomatic efforts, he appears no closer to securing NATO membership for Romania without much more work back at home.
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