VZCZCXRO2378
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHBM #0138/01 0251534
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251534Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3506
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 0032
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 0025
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0359
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0098

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000138 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE BILL SILKWORTH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM RO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR VISITS TIMISOARA; UZBEK REFUGEES THANK 
U.S. 
 
 
BUCHAREST 00000138  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Timisoara Mayor Gheorghe Ciuhandu on 
January 18 described Timisoara as an economically-thriving 
city with commercial and cultural links throughout Central 
and Western Europe, during the Ambassador's first visit to 
the city.  Nonetheless, Ciuhandu lamented that the central 
government had appropriated "insufficient funding" for 
infrastructure for the city, including the lack of highway 
links to Bucharest and other major cities.  While in 
Timisoara, the Ambassador visited Uzbek asylum seekers who 
fled from the Andijan region in August 2005 and who are 
awaiting relocation to other countries, including the U.S. 
The refugees thanked the U.S. for ensuring their safe 
departure from the Kyrgyz Republic.  The Ambassador also met 
high school students at the American Corner hosted by the 
Timis County Public Library; a group of Parliament members 
representing the city; officials at a mediation center for 
alternative dispute resolution established with PD/SEED 
funds; and managers and personnel at a manufacturing plant 
operated by U.S. firm Solectron. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Ambassador Taubman visited Timisoara on January 18, 
following a trip to Cluj the day before.  Romania's fifth 
largest city, Timisoara has attracted significant investment 
in recent years, particularly from Italy, Austria, and other 
EU countries.  Many areas of historic central Timisoara are 
also undergoing renovation, an indication of the relative 
economic success of the city as well as a commitment by local 
officials to restore the city to its pre-World War II 
prominence in the region. 
 
 
Mayor Ciuhandu:  "We're an International City" 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶3.  (SBU) The Ambassador was greeted by popular Timisoara 
Mayor Gheorghe Ciuhandu, currently serving in his third term. 
 Ciuhandu is also president of the small Christian 
Democrat-Popular Party, formerly the National 
Peasants-Christian Democratic Party.  Ciuhandu described 
Timisoara as the most "economically thriving" city in 
Romania, attracting four times the national average of 
investment per capita.  He attributed this success largely to 
Timisoara's cultural and commercial links outside of Romania, 
emphasizing that "we're an international city" while 
characterizing other Romanian urban areas as "inward looking" 
and in many ways "still unprepared" for the opportunities EU 
accession will provide.  He also underscored the importance 
of the "practical focus" of Timisoara's Polytechnic 
University, compared to the more "ivory tower approach" of 
many of the country's other top universities, including 
Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj.  These polytechnic students, 
he noted, "feed directly into local industry" and "help fuel 
the economy."  Ciuhandu noted that unemployment in Timisoara 
had dropped to roughly two percent, putting upward pressure 
on wages and forcing some employers to seek talented 
personnel from other parts of the country, as far away as 
Iasi. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ciuhandu pointed to the city's airport as an 
economic engine, noting that it is the second largest in the 
country with direct flights to a number of European cities, 
including Milan, Frankfurt, and Vienna.  He also attributed 
the city's success to a local spirit of entrepreneurship and 
its focus on administrative efficiency above partisan 
politics. One break on the city's further development, 
Ciuhandu lamented, was the failure of the central government 
to fund other important infrastructure projects, most 
importantly highways.  Ambassador Taubman replied that 
Timisoara clearly appeared to be "on track" economically, and 
expressed hope that other mayors and localities would use the 
city's progress as a model. 
 
 
Uzbek Refugees Thank the U.S. 
----------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador also visited the facility currently 
hosting 365 Uzbek refugees whom the Government of Romania 
accepted in July 2005, pending their relocation to the U.S. 
and other countries. About seventy-five of the refugees had 
just received notification the prior day that they would be 
resettled in various American cities on January 30 and 
February 2.  The Uzbeks greeted the Ambassador with applause 
and gratitude for U.S. efforts to facilitate their departure 
from Kyrgystan and now to help resettle them permanently. 
The Uzbeks showed the Ambassador and Mrs. Taubman traditional 
handicrafts they are making at the facility, with modest 
 
BUCHAREST 00000138  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
assistance from USAID, as well as an outdoor oven they had 
constructed.  At the same time, they expressed apprehensions 
about their eventual resettlement to third countries as well 
as about the well being of their family members back in 
Uzbekistan.  Many expressed hope that they could be reunited 
with family members once they are permanently settled.  The 
Ambassador thanked the director of the camp, Col. Livius 
Bisca, for the hospitality the Romanians have shown to those 
who fled last summer.  At a subsequent press conference, the 
Ambassador praised Romania's willingness to temporarily 
shelter the refugees. 
 
¶6. (U) The Ambassador toured the American Corner at the Timis 
County Library, opened in June 2005.  During his visit, local 
students involved in a PD/SEED-funded civic education program 
briefed the Ambassador on a student government program they 
introduced in their high school that involved electing a 
student president. Many students hoped to have the 
opportunity to study abroad, including the in U.S. 
 
¶7. (U) Next, the Ambassador also toured the PD/SEED-suppored 
Timisoara Mediation Center, where mediators tained under the 
program described the challengesof introducing mediation as 
an alternative to juicial litigation.  The mediators said 
they have made some progress but believe that adoption of a 
ending law proposed by the Ministry of Justice (wih U.S. 
Embassy support) to expand the use of medation in Romanian 
courts is critical. The Ambassdor encouraged the Center to 
work with businessesto encourage the inclusion of mediation 
in legalcontracts as an option for speedier resolution of 
disputes. 
 
¶8. (U) The Ambassador ended his visi to Timisoara with a 
tour of Solectron, a Califonia-based electronics 
manufacturing company that as picked up some of its business 
from companiesthat have relocated their manufacturing from 
Chia to Romania for better access to the EU market.TAUBMAN