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DE RUEHBM #0659/01 2330832
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O 200832Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8617
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000659 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CE AND H 
ALSO H PLEASE PASS TO SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS, KMEYERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG ECON PGOV PREL OREP RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA: CODEL LUGAR SCENESETTER 
 
REF: STATE 73058 
 
¶1. (SBU) Mission warmly welcomes the visit of CODEL Lugar, 
and looks forward to making sure you get the most out of your 
time in country.  Romania is an excellent strategic partner, 
ally, and friend of the United States, and continues to be 
among the staunchest contributors to NATO missions since the 
earliest days of Partnership for Peace, committing troops and 
resources in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. 
Romania's accession to the EU is only 20-months old and 
though the legacy of its communist past still lingers in some 
elements, it is receding increasingly rapidly since the 1989 
termination of Nicolae Ceaucescu's erratic dictatorship. No 
country embodies more dramatically than Romania our vision of 
a reborn Europe working in close partnership with the U.S. 
Romania demonstrated its sophisticated level of maturity this 
past April when it successfully hosted the largest and most 
complex NATO Summit in the Alliance's history.  For our 
Romanian interlocutors, the summit was not only proof of 
their status as a devoted U.S. friend and ally, but also a 
validation of their strong transatlantic orientation, their 
forward-looking strategic mindset, and steadfast military 
contributions alongside U.S., Allied, and coalition forces. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Your meeting with President Traian Basescu will 
highlight a Romania which generally punches above its weight 
when it comes to security issues.  Romania has 500 troops in 
Iraq and plans to expand its current 640 troops committed in 
Afghanistan to over 800 in 2009. Romania's contributions 
present a positive model for other allies, especially in 
southern Afghanistan, where they take on dangerous 
engagements against the enemy--and have taken their share of 
casualties.  Closer to home, Basescu believes greater U.S. 
and NATO engagement in the Black Sea region is key to 
advancing stability and democratic reform.  Besides being 
committed to fighting the war on terror, stopping 
non-proliferation, and illicit trafficking, Romania is 
determined to advance energy security across the Black Sea to 
the Caspian Sea.  Advocating for extending NATO membership to 
Georgia and Ukraine, and building a bridge between the EU and 
Moldova, are important parts of Romania's broader national 
interest. Romania's orientation towards Serbia, and ensuring 
the same NATO and EU opportunities are available to all of 
the Western Balkan states, has the same resonance and urgency 
for securing the immediate neighborhood.  Basescu has 
privately underscored his strong commitment to Georgia's 
territorial integrity and sovereignty, and has offered to 
provide humanitarian assistance to Tblisi, but commentators 
have noted that the government has been conspicuously low-key 
on this issue, reflecting concerns about spillover to other 
nearby frozen conflicts and deep-seated public ambivalence 
about provoking the Russian bear.  Basescu is planning to 
travel to Georgia in the next several days, and we will let 
you know if this trip results in any shifts in Romania's 
policy. 
 
¶3. (SBU) While the President will likely focus on the 
immediate region and security issues, the Foreign Minister 
will bring up other areas of international cooperation. 
Prior to being appointed Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu 
served as Romania's chief representative to the EU since 2001 
and is intimately familiar with how Brussels thinks and 
operates.  A career diplomat and internationalist by nature, 
Comanescu has characterized his role as that of a caretaker 
until the next election.  He will likely have insights into 
the EU approach to energy security issues and Romania's role 
in both the EU and NATO.  Comanescu (and perhaps others) will 
likely stress Romania's strong desire to participate in the 
U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP).  The Department of Homeland 
Security has included Romania among the "Roadmap" countries 
for potential inclusion in WVP expansion.  However, while the 
GOR is aware that in order to qualify it needs to overcome 
substantial technical impediments as well as concerns 
regarding overstays, high visa refusal rates, and other 
information/identity verification issues, they will 
nevertheless continue to make the push for domestic political 
reasons. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Another part of the Romanian success story is the 
economy, albeit with some caveats.  Minister Varujan 
Vosganian will no doubt point to Romania's still strong 
economic growth, which has been underpinned by accession to 
NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. Foreign direct 
investment is pouring into Romania, along with initial EU 
structural funds.  U.S. trade and commercial ties with 
Romania are also booming after having lagged in the initial 
post-Communist era.  Vosganian recognizes that Romania's 
challenge is to institutionalize economic reforms and to 
develop the infrastructure needed to continue to attract new 
 
BUCHAREST 00000659  002 OF 002 
 
 
foreign investors.  Underinvestment in infrastructure, the 
lack of transparency in governmental decision making, and 
corruption all continue to have a negative impact on the 
overall business environment.  Another growing problem is the 
outflow of skilled labor and energetic young people to higher 
paying jobs elsewhere in the EU.  On energy security, views 
here tend to be closely aligned with our own, with the 
Romanians taking an active role in seeking new energy 
supplies, while also encouraging investment in domestic 
renewable energy sources. Alarmed by Gazprom's aggressive 
strategy in the region, Romania is a member and steadfast 
supporter of the Nabucco pipeline consortium, which would 
bring Caspian Basin gas through Romania to the European 
market.  The Romanian government has actively sought to 
cultivate close ties with Azerbaijan and the Central Asian 
republics to encourage gas exports via Nabucco, complementing 
U.S. efforts.  (COMMENT:  Basescu is also planning to visit 
Azerbaijan this week and we will report asap. END COMMENT) 
Romania is also considering alternative means of diversifying 
supply, including additional nuclear power reactors and a 
possible LNG terminal at the port of Constanta. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Minister of Environment Attila Korodi has been an 
opponent of the expanded use of agricultural biotechnology in 
Romania, and he recently spearheaded the appointment of a 
biosafety commission to assess the risks posed by Monsanto,s 
MON 810, a corn variety widely used elsewhere in Europe. 
Despite public statements from the Minister questioning the 
safety of biotech, the biosafety commission moved at a 
deliberate pace, evaluated all of the relevant scientific 
data, and plans to inform the Minister that MON 810 is safe 
to plant in Romania (COMMENT: This information has not yet 
been publicly released. END COMMENT).  Despite pressure from 
NGOs such as Greenpeace and negative statements from some 
parts of the government, farmers are recognizing the benefits 
of biotechnology and are increasingly using it to maximize 
yields.  By way of illustration, in 2007, Romania planted 
only 331 hectares of biotech corn, which jumped to an 
estimated 7,500 hectares in 2008, a number which is forecast 
to almost double to 12-15,000 hectares next year.  Recent 
Embassy events, such as the agricultural biotechnology 
"roadshow" in June, have all been well-attended and show that 
Romanian farmers are interested in using the latest 
agricultural technology available.  Encouraging the Ministry 
of Environment to adopt a science-based approach to 
evaluating biotechnology could allow Romania, with its large 
and underdeveloped agricultural sector, become a leader 
within the EU in this field. 
 
¶6. (SBU) There are some political minefields to navigate in 
your meeting with Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu.  No one has 
ever accused Romania of being a tidy place politically.  This 
is a rough-and-tumble political environment, as evidenced by 
the unruly effort to unseat Basescu in 2007 through a dubious 
impeachment effort.  While things have settled down somewhat, 
Basescu and Tariceanu remain at loggerheads. While a possible 
reconciliation between Basescu's Democratic-Liberal Party and 
Tariceanu's National Liberal Party cannot be discounted 
following Parliamentary elections in November, there will no 
doubt be some more political turbulence until the end of the 
year when a new government is formed.  Yet on most of the 
issues we care about, their differences are more illusory 
than real, and invariably are about the domestic political 
game.  Tariceanu recognizes the importance of energy 
security, and has worked closely with us to advance our 
common interests in securing alternative energy sources, both 
for Romania, and the EU.  In his meeting with you, Tariceanu 
will likely remain focused on domestic issues, and will be 
more open to arguments in favor of agricultural biotechnology 
than Korodi.  On Romania's relationship with the U.S., both 
Tariceanu and Basescu will likely reinforce each other in 
requesting your help and support for Romania's accession to 
the Visa Waiver Program. 
TAUBMAN