VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBM #0028/01 0151319
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 151319Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0257
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUCHAREST 000028 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CE ASCHEIBE 
DEPT ALSO FOR INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR RO
SUBJECT: NEW FM - A CAREER DIPLOMAT, TRUSTED BY PRESIDENT 
BASESCU 
 
REF: 09 BUCHAREST 863 
 
Classified By: CDA Jeri Guthrie-Corn, reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Teodor Baconschi, 47, was confirmed by the Romanian 
Parliament as Minister of Foreign Affairs on December 23, 
¶2009.  President Traian Basescu himself pushed Prime Minister 
Emil Boc to choose Baconschi for the job rather than 
incumbent MFA State Secretary Bogdan Aurescu who was put 
forward as a FM designate in two previous governmental 
line-ups that were turned down or not considered by the 
Parliament prior to the December presidential elections. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) During the swearing in ceremony, President Basescu 
said he chose an "experienced" diplomat as Foreign Minister 
to send a strong signal that "this position is not for 
politicians."  (Note:  Bogdan Aurescu is also a career 
diplomat by lacks the ambassadorial experience and 
familiarity with Basescu that favored Baconschi.)  President 
Basescu worked closely with Baconschi in the past and has 
first-hand knowledge of Baconschi's diplomatic skills: 
Baconschi served as MFA State Secretary for Global Affairs 
(January 2005 - September 2006) and as senior Presidential 
Advisor (October 2006 - August 2007).  In September 2007 
President Traian Basescu appointed Baconschi the Romanian 
Ambassador to Paris, a position Baconschi left upon taking 
the helm at the Foreign Ministry. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Baconschi joined the Romanian Foreign Service in 
1997 and was granted the rank of Ambassador in 2006.  He 
served as Ambassador to the Vatican (1997-2001) and, after a 
short stay in Bucharest as MFA Director of Culture and 
Romanian Communities, Ambassador to Lisbon (2002-2004). 
Baconschi was instrumental in convincing Pope John Paul II to 
visit Romania, his first visit to a predominantly Christian 
Orthodox country, in 1999.  The Pope's visit to Romania and 
his discussions with the Romanian Patriarch were seen as a 
diplomatic success.  As Ambassador to Paris, Baconschi can be 
credited with upgrading the bilateral Romanian-French 
relationship to a "strategic partnership."  (Note: French 
President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Romania in February 2008 to 
join President Basescu in signing a joint statement creating 
the strategic partnership between the two countries. End Note) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Andrei Plesu, former Minister of Culture 
(1990-1991), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997-1999) and 
Basescu's first Presidential Advisor for Foreign Affairs 
(2005) is reputedly Baconschi's first major sponsor.  Plesu 
convinced Baconschi to become a diplomat and chose him to be 
the representative to the Vatican in 1997.  Plesu also 
convinced President Basescu that Baconschi would be a good 
MFA State Secretary in early 2005.  Baconschi was Plesu's 
advisor when the latter was Minister of Culture in the early 
1990s. 
 
¶5.  (U) Before 1989, Baconschi worked as a copy editor for a 
publishing house run by the Biblical Institute of the 
Romanian Orthodox Church.  Before joining the Romanian 
Foreign Service, Baconschi headed a small publishing house, 
served as editor-in-chief of Romanian public television's 
"Spiritual Life" department, and delivered lectures on 
religious anthropology at the Philosophy Faculty of Bucharest 
University. 
 
¶6.  (U) Baconschi's studies include a BA in Orthodox Theology 
from the Bucharest-based Theological Institute (1985), a MA 
(1991) and a PhD (1994) in Religious Anthropology and 
Comparative History of Religions from the University of 
Paris-Sorbonne.  He also graduated from the fellowship 
program at the New Europe College, a Bucharest-based 
institute established and headed by Andrei Plesu. 
 
¶7.  (U) His writings and public appearances, often under the 
pen name Teodor Baconsky, (Note: the family name was made 
famous by his father, Romanian poet A.E. Baconsky, who died 
in the 1977 Bucharest earthquake.  End note.) include over 
ten volumes of studies and essays, a constant presence in the 
cultural media, and at conferences held by several European 
universities.  He is a member of the International 
Association for Patristic Studies (Paris) and of the 
Bucharest-based Group for Social Dialogue.  He was awarded 
the Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX (Vatican), the Grand 
Officer of the Order of Saint Agatha (the Republic of San 
Marino), Grand Officer of the Order of Merit (Portugal) and 
Officer of the Order of "Loyal Service" (Romania).  Baconschi 
speaks fluent French, English and Italian. 
 
¶8.  (C) Comment: President Basescu's choice of a career 
diplomat whom he personally trusts is a strong indication of 
 
his determination to keep foreign affairs outside of the 
reach of political parties.  With this choice the President 
reaffirms his role as the driving force of Romanian foreign 
policy after a year of political interference from the 
previous coalition partner, and now opposition, Social 
Democratic Party and former PSD Foreign Minister Cristian 
Diaconescu. 
 
¶9.  (C) While generally sympathetic to the issues important 
to the U.S. Embassy, Baconschi has shown himself to be a 
strong defender of the Romanian Orthodox church and is 
unsympathetic to complaints by minority religions in the 
country.  Post was disappointed by Baconschi in December of 
2006 when he assured the Embassy that a draft Law on Religion 
would not be approved and promised to inform the Embassy of 
any developments.  The law, which favored the Orthodox Church 
over all others, and explicitly excluded smaller churches 
from Government support and tax exempt status, was quickly 
passed by the Parliament and signed by the President in the 
last week of the year.  Nonetheless, Baconschi has been 
labeled as "helpful" on the vast majority of issues by former 
Embassy officials who worked with him. These former officials 
describe him as a center-right intellectual who is deeply 
anti-Communist and "firmly committed to a strong bilateral 
relationship and trans-Atlanticism more generally."  End 
comment. 
GUTHRIE-CORN