US military bases in Romania soon

[Guest Guest]

US military bases in Romania soon

 

Reuters

Bucharest: The United States and new Nato member Romania are very close to reaching an agreement to establish American military bases on the Black Sea, US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said yesterday.

 

Romania has been promoting its airfields and bases as a possible hub for US forces as Washington pulls 70,000 troops out of central Europe and Asia in the next decade to smaller bases closer to potential hot spots such as the Middle East.

 

"There's an issue of finalising the relevant agreement and then signing it. The framework basically allows access to facilities so as to facilitate cooperation between the forces of the United States and Romania," Hadley told reporters after meeting President Traian Basescu to discuss regional issues.

 

"We look forward to the conclusion of that agreement very soon," said the White House official, who also praised Romania's contribution to US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

Washington's realignment plans are expected to involve a shift to small, flexible military bases in the former eastern bloc as it reduces its presence in Germany, a Cold War legacy.

 

"Negotiations [on bases] are practically over," Basescu said.

 

The bases are seen as important in Romania's drive to secure more foreign investment to close the enormous wealth gap separating it from the European Union, which it hopes to join as early as 2007.

 

Romania's southern neighbour Bulgaria has also said it is drafting a deal to set up US bases on the Black Sea.

 

Basescu said possible locations for the bases could be Babadag close to the Danube delta, facilities in Constanta on the Black sea and in Fetesti, some 200 km east of Bucharest.

 

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/WorldNF....rticleID=188533

 

Corrected link addy CM

 

[Homesteader]

It is interesting that many of the former communist nations are reaching out to our democracy. Perhaps this will be good for the world.