New WikiLeaks document: former EU commissioner Patten says Romania, a “feral nation”

A recently published WikiLeaks document quotes former EU commissioner Chris Patten saying in 2004 that Romania was a “feral nation.” Patten's comments were recorded and send to US by the US Embassy in Brussels. “Croatia, Patten said, is probably far more prepared for EU membership than either Bulgaria or Romania, who will likely enter the Union earlier”. Chris Patten is a British Conservative politician who wasEuropean Commissioner for External Relations between 1999 and 2004. See below the text regarding the EU enlargement and Romania in particular: “In this regard, he noted that some of the accession countries were foisted on the EU as part of a larger bargain. Cyprus, for instance, probably should not have been admitted (as Papadapolous’ behavior prior to the referendum indicated), but the Greeks insisted on Cypriot admission as the price of agreeing to some of the northern European candidates. Croatia, Patten said, is probably far more prepared for EU membership than either Bulgaria or Romania, who will likely enter the Union earlier. Romania, in particular, was a “feral nation.” We noted that we were shocked by del Ponte’s clean bill of health on ICTY cooperation while Gotovina still was at large inside Croatia. Patten said he too was surprised by del Ponte’s letter, but once the referee had made the call, the EU was bound by her judgement.” Secret messages between the US Embassy in Romania and the US state were included in the 250,000 messages sent by American diplomats and recently revealed on WikiLeaks. The US Embassy in Bucharest sent around 775 secret messages to US, according to WikiLeaks. However, the US Embassy to Bucharest has recently said in a statement that by its very nature, field reporting to Washington is candid and often raw information, preliminary and often incomplete, not an expression of policy, and nor does it always shape final policy decisions. WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organization, a project of the Sunshine Press, founded by Julian Assange. “Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth,” writes the company. editor@romania-insider.com