Romanian President: Anti-missile shield agreement with US brings Romania's security to highest level

Romanian president Traian Basescu, who met US president Barack Obama on Tuesday during his official visit to the US, said after coming back in Romania that the anti-missile agreement with US signed Tuesday in Washington brings Romania’s security at the highest level in the country’s history.

The agreement is not secret, according to the Romanian President, and he hopes that in about 10 days the State Department will agree to publish the Agreement in Romania and the US. Romania's chief negotiator for this contract, Bogdan Aurescu, will afterwards offer explanations about the agreement, Basescu has said.

“This document is a political document setting the strategic partnership between Romania and the U.S. for the next decade”, said Traian Basescu. He also mentioned Obama's support for the Visa Waiver for Romanians. During his visit to the US, the Romanian President also talked about the contract with Bechtel saying that "we were building the world's most expensive highway in a contract where both partners wanted to steal". In early August, the Romanian Prime minister announced that the Romanian state will no longer work with US company Bechtel on the next segments of the Transylvania highway and has managed to reduce the highway costs from EUR 9.9 bln to EUR 3.8 billion. The construction of the Transylvania Highway, which links central Brasov to western Bors on the border with Hungary, started in 2004 based on a EUR 2.2 billion contract attributed to U.S. constructor Bechtel. The meeting between Basescu and Obama, which took place in the famous Oval Office in the White House, lasted for 30 minutes and was followed by a meeting with the US VP Joe Biden. Romania’s External Affairs Minister Teodor Baconschi and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed Tuesday the agreement to place the US anti-missile shield in Romania, at Deveselu. The agreement needs to be voted by the Romanian Parliament. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: the Romanian Presidency)