25th anniversary of US-Romania Strategic Partnership
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US. Shortly after the NATO summit in Madrid in 1997 at which Romania's bid to join the alliance was rejected, the then US President Bill Clinton travelled to the country and gave relations between the two countries a special status through the partnership. The national press voices words of praise, but also criticism.
The right choice
The vice-president of the Romanian Senate and National Liberal Party politician Alina Gorghiu writes in Adevărul that Romania is still benefiting greatly from this partnership today:
“At this time, when the regional situation is difficult because of the unjustified aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, Romania benefits from the biggest security guarantees in its history. Clearly, the Strategic Partnership with the US was the right choice. We are protecting all that Russia is trying to destroy: democratic values, human rights, the rule of law, open markets, the possibility for peoples to determine their own destiny and allies.”
More than just observation needed
The US should have been far more involved, writes journalist Sabina Fati, commenting on Deutsche Welle's Romanian Service:
“Washington has been a strong advocate for an effective anti-corruption prosecutor's office that produces clear results, but in recent years the US has loosened the reins and adopted an observer policy. The Americans don't seem to understand that permanent engagement is needed in this region because otherwise politics distorts the law, corrupts the press, destroys the country's so precarious balance, and because a vulnerable country easily becomes duplicitous.”