ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96022702.WWE
DATE:02/27/96
TITLE:27-02-96  GHERMAN SAYS ROMANIA AIMS AT INTEGRATION WITH THE WEST

TEXT:
(Newsbriefing at CSIS February 26) (530)
By Vance Phillips
USIA Staff Writer

Washington -- The president of the Romanian Senate, Oliviu Gherman,
says that Romania's attempts to integrate with the West are found in
its practice of establishing good relations with its neighbors,
serving as a link between East and West Europe and its willingness to
interact with European and Atlantic institutions.

In a February 26 newsbriefing at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), Gherman said, "The institutions,
political culture and economic life of modern Romania have been,
except for the Cold War period, an intrinsic part of the Western
World."

Gherman emphasized Romania's "role of establishing democratic
stability in her part of Europe can be linked to its like-mindedness
with the West." He added that Romania has made efforts aimed at
integration with the West by developing "good neighborly relations"
with all surrounding countries and pursuing "pragmatic sub-regional
cooperation consistent with Romania's strategic option to become part
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), European Union (EU),
and the Western European Union (WEU)."

Romania's "West like-mindedness," he noted, is "rooted in our
irreversible option for democracy, the rule of law, respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights of persons
belonging to national minorities, and free enterprise. Efforts to
entrench the Western values and practices in our society" will
hopefully bolster Romania's efforts to become members of NATO, EU and
WEU, he said.

Gherman stressed Romania's desire to "integrate with the European and
Atlantic institutions enjoys the consensus of the overall political
spectrum and is being favored by over 80 per cent of the general
public." He added that Romania is also looking to strengthen its ties
with the United States. In a opinion poll conducted in December 1995
by the Gallup International group, 92 per cent of the respondents said
they were in favor of closer relations with the United States.

Assessing Romania's role in Central Europe, Gherman cited German
author Otto Freiherr von Dungern's 1916 book "Rumanien" which stated
"the Romanians saw themselves as Central Europeans. Romania is the
link between the Balkans and the rest of Europe." This interpretation
is underscored by French author Ernest Lemonon who wrote in 1931 that,
"geographically and historically, Romania is a bridge between the West
and East. Her role is to be one of coordination and rapprochement."
Gherman said the fall of the former Soviet Union offered Romania the
opportunity to reassume their traditional role -- being a bridge
country for Central Europe.

Gherman said Romania's interest in cooperating with the surrounding
sub-regions should be viewed as a "useful complement and not an
alternative to integration with the Western institutions." He
reinforced Romania's active role in Central Europe by highlighting its
scheduled full membership later this year in the Central European
Initiative (CEI), and its proposed membership in the Central European
Free Trade Area (CEFTA).

Membership in the CEI and CEFTA will allow Romania to further nurture
good relations with its neighboring countries, allowing it to assume
the role of "security producer" for troubled regions such as the
Balkans, he added.
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