| The American army was drawn to warm seas American emissaries traveled to Eastern European countries to test the possibility of the global redeployment of US military bases on the European continent announced by President George W. Bush. The delegation was headed by US Deputy Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith. After Poland, they visited Romania, where they met with Minister of National Defense Ioan Mircea Pascu, Foreign Minister Mircea Geoană, and Presidential Adviser on National Security Issues Ioan Talpeş and Chief of the General Staff Mihail Popescu.
“The possible presence of American troops in Romania, even modest, even flexible, is not directed against the Russian Federation,” emphasized the head of Romanian diplomacy, Mr. Geoana. - This is a gesture addressed to international terrorism and to the region of instability that is approaching us from the Middle East. The candidate countries are not fighting among themselves or with NATO countries for American bases. This is not competition, but mutual complementarity, a more reasonable and precise use of resources.”
At a joint press conference with the Romanian Minister of War, American Douglas Feith clarified that no decisions have yet been made on specific locations for new military bases or on weapons systems that will be located in Romania. “We no longer need the large, powerful military bases of the Cold War,” Feith said. According to Romania, the American base promises economic benefits. By analogy with Germany, it should create thousands of new jobs and generate multimillion-dollar profits. It is believed that the Pentagon has already set its sights on the Kogalniceanu air bases near Constanta and Luna in Cluj county.
It is expected that after the New Year the location of American bases in Bulgaria, where Feith’s delegation has already visited, will be clarified. However, the possible deployment of American bases in Bulgaria will be affected by the fact that, unlike Romania, it has not signed an agreement with the United States on the non-jurisdiction of the American military to the International Criminal Court. According to Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, in the course of communication with the Americans, the matter is limited to “probing and consultations”; there is no concrete proposal regarding the deployment of US bases in the country. Alexander SHALAEV, Bucharest |
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