Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BUCHAREST658
2005-03-16 15:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bucharest
Cable title:  

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT PROPOSES NEW NATIONAL SECURITY

Tags:  PREL PGOV MARR MOPS PINS PINR RO NATO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000658 

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS PINS PINR RO NATO
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN PRESIDENT PROPOSES NEW NATIONAL SECURITY
STRATEGY - INCLUDING POSSIBILITY OF "PREEMPTIVE"
ANTI-TERROR STRIKES

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES THOMAS L. DELARE FOR REASONS 1.4 A, B,
AND D

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000658

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS PINS PINR RO NATO
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN PRESIDENT PROPOSES NEW NATIONAL SECURITY
STRATEGY - INCLUDING POSSIBILITY OF "PREEMPTIVE"
ANTI-TERROR STRIKES

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES THOMAS L. DELARE FOR REASONS 1.4 A, B,
AND D


1. (C) Summary. President Traian Basescu is scheduled to
propose within the next month a national security strategy
for Parliamentary approval reflecting the findings of the
February 28 meeting of the inter-ministerial Supreme Council
of National Defense (CSAT). Responding to five principal
threats to Romania's national security, the CSAT'S proposed
security strategy includes a controversial provision
explicitly authorizing the use of extraterritorial
"preventive action" to combat "structured international
terrorism." "Bad governance," including "corrupt state
institutions" are among other threats to national security.
The CSAT also reaffirmed the GOR's commitment to the NATO
alliance and underscored the importance of a "coherent,
strategic program" to promote GOR interests in the Black Sea
region. So far, the preemptive strategy seems to have only a
weak endorsement from Foreign Minister Ungureanu. This may
have repercussions if the assertive Basescu interprets lack
of enthusiasm as opposition. End Summary.

Preempting International Terrorism?
--------------

2. (SBU) President Basescu presided February 28 over the
first meeting during his presidency of Romania's Supreme
Council for National Defense (CSAT),an inter-ministerial
body whose members include the Prime Minister, Ministers of
Defense, Foreign Affairs and Interior, and heads of the
intelligence services.


3. (SBU) According to the communique, the CSAT agreed that
Romania needs a new national security strategy and identified
five principle threats facing Romania: "structured
international terrorism. . ., proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, totalitarian regimes that support
terrorism, crises occurring in Romania,s strategic proximity

(frozen conflicts or politically unstable situations),and
bad governance, of which an important element is the level of
corruption within the state institutions." Referring to
anti-terror measures, the CSAT communique states that
&Romania must decide whether it, along with its allies,
takes action preemptively outside the national borders or
limits itself to a reactive policy.8 The communique notes
that a &final decision8 on this issue will be adopted
within thirty days and states that Basescu, "in his capacity
as CSAT president, argued for preventive action" against
international terrorism.


4. (SBU) Mircea Geoana, FM in the former Social Democratic
Party (PSD) government and current Senate Foreign Policy
Commission President, publicly criticized CSAT's "radical and
brutal" change to Romania's national security strategy, and
cautioned in a newspaper interview against involving Romania
in &distant conflicts" aimed at fighting terrorism. Basescu
rejoined March 7 that Romania should modernize its national
security strategy, adopted in 2001, to reflect current
realities. Citing Romania's engagement in Iraq, he observed
that Romania's military presence there is not, in fact,
grounded in the current national security strategy that
focuses on "reaction" to terrorism rather than preventive
measures. On the other hand, FM Razvan Ungureanu stated in
testimony before Geoana's Foreign Policy Commission that
discussions about possible GOR reactions to international
terrorism are &mere intellectual exercises.8 In a March 7
news conference, Ungureanu asserted that his mandate includes
implementing a direct and forward leaning foreign policy
leaving us a bit confused as where the FM really stands on
what may be a key foreign policy position.


5. (SBU) Most media reaction to the CSAT communique focused
on the possibility of "preventive action." Media analysts'
response to the possibility of the GOR taking preemptive
extraterritorial action against international terrorism
mostly followed partisan lines. For example, a commentator
in independent but frequently pro-PSD national daily
newspaper "Adevarul" described Basescu as the leader of a
weaker country that joins "the hooligan with the biggest club
(the U.S.)." A headline in the same newspaper observes that
the "Mouse (Romania) Marches Next to the Elephant (U.S.)."

NATO Alliance, Secret Police Archives, Black Sea
-------------- ---

6. (SBU) The CSAT reaffirmed the importance of aligning
Romanian and NATO policy and underscores that Romania is a
"European ally with a transatlantic vocation." According to
the CSAT communique, Romania will remain engaged in the
gradual extension of the NATO mission in Afghanistan,
training of the future Iraq army, and expansion of NATO's
role in combating terrorism and WMD proliferation.
The CSAT communique notes that the Council "analyzed the
development of the Romanian-U.S. strategic partnership." The
CSAT concluded that Romania must develop a "coherent
strategic program" to promote national interests in the Black
Sea region. The communique also states that Romania will
participate in efforts to promote democracy and &European
values8 to the Western Balkans. The CSAT communique also
urged the intelligence services to implement a long overdue
provision of law governing the disposition and custody of
communist era secret police archives, including files kept on
individuals by the notorious "Securitate."

The Next Step
--------------

7. (C) Romanian law requires parliamentary approval of the
national security strategy and, according to sources close to
Basescu, the Presidency will submit its proposed national
security strategy within the next month, likely reflecting
the points underscored by CSAT and intended to replace and
update the strategy Parliament approved in 2001. If former
FM Geoana's reaction is an accurate barometer, evocation of
"preemptive" anti-terror measures could release a storm of
parliamentary opposition from the former ruling party, the
PSD, as well as the extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party
(PRM).


8. (C) Comment. The CSAT's "preemptive provision" reflects
Basescu's personal imprint and demonstrates that the
president will continue to play a proactive and engaged role
in developing Romania's foreign policy. One Basescu adviser
asserted to us that the president raised this topic with the
express intent of generating a genuine debate on national
security issues. Other themes addressed by CSAT -
declassification of secret police archives, the centrality of
the NATO alliance, and heightened attention to the Black Sea
region - gibe with Basescu's recent public statements and
campaign pledges. Additionally, the communique's linkage of
"bad governance" and "the corruption of state institutions"
echoes Basescu's presidential campaign assertion that
corruption threatens national security. According to a
Basescu adviser as well as media analysts, the president is
impatient that the government is moving too slowly with
reforms, including passing legislation that would criminalize
tax evasion. Thus, the CSAT reference to "bad governance"
may also be an unsubtle exhortation to PM Calin
Popsescu-Tariceanu's government to step up the fight against
corruption. End Comment.


9. (U) Amembassy Bucharest,s reporting telegrams are
available on the Bucharest SIPRNET Website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/bucharest
DELARE