AMBASSADOR'S JUNE 5 MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER

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SIPDIS

STATE FOR NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2012
TAGS: PREL PGOV RO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S JUNE 5 MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER
CIOROIANU


Classified By: Ambassador Nicholas F. Taubman for reasons 1.4(b) and (d
)


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador met with Foreign Minister Adrian
Cioroianu on June 5 in advance of Cioroianu's visit to
Washington next week. While in Washington, Cioroianu will
stress Romania's continued commitment to our strategic
partnership, to reform and to combating corruption, and to
making the Bucharest NATO Summit a success. He also intends
to present some ideas for Romania's participation in the visa
waiver program. Cioroianu encouraged the Ambassador to speak
to President Basescu and Prime Minister Tariceanu about a
reconciliation so that the government's agenda can recover
from the political turmoil of recent months. The Foreign
Minister seemed most comfortable in his discussions about the
domestic political scene. End Summary.


2. (C) In his meeting with the Ambassador, FM Cioroianu,
accompanied by Director for US and Canada Catalin Ionita,
laid out his agenda for the June 13 trip to Washington,
including his scheduled meeting with the Secretary. Cioroianu
said he will: 1) reaffirm the US-GOR strategic partnership;
2) underscore that the US and Romania share responsibility
for broadening and deepening bilateral collaboration; 3)
reaffirm his government's commitment to fighting corruption
and promoting reforms; 4) address Romania's NATO Summit
preparations; and 5) raise some "ideas" on the visa waiver
program. The Ambassador welcomed the FM's comments but
emphasized the importance of picking two to three of the most
important points to emphasize in his meeting with the
Secretary due to the time constraints.

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3. (C) Cioroianu said that he would also invite the
Secretary to visit Romania for a preparatory discussion prior

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to the 2008 NATO Summit, if at all possible. He stated that
he also has appointments with NSC Hadley, Deputy SecDef
Englund, and Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff. Cioroianu
said he hoped to have good news "soon" with the naming of a
new Romanian ambassador to the U.S. He underscored that he
still needed to raise the name with President Basescu and
hoped to get his support. Cioroianu said the nominee will be
a professional diplomat.


4. (C) Cioroianu stated that he believes Romania has an
opportunity to promote a bridge between NATO and EU. He said
that there were no reasons why the Romania cannot move
forward on both priorities without problems. Romania wants
to be certain that Washington has strong confidence in
Bucharest to hold a successful NATO Summit. The Ambassador
thanked Cioroianu for Romania's support for the coalition and
Allied operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cioroianu noted
that the Allies needed to do everything they could in
Afghanistan, and confirmed that Romania continues to explore
the possibilities of taking up PRT responsibilities.


5. (C) In response to the Ambassador's inquiry about news
reports that Defense Minister Melescanu had called on June 5
for joint Romanian-Bulgarian-Russian military maneuver
exercises in the Black Sea, Cioroianu defended Melescanu
arguing that he is a "smart, professional diplomat" and
cautioned not to believe the press reports because he was
sure that what was reported was not what Melescanu had
probably said. He suggested that the Ambassador should simply
ask Melescanu directly about what was said.


6. (C) Cioroianu said he was disappointed that Elie Wiesel
would not be attending the Hi-Level OSCE Tolerance Conference
this week in Bucharest. He noted that Wiesel had a problem
with the agenda (NFI). Nonetheless, he said the OSCE message
is a good and important one to get out and he hoped for good
media coverage of the conference, especially in light of the
current messy political climate.


7. (C) The Foreign Minister shifted the conversation to
domestic politics, acknowledging that his Liberal party had
made mistakes, including in supporting the recent referendum
against President Basescu. Cioroianu expressed concern,
however, that the Democrat Party was now making a mistake by
trying to drive out Prime Minister Tariceanu from office.
Cioroianu said it was sad that, following the referendum,
Basescu has continued to put pressure on the PM, which risked
losing more opportunities to move the government's agenda
forward. Cioroianu asked the Ambassador to speak directly
to the both Tariceanu and Basescu to encourage them to come
back together. Cioroianu believed that the government should
continue to work at least up to the European Parliamentary
elections this fall, and only then consider the political
configuration. He said that having Basescu's party pressing
for early elections or otherwise changing the government
would result in five more months of important work not

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getting done. Cioroianu asserted that there were no policy
differences between the two, but rather that President
Basescu was personalizing the issue with Tariceanu, and
between the institutions.


8. (C) Comment: In one sense, Cioroianu told us what we
wanted to hear; his emphasis on strengthening our close
bilateral relationship and making the 2008 NATO summit a
success was in fact welcome. On the other hand, it is clear
that the foreign minister was more comfortable (and animated)
talking domestic politics, and seems concerned that his
Liberal party is much more politically vulnerable now that
Basescu is back in office. End comment.
TAUBMAN