FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Will Bohlen Elizabeth Boswell Rega
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Transcripts, audio, video on the web: http://www.bucharestconference.org/
Basescu Outlines Hopes for NATO Summit
~ U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher: Stabilize Afghanistan, generate new vision ~
BUCHAREST (April 1, 2008) — Romanian President Traian Băsescu, in the opening speech of the Bucharest Conference, said he hopes NATO continues to look eastward and further defines its mission during the Bucharest NATO Summit.
“The Bucharest Summit could represent a bridge between the Euroatlantic and international NATO engagements, between our previous achievements, and what we must achieve continuously from now on, in order that the citizens of our countries will be convinced that we can guarantee peace and security,” he said.
Băsescu spoke today at the Bucharest Conference, a meeting of high-level leaders to discuss NATO’s current and future challenges. Organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chatham House, the Bucharest Conference brings together seven heads of state, ten ministers, and 22 parliamentarians, along with academics, NGO heads, and business leaders, covering 37 countries over four continents.
Following Băsescu’s address, U.S. Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, who chairs the U.S. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, delivered a speech that said this year’s NATO Summit should solidify the alliance’s mission.
“NATO must take three major steps,” she said. “Help successfully stabilize Afghanistan, clearly emphasize its role as a primarily war fighting organization, and generate a new strategic vision that unifies its membership.”
For his vision, Băsescu said he thinks NATO should send a positive signal to Serbia, calling such a move integral to the region’s stability.
“We consider that Serbia has paid enough for the mistakes of the past,” he said. “We must be ready at this summit to offer Belgrade a clear perspective on returning to the place it deserves, among the European and Euroatlantic community.”
On a pressing security matter, Tauscher said she supports the proposed missile defense system in the Czech Republic, but not the way the Bush administration has engaged the NATO about the issue in the past.
“At my urging the Bush administration has begun to engage the entire alliance and ‘NATO-ize’ the ballistic missile defense system proposal,” she said. “Most importantly, ‘NATO-izing’ the missile defense system proposal will advance the important pillar of indivisibility of the alliance as well. But in this process, the United States cannot tolerate Russian saber rattling.”
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The Bucharest Conference, happening alongside the official 2008 NATO Summit, is a high-level meeting of influential political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges facing NATO and the international community. Participants include heads of state, senior officials from country governments, policymakers, think tank leaders, scholars, corporate executives, and media.
NATO’s operation in Afghanistan, the alliance’s enlargement, its future role in global affairs, and Russia’s relationship with the West are just a few of the current and future issues being discussed at the Bucharest Conference. The conference continues the tradition of the German Marshall Fund’s 2004 Istanbul Conference and 2006 Riga Conference by providing a platform for an open dialogue among participants and speakers representing countries and organizations worldwide.
The Bucharest Conference is organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chatham House.