Romania
Executive Summary
In 2004 and 2005 Romania succeeded in keeping the positive trend of political, economic and military reforms. The country fulfilled one of its key prerogatives of becoming a full-fledged NATO member, and signed an Accession Treaty with the EU. At the same time, the period witnessed reshuffles in the configuration of power, which tipped the balance against the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
Internationally, relations with the EU and the EU accession remained a priority of the Romanian foreign policy in 2004 and 2005. The official closure of Romanian negotiations with the EU was announced during the Brussels European Summit held in the period December 16th –17th 2004. Romania signed its Accession Treaty on April 25th 2005 in Luxembourg, thus officially receiving the status of an “acceding State”. As a historic event could be described the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the beginning of December 2005 for the signing of the US-Romanian Agreement of Access on December 6th2005, stipulating the terms of the US use of military facilities on Romanian territory.
Following its NATO accession Romania dedicated itself to a series of modernisation projects aimed at ensuring the full NATO compatibility of all branches of its armed forces.Moreover, it continued their restructuring in compliance with the guiding documents.The Romanian Armed Forces also continued to cooperate in multinational military efforts.
Romania made impressive economic progress in 2004, demonstrating strong GDP growth, curbing inflation and lowering unemployment. On the negative side, strong consumer demand fueled a growing current account deficit as Romania’s trade deficit rose as a result of surging imports. In compliance with the proclaimed governmental economic policy, in 2004, the State Asset Resolution Authority (AVAS) sold 62 medium and large companies in which the state was a majority shareholder. In addition to these transactions, AVAS also privatised minority stakes in 85 companies, resulting in revenue for AVAS amounting to USD 381.2 mln. The largest of those sales was the one of the Romanian national oil company, Petrom, to Austria’s OMV.
The positive trends in the Romanian economy during the first ten months of 2005, though, slowed down due to the heavy floods and the governmental crisis that took place.
Sources used for the profile: Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romanian Ministry of Defense, Foreign Intelligence Service, DCAF, European Commission, Stability Pact, CIA World Factbook, Nine O' Clock, Ziua, Jurnalul, Bucharest Daily News