Incumbent President Traian Basescu declared on Sunday, before leaving to Israel, that this appointment is an "extremely opportune" visit. According to Basescu, the visit is also important for Romania’s national security. He has already met leaders from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and from the Palestinian Authority, Romanian press agency NewsIninforms.
Romania has assumed the responsibility of helping with the Middle East peace process in April, after receiving the visit of the Jordanian king Abdullah the Second.
"From our point of view, the context of the visit is extremely important", President Basescu said on Sunday. Israel is viewed as the most important Middle Eastern economic partner. But there’s also another interest Basescu has in Israel: "Beyond the security measures, peace in Middle East is extremely important for us bearing in mind the great number of Romanians and their families living in Israel and in the Arab countries from Middle East, whether it’s about Siria, Jordan, Lebanon or even Egypt", Basesu said.
Israel renounced imposing visas on Romanians on March 1, 2008. Romanians still have work restrictions in the country.
Romania is the only country from the ex-communist bloc to have maintained diplomatic relationships with Israel after the six days war in 1967. Romania also had close relations with Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Romania was among the first countries to officially recognise PLO and the first country that signed the Warsaw pact to host a Palestinian office that later turned "embassy". Incumbent President Traian Basescu declared on Sunday, before leaving to Israel, that this appointment is an "extremely opportune" visit. According to Basescu, the visit is also important for Romania’s national security. He has already met leaders from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan,
