2017 marked the 20th anniversary of the US-Romania strategic partnership. Over the past two decades Romanian-American relations have evolved spectacularly, with strong ties forged in the military cooperation and, albeit modest, intensification of economic cooperation. Against the background of the Partnership, the Ukrainian crisis led to an increased importance of NATO’s Eastern flank for the US and an intensification of military activity in the Black Sea area, which rendered the Partnership even more importance and Romania a more strategic role.
The partnership with the US ultimately served Romania’s strategic goal: security against the potential greater risks in the longer run. It also served the US strategic purpose in the wider Central and Eastern European region – to anchor the region and, lately, to create a containment line against Russia. At the end of the Cold War no European country, Romania included, would have agreed to a new containment line, when international organizations were perceived as more important than nation states and borders were considered futile in the powerful globalization trend. The invasion of Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 dramatically impacted the regional and trans-Atlantic landscape and changed the regional security threats and responses.
Current Status
Romanian Defense Minister recently visited the US and met with the Secretary of Defense James Mattis and with major companies in the defense industry. Romania is one of the few countries to have announced an increase in its defense spending to 2% of its GDP by 2018, and the current visit was in relation to that. Earlier, in May, the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis visited the US President Donald Trump. The visit was symbolic but strategically important for both countries. For Romania, it communicated clearly that, while other alliances may be indecisive from the US point of view, the relation with Romania is not. For the US, as Romania’s Constanta has become a major hub for the US military hosting the Black Sea Area Support Team, it was important that the American public see the president of a country hosting American troops.
Two months later, the US Army announced new investments of between USD 25 to 100 million to be made in the modernization of the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base in Constanta. The designed construction projects aim at building a new railway, a multimodal terminal, a new control center, several buildings and storage facilities, fuel storage facilities, and a new platform for cargo airplanes. The contract should be awarded by the end of September 2017, and constructions finished by 2020.
While cooperation in the defense sector has been the most important dimension of the Romanian-US partnership, cooperation in the business sector has been less visible and generally weaker. Investment coming from the US is lower than that from Germany or France.[1] However, there is an increased preoccupation for stronger economic ties between the two countries. In October 2017, Romania is hosting a delegation of about 150 American companies with a potential interest in the country, which clearly indicates the current bilateral relations are set to grow. More than current events, the geopolitical landscape requires US – Romanian relations to evolve.
Key moments of the Romania – United States Strategic Partnership
Since its launch, the Romania-United States Strategic Partnership has been an important framework for the consolidation of bilateral relations in key domains: strategy and military, regional security, economy, unconventional risks (such as terrorism, drug traffic, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber defense and energy security). In 2001, the opening of the FBI Bureau in Romania marked the two countries enhancing bilateral cooperation in fighting unconventional risks such as terrorism.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Romania showed its solidarity and supported the “war on terror”, and has been among the first countries to join the international coalition against terrorism led by the United States. Romania’s military contribution in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq received international recognition. Through these efforts, along with the continuation of the economic reform, in an international environment which was being reshaped by the terrorist threats, Romania gained the United States’ support for joining NATO.
During the NATO Summit in Prague, in November 2002, Romania was invited to begin accession talks. Two days after, the American president, George W. Bush came to Bucharest with a welcoming message, cheerfully received by tens of thousands of people gathered to hear his speech. “Should any danger threaten Romania, should any nation threaten Romania, the United States of America and NATO will be by your side.” Two years later, Romania formally became a member of the Alliance, along with Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, an enlargement seen as “unfriendly” and threatening from Moscow.
The first political document for the strategic partnership was adopted at the highest level, in Washington, in September 2011. The Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century between Romania and the United States advanced the bilateral relations to a new level and it was signed at the same time with the Agreement between Romania and the United States on the Deployment of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System in Romania. The Joint declaration contained the elements where the strategic, military and economic exchanges would be consolidated and identified key areas for a strengthened and broader collaboration. Among them: the US missile defense system; disarmament, nonproliferation and arms control; combating terrorism; cooperation within NATO; regional cooperation and stability; trade and investment; energy security; science and technology; education, research and people-to-people contacts. The two countries also committed to supporting democracy and the rule of law, human rights and good governance “in the region, in the countries of the Eastern Partnership: Republic of Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, and to spur reform and strengthen democracy in those countries”.
A Romanian-American Task Force was created to monitor the implementation of the Declaration. The group holds annual meetings on the status of the Strategic Partnership and, in time, it has created sectorial working groups to deal with the most important issues. At this moment, according to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are five sectorial work groups on: consular issues (including visas); economic and commercial issues; education, science, research, innovation, technology and culture; cyber security; and energy security.
The last meeting of the Task Force took place in September 2016 and ended with a joint declaration on the status of the strategic partnership. The document summarizes the accomplishments and the commitments for the future:
- → Romania has set a powerful example in promoting democracy, rule of law and good governance and in pursuing transformative progress in areas such as law enforcement, accountable governance, and anti-corruption. Both countries are committed to continue cooperation, promote joint development and technical assistance to the Republic of Moldova, the Western Balkans, and elsewhere.
- → regarding security cooperation, “the two partners will build upon successes such as completing the Missile Defense site in Deveselu, and work together and in NATO to ensure swift and full implementation of the Warsaw Summit commitments by 2017 – notably by establishing the Romanian-led multinational brigade and the strengthened Alliance air and maritime presence in the Black Sea region.”
- → the two parties will continue to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and to promote cybersecurity
- → Regarding energy security, the Unites States and Romania “remain committed to a more transparent, predictable, integrated, diverse, and competitive regional energy market”. They agreed to give particular attention to the realization of gas connectors between Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria, and between Romania and the Republic of Moldova as well as to accelerate the development of Black Sea off-shore reserves.
- → In terms of economic cooperation, the two parties are committed to work together on meaningful business climate reforms through the Romanian Action Plan for Good Economic Governance. The priorities are mutual trade and investment missions, programs designed to support small businesses, young entrepreneurs, and start-up innovation communities. Moreover, there is a stated support for “an ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement between the United States and the EU”
- → Regarding education, the United States will further develop the U.S.-Romania Fulbright program, emphasizing closer cooperation in research and innovation.
- → The two parties also state that they are “committed to full implementation of the security enhancement measures under the U.S. Visa Waiver Program legislation” and will work toward the admission of Romania to this Program.
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[1]According to the website of the Romanian Embassy in Washington at the end of 2016, “the volume of trade between Romania and the United States reached USD 2677.2 million, out of which, USD 1963.1 million represented Romanian exports and USD 714.1 million represented imports of American goods to Romania.” Most exports consisted of computer and electronic products; transportation equipment; machinery. And the largest share of imports were computer and electronic products and electrical equipment. According to the same source, in 2016 United States were the 14th largest investor in Romania. A different statistics of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Romania puts the US on the 11th position. Amcham claims its over 400 members have invested 20 million USD in Romania, creating 200.000 new jobs. Over the years, as the economic environment in Romania became more and more promising, many prominent US corporations invested in the country. Their main fields of interest were automotive industry, engineering industry, machinery and equipment, agriculture and food processing industry, information technology, energy, banking and finance.
Authors:
Antonia Colibasanu
Ioana Matei
Mircea Geoana
Editor Alina Inayeh
Initially published by Aspen Institute Romania – Bucharest Forum 2017