Romania and NATO

Romanians could take heart from President Bush’s remarks when he thanked the country for its past and future contributions to NATO. But even with those remarks, the United States denies visas to nearly 40% of Romanians who apply, which rankles many Romanians. This Romanian says the rhetoric is nice, but he hasn’t seen concrete examples to back it up, and he says he feels like the West looks upon Romania as backwards and ersatz. Part of this irritation comes from the fact that many Romanians had huge expectations for what NATO membership would mean. This talk show host says Romanians had desperately looked for an opportunity to join the West. But some observers says Romanians spent too much focused on joining NATO and not planning out what it would mean afterwards. This politician says Romania’s real strength is not military but in diplomatic efforts to connect countries as a go-between. That’s not to mention the potential for helping NATO members and the US for smoothing over relations with Russia.