Romania’s President on a formal visit to Israel

Romanias president, Traian Basescu had a series of high-level meetings on Monday with Israeli officials

Valentin Țigău, 21.01.2014, 12:30

Currently on a state visit to Israel, Romanian President Traian Basescu on Monday was received with military honors by his counterpart Shimon Peres. Basescu also met with the country’s Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent to Jerusalem, President Basescu said, in his speech, that 65 years of continuous Romanian-Israeli diplomatic ties were a reason for pride.

Back in 1967, when all the Warsaw Pact countries had broken ties with Israel, Romania didn’t, because it believed that Israel was a friend of Romania and a stability pillar in the Middle East. In turn, Shimon Peres said that the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were crucial and that it would be a tragedy for the Middle East if no agreement was reached. In his speech, President Peres also referred to Romania’s evolution, saying that Romanians now had clear prospects for a better future.

Moreover, he congratulated the Romanian people for having contributed to the improvement of their country’s economic situation and for the important place Romania holds as a member of the EU and NATO. The ties between Romania and Israel are so close also thanks to the large number of Jews who speak Romanian – about 500 thousand, according to President Basescu. Many of them have contributed to the construction of the state of Israel and today are outstanding personalities of the country’s public life.

As part of his visit to Israel, President Basescu visited the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum of Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes, a museum whose construction was also supported by the Jewish Community in Romania. In the museum’s Hall of Names, Basescu laid a wreath and lit the Everlasting Flame in memory of the 6 million victims of the Nazis. Also at the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum of Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Basescu signed a declaration of cooperation between the Presidential Administration of Romania and the Yad Vashem Memorial, on combating discrimination, intolerance and anti-semitism.

Later on Monday Traian Basescu was received by the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Teofilus III, who bestowed on him the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Rank of Grand Commander, and then joined president Basescu on his visit to the Holy Sepulchre in the old Jerusalem. There, president Traian Basescu was greeted by groups of Romanian pilgrims on a visit to the Holy Sepulchre. Traian Basescu’s Monday agenda ended with a visit to the Wailing Wall. Just like many other believers, President Basescu inserted a note in the Wall.