Iliescu Urges Favorable Atmosphere for Romania-Russia CooperationRomanian President Ion Iliescu called here Tuesday for a favorable atmosphere for further development of relations between Romania and Russia, especially trade and economic links.After meeting with visiting Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Yegor Stroyev, Iliescu said that the two countries should, in the spirit of mutual benefit, remove various obstacles to closer bilateral ties. He said the current visit by the Russian legislative delegation showed that both countries wished to augment cooperation in all areas. Noting serious setbacks in the trade and economic links between Romania and Russia in recent years, Iliescu stressed the need to reaffirm the cooperative relationship between the two countries. Relations between the two former allies have soured in recent years as Romania has been following a policy of return to Europe and seeking NATO membership. Iliescu expressed the hope that Russian enterprises would take an active part in the process of privatization in Romania and try to change the present imbalance in bilateral trade. At the same time, he called on Romanian businesses to make efforts to explore the tremendous potential Russian market. He also made clear there would be no stability in Europe and the world at large without Russia's active participation and that there is no conflict between Romania's bid to join the 15-nation European Union and efforts to develop Romania-Russia relations. Stroyev said Moscow is willing to develop cooperative ties with Romania in various fields and his three-day visit, a tune-up for a possible visit to the Eastern European country by Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaled a step forward in bilateral relations. The two nations share similar views on many issues, he said. On the same day, Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase also held talks with the Russian legislator, who started visit here on Monday at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart Nicolae Vacaroiu, on ways of furthering bilateral trade and economic relations. |
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