Former president Băsescu says Romania has had no real US policy since 2004

Criticism of Romania's approach to Washington

Former president Traian Băsescu, who led Romania from 2004 to 2014, said on B1TV on Thursday, 5 November, that Bucharest had pursued no real policy toward the United States since 2004. The remarks came on Thursday evening during the broadcast. He said hundreds of thousands of dollars had been paid for trips to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and for photographs with a cutout of the president. He also pointed to lobbying firms that, in his account, had been brought in to stand in for the foreign ministry. Băsescu said he was being direct and was neither mysterious nor ironic.

“We had only the policy of the fool, who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to pass by Mar-a-Lago and take photos with a Trump cutout.”

A visit that never happened

Băsescu recalled that a visit by President Nicușor Dan to Trump, which had been presented as achievable by the end of 2025, did not take place. He argued that if Trump was not accessible, Romania should have built ties with the US Congress, including meetings with members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and should have kept building them. Instead, he said, Romania had fixed on the single idea that its president would meet Trump. He added that he had told people last year that such a meeting would happen when it was necessary, and not for its own sake.

Rejecting a choice between parties

Băsescu also rejected the suggestion that Romania should pick a camp between Republicans and Democrats after the midterm elections, which Democrats won. He said the idea that Romania should now move into the Democrats' camp was a naivety worthy of a state whose government is made up of illiterates. During his own term, he said, the approach had been one thing only: the partner was America, and it was neither party. He said he had met leaders of both major parties and had never hesitated to meet politicians from either chamber of Congress.

“Our partner is America, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans.”

Policy tied to the state, not the president

Băsescu closed by arguing that Romania's policy could not depend on whoever occupies the White House. He said the country was bound to America, not to a president. He expressed the hope that Romanian politicians would understand this after the electoral event he referred to, meaning the US midterms.

“Our policy cannot be tied to the president. We are tied to America, not to the president.”