Basescu Puts A Spin On History To Win Quatari Hearts And Minds

President Traian Basescu said Romanians learned what respect was from Muslims, during his visit Wednesday in Qatar.

President Traian Basescu said Romanians learned what respect was from Muslims, during his visit Wednesday in Qatar.

Basescu referred to the Ottoman Empire, which repeatedly plundered Romanian territories over the centuries, and yet never destroyed an orthodox church.

Qatar has 600,000 inhabitants, of which 130,000 native people, huge oil reserves and a per capita income of around 14,000 dollars.

Basescu joined a bilateral business meeting there, hoping to convince the Qatari to come to invest in Romania. His arguments were that Romania has "a great potential for ecologically grown food" that Qatar imports so far, and a flat tax; he also stressed that Romania could work as a spring-board for business with EU member states, since Romania is due to join the organization in 2007 or 2008.

Basescu also told the Qatari that the Romanian business environment is corruption-free.

When questioned by the media how he could make such a statement abroad, when at home he rants against the corrupt government, Basescu replied that his statements were based on the EBRD and World Bank reports. Besides, he just warned the Romanian Executive was "in danger" of giving in to corrupt circles, and did not label it as corrupt proper, Basescu said.

Basescu said the Qatari Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, proved to be a true Romania fan who asked him to send to Qatar Romanian specialists to work in the country.

The two heads of state agreed to resume and speed up talks regarding the liquid gas terminal in Constanta - a project Qatar started with Romania in 1992, but continued with Croatia, when Romania abandoned it.

The Qatar Emir, Sheikh Hamad, also showed his interest in what Romanian armament and hospitality industries may offer, as well as the banking services and the investment in the agricultural land.

Basescu pointed out the long experience Romanians have living along Muslims, stressing out the positives, out of a history which for several hundred years had in fact a checkered score.

Basescu put a positive spin even on our presence in Iraq, as part of the coalition of forces headed by the United States.

He said that Romanian military never engaged Iraqi insurgents, never lost a soldier in combat, and built friendly relations with the locals.

Basescu’s hosts gave him seemed impressed by his stress on friendly relations and presented him with a gift: a 30-centimeter long replica of a ship, all covered in gold. He also was invited to lunch by the Qatari Emir, Sheikh Hamad.

In the afternoon, Basescu gave an interview to the Al Jazeera television channel.

Translation by Anca Paduraru