"Incensed" Agreements

President Basescu had a "royal" welcoming at Amman, where he is in an official visit, starting from yesterday. The Hashemite King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah invited him there.

Friendly and sunny (the daytime temperature was yesterday at about 17 Celsius Degrees), the Jordanian capital seemed to be celebrating yesterday. Romanian and Jordanian flags were everywhere to honor the visit of the Romanian President and of the great delegation that came together with him. Speaking of delegation, some of its members were Counsels Adriana and Claudiu Saftoiu, as well as Theodor Stolojan, George Copos, State Minister, and External Affairs Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, the recently-named Presidential Counsel Sergiu-Medar, Romania’s Ambassador in the Hashemite Kingdom, Radu Onofrei, together with State Secretary Ovidiu iuliu Marian, the President of the National Tourism Authority, Senator Verestoi Attila, President of the Chamber for the Friendship with the Jordanian Hashemite Kingdom and Victor Babiuc, the President of the Romanian Commerce and Industry Chamber. If you don’t see any surprises among the names above, especially if you take into consideration the economical-political meaning of the visit, the President’s visit to the Jordanian Kingdom has an interesting member in the delegation, the former ATP no. 1, Ilie Nastase.

THINGS IN COMMON

Which are the things that we, the Romanians, are interested in when it comes to the Hashemite Kingdom? The answer comes easily when we look at the excellent collaboration as far as the politics, army and secret services are concerned. Moreover, the Jordanian Kingdom is a very important piece in the region, a steady country and a peacemaker, with an open-minded leader. The things we have in common (a special relationship with the USA, as far as the security is concerned, we are part of the Global War against terrorism and militate for peace in the region, getting involved as much as possible in the promotion of some real solutions for the Middle East crises, as well as the recent accusations against us and the Jordanians regarding the fact that we have agreed to let several airplanes rented by CIA for transporting some supposed terrorists from Afghanistan and Iraq to land on our territories) brings us closer and is a reason for developing the relationships in all the areas of activity.

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

The fact that we have a special relationship in the military area, due to the fact that the Jordanian Kingdom purchases arms from Romania, as well as because there is an exchange of information and effective training of the special troops that take part in the missions of the international coalition in Iraq, developing economical exchanges (even though they are still at a low level, but taking into account the development possibilities) and the presence of a Romanian community (especially the wives of several Jordanian gentlemen) in the Jordanian Kingdom or of some Jordanians that have important connections to Romania, because they have studied in our country, make the new Administration believe that the special relationship with the Jordanian Kingdom should be promoted. Actually, the President’s visit takes place at the end of the 40th year of uninterrupted diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

DRACONIC SECURITY

In order for the President and his delegation to have the necessary security, young boys in kaki armed with all kinds of guns have guarded the main streets of Amman with vengeance. Their cars, parked in strategic places, were made in their country or in the USA, judging by the looks.

We have to emphasize that the Jordanian Kingdom, considered to be the safest country in the Middle East, suffered severely after the November triple suicidal attack which led to the death of 60 people. This meant greater security measures especially in the neighborhood of the hotels frequented by foreign tourists, like the Imperial hotel where the journalists that accompany the President for this visit are being accommodated.

After a very good flight with the Presidential plane, a little incident just had to happen. The traffic in Amman has been infernal and the first moments of the visit were very tough resulting into some of the minibuses of the Romanian delegation being late. The cameraman and the photographer of the President, several Romanian officials and most of the journalists that accompany Traian Basescu faced some trouble when they entered the Royal Court grounds due to the guards that even though they dealt with an official delegation wanted to see the minibuses around the entrance patch during the official ceremony for the President’s welcoming. We were there just in time, to see that Basescu hasn’t been welcomed by King Abdullah II only, but by the army. The room in which two important Romanian-Jordanian agreements were signed had been incensed. Right after the tÃşte-à -tÃşte meeting with the Hashemite in his office at the Royal Palace, the two leaders, together with the most important members of the delegation took part in an official lunch offered in the honor of the Romanian President by his Majesty King Abdullah II.

After the lunch, President Basescu went to the Royal Cemetery, where he saluted the Royal Guard and went to sink in his self at the King’s Hussein (the father of the present King) Mausoleum and to the tombs of Kings Abdullah I (the Kingdom’ founder) and Talal bin Abdullah.