Romania. Black Sea captain

A promising start to a presidency

TRAIAN BASESCU pitched into Romania's presidential election only two months before polling day, when Theodor Stolojan, the centre-right opposition candidate, dropped out. His victory on December 12th over Adrian Nastase, the outgoing socialist prime minister, owed as much to personality as to policies. Voters wanted a change, they blamed the socialists for Romania's corruption, and they saw the plain-spoken Mr Basescu, a former sea captain and mayor of Bucharest, as a rare honest man.

Mr Basescu must now decide on his priorities. Top of the list is the fight against corruption, a gargantuan task but one that he and his supporters care about most. Closely linked is the goal of getting ready for European Union membership in 2007 or 2008 (the EU has the option of delaying by a year). The main non-EU foreign priority is closer ties with America, mainly through NATO, which Romania joined last year.

Britain, a strong supporter of NATO and EU enlargement and America's closest ally in Europe, does well from this mix. Mr Basescu, who visits London next week, has called for a “Washington-London-Bucharest axis”. France, historically a close friend of Romania, does less well. Mr Basescu attacked the government for giving a road contract to a French firm without an open tender, and wants it reviewed. Contracts with German and American firms are also at risk, but the French one is most vulnerable.

Mr Basescu wants Romania to play a bigger role around the Black Sea. He starts with Moldova, most of which was Romanian before the second world war. Last week, he chose Moldova for his first foreign trip. He told Moldovans that they should call Bucharest when they had problems, and promised to act as “advocate” for their integration with the EU. Many Moldovans fear that Romania still has designs on their country. Mr Basescu's comments should reassure them - rather more than did his call, just after his election, to “treat the Moldovans like good Romanians”.

Article says there is a promising start to the new Presidency of Traian Basescu.