Interview
Ambassador Grigorie: A Special Partnership
by Bernard KENNEDY
Ambassador Constantin Grigorie of Romania came to Ankara in January 2004 on his third ambassadorial posting, having spent four years in the top job in his country’s embassies in each of Rome and Sofia. His first year in Turkey coincided with a period of intensive diplomatic exchanges and an explosion in bilateral economic ties. The ambassador has nevertheless already visited numerous provincial centres including the five largest cities and several coastal towns. In the process, he has developed a close appreciation of Turkish cuisine – recalling “exceptional kebabs” in Bursa and Adana but noting that “also in Ankara you can have a very good kebab”. In the following interview, he talks to Bernard Kennedy about Romania’s relations with Turkey, about the challenges of EU accession and, just briefly, about football.
Q How would you sum up relations between Turkey and Romania?
A Turkey is a very very important partner for Romania. There is a special bilateral partnership. There was a very intensive high-level political dialogue between the two countries last year. President Ion Iliescu and Prime Minister Adrian Nastase both visited Turkey, as did the speaker of the Romanian Senate Nicolae Vacaroiu. Meanwhile, both President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey paid visits to Romania. More than half of the ministers making up the governments of each of the two countries also took part in mutual bilateral visits. The dialogue will continue with the same intensity in 2005. Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu came to Ankara in late March, and a visit from Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the new Prime Minister, is envisaged for the spring months. Romania’s new president, Traian Basescu, will be travelling to Turkey later in the year, while Bülent Arınç, speaker of the National Assembly of Turkey, will make the journey to Bucharest. Once again, more than half of the ministers in the two governments will be exchanging bilateral visits.
Q What about economic ties?
A The volume of trade between Turkey and Romania reached over US$3bn in 2004 compared to US$1.8bn in the previous year. As a result, Turkey overtook Russia and the United Kingdom to become Romania’s fourth largest economic partner after Italy, Germany and France. There are about 10,000 joint ventures involving Turkish capital in Romania, and the level of Turkish investment has reached some US$800m. Turkish companies have participated in the Romanian privatisation programme, and companies like Arçelik and Kombassan have become well-known names - to give just two examples. At the same time, we are discussing very important investment projects, particularly in the field of energy. This subject was touched on again during the visit of Foreign Minister Ungureanu. We have started to elaborate a feasibility study on the transport of electricity via a 600MW submarine cable stretching from Turkey to Constanza.
Q Are there also cultural links between the two countries?
A Prime Minister Erdoğan’s official visit to Romania last year greatly enhanced the cultural dimension of relations between the two countries. During the course of the visit, the Turkish Prime Minister presented a replica of the sword of the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great. And on the occasion of the visit of President Sezer to Romania, the original of the sword, which forms part of the collection of the Topkapı Museum, Istanbul - was presented to the Romanians for a period of three weeks. These gestures took place as we commemorated the 500th year of the death of Prince Stephen the Great in 2004. Meanwhile, with the support of the local authorities, a square in Istanbul was named after another important Romanian prince, Dimitri Cantemir, who lived in the city in the 18th century, and who is also well known for his academic works. Prince Cantemir’s house in the Fener district is now being restored and will be transformed into a museum at the beginning of next year.
Last but not least, the Romanian Orthodox community in Istanbul acquired a church from the Greek Orthodox Community last year, and we are very grateful to the Turkish government for approving this arrangement. We also look very favourably on the request for a new Turkish mosque to be built in Bucharest, larger than the existing one, and we look forward to receiving a piece of land for the construction of a Romanian Orthodox church in Istanbul.
As an expression of the attention which we are paying to bilateral relations, we last year opened a General Consulate in Izmir and a cultural center in Istanbul. As a result, Romania, now, has more extensive official representation in Turkey than in any other country in Europe apart from France and Germany.
Q To what do you attribute the close relations between Turkey and Romania?
A First, there is a tradition of good relations between the two peoples and countries. Secondly, we are quite close to one another geographically. There is also a Turkish minority community of around 30,000 people in Romania who are respected and loved, and who have two representatives in the Romanian parliament. The existing conditions for the development of business ties between the two countries have also played an important role. Most of the 10,000 investments, which I mentioned earlier, are due to the initiative displayed by Turkish businessmen in response to the favourable business climate in Romania.
There is another force uniting Turkey and Romania which perhaps I should mention – namely, football. The Romanian football players, Hagi and Popescu, and the coach Lucescu are very well known in Turkey. Their careers here have also helped to make Turkey popular in Romania. During the closıng stages of the World Cup in 2002, when Turkey came third, all the Romanians were supporting the Turkish national side. Actually, this is not a new phenomenon. During a discussion with Prime Minister Erdoğan some months ago, I was very impressed to hear him mention the names of Nunweiler and Datcu, two Romanians who played for Fenerbahçe thirty years ago.
Q Turkey and Romania are also active in the same international organisations…
A Yes. Romania is very grateful for the support lent by Turkey during its bid for NATO membership, and it was by a happy coincidence that the first NATO summit in which Romania participated as a member took place in Istanbul. In turn, we are ready to extend political support to Turkey in its EU membership process and to share our experience in the area of EU accession. Turkey and Romania are also both members of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) initiative, which aims to increase the cooperation among all states in the region in order to build peace, stability and prosperity in the region. We face challenges in the areas of security and organised crime. I think we also have to increase the role of the BSEC in the economic sphere, with special reference to the energy sector. This was a major reason for the visit of Foreign Minister Ungureanu. In addition, Romania is currently in the chair of the SouthEast Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP). Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül is expected to attend the ministerial meeting of the SEECP which will take place in Bucharest on May 10, and we hope that President Sezer will attend the summit meeting due to take place on May 11.
Q Would it be true to say that Romania is following a more active foreign policy now that its economic problems are receding?
A For the past four years the Romanian economy has grown by between 5% and 8% each year. Meanwhile inflation has been reduced to single figures. Things are moving in Romania, and the EU and the United States have recognised that the country has a working market economy. But I think our foreign policy is really a separate issue. It is a duty and responsibility, which befalls us as a future member of the European Union and as a NATO member.
Q What is the current state of play in Romania’s EU accession process?
A According to the calendar, there will be a debate and a vote in the European Parliament on the Accession Treaty on April 13. Romania and Bulgaria will then sign an Accession Treaty with the EU on April 25. This will be followed by a process of ratification by all the national parliaments of the EU member countries, and 2007 will be the year when Romania and Bulgaria become full members. More than 80% of the population of Romania is in favour of accession to the EU, although they appreciate very well that it will involve sacrifices as well as benefits. Even after accession it will be some years before the process is complete. It is not possible to assimilate the entire 80,000-page acquis communautaire at the moment of accession, and so various transition periods have been agreed during the course of the negotiations.
Q Turks appear more doubtful about the benefits of EU accession. What would you say to them?
A It’s not a question of anything being imposed on Turkey. We and the Bulgarians faced the same problems as Turkey does now. We had to understand the need to harmonise our interests with those of the whole European community. The size of the country is a very important variable. I remember when Spain and Portugal joined, the two countries became members simultaneously, but Portugal concluded negotiations fifteen months before Spain, because if you are a bigger country it takes more time. Even for Romania and Bulgaria – and we are not the biggest countries – it will be almost ten years since negotiations began. Turkey signed an association agreement in 1963 and already has a customs union with the EU. Under the communist regime we too had more agreements with the EU than the other communist countries. But the transposition of the acquis is a much greater issue and it will take time. We have to respect the rules of the game. We the newcomers have to adapt ourselves to these realities.
I must say that I am very optimistic about Turkey’s perspective and I am sure that the EU needs Turkey in its ranks. I have a great respect for the history of Turkey. 1453 was a very important moment in history, when Turkey entered Europe. Today, 500 years later, I am sure that process will be finalised by the process of accession to the EU.
Q How do you find living in Turkey and more particularly in Ankara?
A I enjoy living in Turkey very much. I feel at home here. It is a country with a brilliant history, a great present and I am sure an exceptional future. Turkey is more than a country; it is a continent. Last month I was in Adana and it was 22 degrees Celsius, and then in the same week I went to Kars and it was minus 25. But Turkey’s most important treasure is neither its history nor its geography but rather its people. I am greatly impressed by their sincerity and hospitality.
I am doing my best to get to know Turkey better. For a start, the Turkish cuisine is very healthy and very close to the Romanian cuisine. To make food is also an art, and there are similarities with Mediterranean cooking, which I also experienced in Italy, a country well known for its art. But at the same time you can appreciate quite different food from the many different regions.
I see no difference between Ankara and all other important European capitals. It is a large civilised city and has a particularly good climate. The diplomatic community is very friendly and enjoys excellent relations with the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
(DIPLOMAT - April 2005 - Ankara)