STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerusalem Post Romania looks to Israel to pave entry into NATO By Herb Keinon July, 17 2001 JERUSALEM (July 17) - Visiting Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase asked Israel's help yesterday in securing admission to NATO, clearly indicative of how strong many countries feel Jerusalem's connection is with Washington. At a press conference following a meeting in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Nastase - who said he came to Israel with the clear intention of convincing the local business community to invest in Romania - added: "I also came here to ask for the support of the Israeli government in helping Romania become a NATO member." "We know that Israel has very close friends around the world, and we count very much on Mr. Ariel Sharon to help us in this endeavor," he said. Sharon, for his part, remained noncommittal. Although he said that Israel does support Romania's bid and believes it is "important" for Romania to be part of NATO, he said Israel also has some requests of Romania - although he refused to go public with them. "As a small country," Sharon said, "we are interested in developing our relationship with other democracies. We regard Romania as an ally. We would like to learn from everyone, one can learn from everyone, and we are ready to share our know-how. We are ready to help, but would [also] like to be helped. I believe that relations should be based on reciprocity and mutuality - that is the right way to conduct normal relations between countries." Although Sharon did not elaborate, officials in his office said that Israel specifically wants Romanian help and support when facing anti-Israel votes in various international forums. Nastase, accompanied by a large delegation of ministers, advisers, businessmen and journalists, started a three-day trip to Israel yesterday, that will also take him to the Palestinian Authority and a meeting with PA Chairman Yasser Arafat today. Nastase, who said Romania has no pretensions of coming with any new peace plan, said that it could possibly facilitate communications between the sides. "Romania does not want to complicate peace negotiations in the Middle East, and there is no lack of peace initiatives, or a need for Romania to add a new one," he said. "We are able to offer a channel of communication, which we are ready to do. It is common knowledge that communications are very important in a crisis situation." Nastase is slated to meet President Moshe Katsav and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres today, and to meet with Batya Arad, the mother of missing IAF aviator Ron Arad, as well as with former Romanians living in Israel tomorrow. There are about 400,000 former Romanians living in the country. Sharon, in welcoming remarks to Nastase, noted that "historically, Israel and Romania have close ties: Some of the first pioneers who came to the Land of Israel at the end of the 19th century emigrated from Romania." Sharon also said that the cultural and economic ties between the two countries are "strong and will hopefully continue to flourish as a result of this important visit." Nastase is scheduled to meet leading industrialists and attend an economic seminar tomorrow. The two countries currently have about $160 million worth of trade a year. http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/07/17/News/News.30570.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
