Romania and NATO: Membership Reassessment at the July 1997 Summit

Abstract

Conclusions * Romania has made enough progress in its political reform efforts and treatment of ethnic minorities to warrant consideration for NATO candidacy. * Romania, though, still has much unfinished business to accomplish in basic treaties with some neighbors and in economic reform. When economic reform is implemented and necessary accelerated military downsizing occurs, civil-military frictions will test democratic control mechanisms. * NATO needs to design a clear plan to keep Romania on the reform path. Romanian Actions Offer Marked Inprovement The question of Romania's readiness for NATO membership has recently become a significant policy issue. Romania had always been a dark horse among potential NATO candidates, in part, because its revolution had a slow start, its diplomatic effort had been diffuse and ineffective, and unlike Poland it had no political constituency in the United States. NATO's enlargement has evolved from the January 1994 Brussels' Summit announcement of the Partnership for Peace (PFP) program and its commitment to enlarge the Alliance to the December 1996 Brussels' North Atlantic Council (NAC) ministerial announcement that the Alliance actually would invite new members at the July 1997 Madrid Summit. Recently, however, attention has refocused on whether Romania is getting a fair shake. Reassessing Romania's is appropriate not only because Romania has recently demonstrated significant progress in its domestic policies and diplomatic efforts, but also because NATO has significantly defined membership conditions for new members. NATO's Enlargement Principles The Alliance began developing general for enlargement in the PFP program launched in January 1994 and in the NATO Enlargement Study, commissioned by the December 1994 Brussels NAC ministerial, and briefed to the Partners in September 1995. Also during this period, President William Clinton's speeches and Secretary of Defense William Perry's five principles emphasized that new members should conform to basic of political reform. These include democratic elections, individual liberty, and the rule of law; demonstrated commitment to economic reform and market economy; adherence to OSCE norms and involving ethnic minorities and social justice; resolution of territorial disputes with neighbors; and the establishment of democratic control of the military. The NATO Enlargement Study also stipulated further what constitutes effective democratic control of the military as well as some minimal degree of NATO interoperability and military capability. In addition to active participation in PFP, new members would have to ensure that adequate resources are available to assume the added and considerable financial obligations of joining, and to develop necessary interoperability-to include: (1) defense management reforms in areas such as transparent defense planning, resource allocation and budgeting, appropriate legislation, and parliamentary and public accountability; and (2) minimal standards in collective defense planning to pave the way for more detailed operational planning with the Alliance. Finally, new members should not close the door to future candidate members. Using the standards that NATO has adopted, we can now examine where Romania stands in its candidacy for membership. Romania's Candidacy (1) Political reform/democratization Romania's political transformation got off to a slow start after the violent overthrow of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. The National Salvation Front (NSF) filled the initial vacuum, followed by growing polarization between the newly-formed democratic movements and parties and the NSF-controlled Government in January and February 1990. The May 1990 elections maintained Ion Iliescu as President and Petre Roman as Prime Minister. Conflict soon developed between the Ion Iliescu-Petre Roman group and democratic forces, followed by the breakup of the Iliescu-Roman alliance and the fall of the moderately reformist Roman Government in September 1991. …