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| Europe |
| Romania Opens Coalition Government Talks |
| 2004-12-14 |
| President-elect Traian Basescu opened talks Tuesday to form a coalition government with a party formerly allied with his opponent and one representing ethnic Hungarians. Parties loyal to outgoing Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said they would also seek enough support in parliament to form a government. Basescu, the reformist former mayor of Bucharest, defeated Nastase in the runoff vote Sunday, ending a decade of rule by successors to the country's former communist regime. He has pledged to fight corruption, prepare Romania to join the European Union by 2007 and forge closer ties to the United States and Great Britain to ensure the country's security. His centrist Justice and Truth Alliance is negotiating to form a new government with the Humanist Party, a small party that broke ranks with Nastase after he lost the election, and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. "We are willing to form a government, even a minority one ... to carry on the fight against corruption and consolidate democracy," said Alexandru Boc, a senior Alliance official. |
| Posted by:Fred |