The annual CORA meeting was held in Washington, DC on November 14th and 15th, 2003. In attendance were CORA members and U.S. non-governmental organizations working in Romania. His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel attended.

Many knowledgeable persons made presentations. In summary, one point became very clear – Romania’s number one focus is qualifying for membership in the European Union. U.S. foreign assistance to Romania continues to reduce, while relations between the two countries have not been better for decades. This was confirmed at the CORA meeting by the special assistant to President Bush who accompanied Mr. Bush to Romania and attended the meeting in the White House with President Iliescu.

Throughout the meeting, corruption in the country (Romania) came up as a problem.

With first hand expertise, the immigration attorney who spoke at the meeting, stressed that visa violations of U.S. law by Romanians visiting the U.S. hurts all Romanians who want to visit the U.S., hurts their own families and the people of their own towns in Romania.

The president of the Victims of Communism Foundation spoke of the memorial to be dedicated next October in the Nation’s Capital to commemorate the lives of over 100,000,000 people killed as a result of Communist tyranny.

Two professors/authors, Drs. King and Tismăneanu, brought the audience up to date on the political and economic situation in the country with revealing observations. Mark Meyer, Esq., with the Romanian American Chamber of Commerce, amplified what the professors said on the strengths and weaknesses of Romania’s economy. He stressed that, despite the difficulties, Romania has progressed in the very important areas of transition to democracy and a market economy.

Romanian Ambassador Ducaru spoke about the favorable relations between his country and the U.S. He requested a moment of silence in memory of the two Romanian soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan the previous week.

On the second day of the meeting, the non-governmental organizations presented their projects in Romania. A leader, in the U.S. community, of those who have adopted children from Romania, spoke about the experiences of those parents and their children and the parents' desire to keep the children as close to their heritage as possible. Her reflections on the CORA meeting were "...thank you again for including me for your incredible conference...

I don’t think I’ve ever before been with so many dedicated, intelligent, and motivated people... Amazing – I was honored to be in the same room with all of you".

Presentations were made by Romanian Embassy officials on laws related to constitutional, adoption and children’s issues. The final two speakers spoke about how their organizations, one private and one public, are providing assistance to Romania.

"A penetrating and insightful 'deconstruction' of a highly idiosyncratic offspring of the Stalinist era." - Zibhiew Brzezinski, former National Securiy Advisor and author of The Soviet Bloc and The Grand Failure.

"This is the definitve work on Romanian commmunism, a thoroughly documented and highly readable history." - Robert C. Tucker, author of Stalin in Power.

"This superb work of scholarship reads like a thriller" - Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and author of The Hole in the Flag.

These enthusiastic endorsements emphasize the importance of Vladimir Tismăneanu's path-breaking new book Stalinism for all Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism. The book came out in September 2003 from the University of California Press and can be purchased from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders and most fine bookstores. Price: $45.00.

Containing numerous illustrations and based on hundreds of interviews and years of research in previously closed archives, the book explores the main trends within Romanian communism and the role of significant personalities in the party's history. Situating the rise and fall of Romanian Communism as a pivotal factor in the world revolutionary movement, Professor Tismăneanu's book shows ho the history of communism in one country can illuminate the development of communism in the 20^th century. Must reading for all those who want to understand romania's past,present, and future!

Vladimir Tismăneanu is professor of politics at the University of Maryland, editor of the journal East European Politics and Societies and author of numerous books and articles, including Reinventing Politics and the award-winning Fantasies of Salvation.

For those interested: The book can be purchased with 20 per cent discount via www.barnesandnoble.com.

All U.S. Senators, present for the vote, voted in favor of Romania's entry into NATO. At a White House ceremony on Thursday, May 8^th, President Bush announced the Senate vote and his pleasure in the favorable vote. CORA was invited by the White House, to attend. The Foreign Ministers of the seven new invitees were present. The other six countries are: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The actual membership of these countries likely will be realized in May of 2004, when the last of the existing member nations approves the invitation.

Washington, DC - "Freedom and liberty are still at risk in Romania" claimed Victor Ciorbea, President of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNŢCD) and Prime Minister of Romania in 1996-98, at a recent briefing at RFE/RL.

In the two years the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) has been in power, said Ciorbea, it has enacted measures to strengthen party control over all levels of society, including the courts, the media, and all levels of economic life. "Parliament has become a simple annex of the Executive," he added, which has used its emergency powers to entrench itself. These actions, Ciorbea said, have undermined democracy, human rights, and the rule of. law.

Ciorbea was especially critical of the problem of corruption. According to various international observers, Romania is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Ciorbea blamed the problem on the predominance of state ownership of business, the weakness of the legislative framework, and weak implementation of those laws that are on the books.

Ciorbea offered his party's program as a remedy for these problems. Its platform calls for the decentralization of decision making and the removal of corrupt party members. He described the PNŢCD as "firmly pro-Western and pro American." Ciorbea also pledged that his party would take the internal reform measures needed in order to ease Romania's entry into NATO. The PNŢCD was defeated in the national election in 2000, he said, because voters held it responsible for the adverse social consequences of necessary economic austerity measures.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

On the 21^st and 22^nd of March, some 23 U.S. NGOs from around the nation registered and attended the CORA sponsored meeting in Washington, DC.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide these organizations with important information and contacts, and an opportunity to "network" and learn about and from one another. CORA also wanted a chance to express its gratitude to the NGO community. This is intended to be one of many more meetings the NGOs will hold. The schedule of the meeting appears in another section of this newsletter.

Large NGOs, such as Habitat for Humanity and Rotary International and smaller NGOs, such as Opportunity Associates and Reach To Romania, Inc. (both CORA members), participated in the meeting. Only one Romanian-American NGO, The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, participated along with CORA.

At the luncheon Romanian Ambassador to the US, Sorin Ducaru, expressed his gratitude to the participating NGOs and to CORA for putting together the meeting.

At the dinner on Friday night, Former Ambassador to Romania, Jim Rosapepe, spoke and presented Armand Scala with a handsomely framed photograph of Mr. Scala presenting from CORA a painting by a well known contemporary Romanian artist to Ambassador and Mrs. Rosapepe.