NATO Chief To Visit Romania

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet with President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Victor Viorel Ponta, and other senior Romanian officials.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is due to visit alliance member Romania on May 15-16.

NATO said in a press statement released on May 14 that Rasmussen is due to hold talks in Bucharest with President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Victor Viorel Ponta, and other senior Romanian officials.

Rasmussen's trip to Bucharest comes ahead of a visit to Romania next week by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

The White House has said that Biden will arrive in Romania on May 20 to discuss the response to "Russia’s illegal military intervention" in Ukraine, which shares a border with Romania.

The White House statement said Biden will "underscore the United States’ ironclad commitment to the collective defense of NATO under Article 5."