Romania Mulls Buying US Jets With Neighbours

Romania says it is mulling plans to buy secondhand US F-16 fighter jets as part of a possible regional project with Croatia and Bulgaria.

“Romania cannot afford now to buy F16 fighter planes without a long-term financing solution. But a plan including Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria, to purchase such planes together, is yet to be finalized," Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Sunday.

"The United States has proposed a regional project, with the above-mentioned countries, to create a pool to support the purchase of the jets,” he added.

“Romania cannot afford to pay billions of dollars in the next five or six years, but will be able to pay up to 300 million USD dollars annually,” Basescu confirmed.

Basescu and US President Barack Obama talked about the purchase of the F-16 jets in Washington last week, according to media reports.

As a NATO member, Romania is obliged to have fighter jets that are compatible with the Atlantic Alliance's equipment.

Plans to purchase 24 F16 used planes were temporarily halted last year due to lack of funds.

In May 2010, Romania’s Supreme Defence Council approved the payment of 1.3 billion euro to purchase 24 used F16 aircraft to replace a rapidly ageing fleet of Soviet-made MiG-21s.

But three months later Prime Minister Emil Boc announced that Romania could not afford such aircraft as the country battled to cut public spending, to comply with an IMF programme.

Analysts say the weapons update comes at a tricky time for Romania.

“Romania is facing a catch-22 situation. It can’t afford such aircraft right now as the country is still in recession but it has to comply with NATO requirements," military analyst Radu Tudor noted.

On the other hand, Tudor said, the move would also affect Romania’s relations with the European Union.

Last year, when Bucharest announced the deal to purchase the F16 planes, European aerospace manufacturers cried foul, saying Bucharest had announced the decision without going through a proper tender process.

The announcement dealt a blow to rival European defence contractors Saab of Sweden and the Eurofighter consortium. Both had hoped for the contract.

The dispute affected also Romania’s attempts to tackle a perceived lack of transparency and reputation for corruption, which Transparency International has ranked amongst the worst in the EU.

Romania is the only member state that has not signed the EU’s defence procurement code of conduct.

In May 2009, crisis-hit Romania obtained a two-year 20 billion euro emergency loan from the IMF, the EU and the World Bank in exchange for implementing key reforms aimed at reducing public spending.

Last July the government cut civil servants' wages by 25 per cent, while thousands of state jobs were axed and VAT was increased by 5 per cent to 24 per cent.