Israeli president Shimon Peres, who started his official visit to Romania on Wednesday, August 11, said the Romanian president Traian Basescu is one of the most important and responsible leaders of the current period. This came after the Romanian president mentioned the country would support NATO and Israel should there be a conflict with Iran. (in picture, right to left: Traian Basescu, Shimon Peres)

“When he says 'yes', it is 'yes', and when he says 'no', it is 'no'. And now he has taken a very responsible position towards Iran, a positive position to encourage peace between us and the Palestinians. […] And I was profoundly moved when our pilots died, the president has put aside the many important things on his agenda and took care of this problem himself, so that their bodies were sent home as soon as possible,” said Simon Peres following his meeting with Traian Basescu.

When asked what would Romania do in case of a conflict with Iran, Traian Basescu said the country would offer its air space to Israel and would be a loyal partner to NATO.

“I think it is not the moment to talk about conflict. We hope the sanctions imposed by the UN's Security Council to create the correct solution in Tehran – not the one of digging holes for American soldiers, but the one of opening transparent negotiations. And if it will be the case, Romania will be a loyal partner to the NATO alliance part of which it is and a loyal partner to Israel,” said Traian Basescu.

The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran in June, for the fourth time since 2006, to convince the country suspend its nuclear activities. The relation between Israel and Iran has been tensed after the Iran leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Israel was 'condemned' and accused the US for protecting Israel.

Shimon Peres reminded of the help Romania gave the Israeli people during the Nazi period, when the country helped saving 400,000 Israelis, who went back and created the Israeli state.

Peres compared Romania to a larva which turns into a butterfly, using a metaphor from Vladimir Nabokov. “We live in a period when we need to fly, and Romania could have great wings,” said Peres.