Romania To Withdraw Troops From Iraq This Year
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Bucharest, Romania (AHN) - Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu on Thursday said that the nation plans to pull out its 890 troops from Iraq by the end of this year. The announcement follows a similar move by Italy, while Japan began withdrawing its troops from the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq last week. During a news briefing, Tariceanu said the Iraq mission was too costly for the poor ex-communist country, which hopes to enter the European Union next year. He said the move had been discussed with the U.S. and Britain. The deployment of troops in Iraq had also been unpopular with many Romanians. However, prior to application, the decision to pull out troops from Iraq needs to be approved by the Supreme Defense Council and parliament. As per Reuters report, the prime minister said the Black Sea state would instead keep soldiers in peacekeeping missions elsewhere in the world. Romania, which joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004 with six other ex-communist European states, has 809 soldiers in Afghanistan. It also has forces in Bosnia and the Serbian province of Kosovo. Two soldiers have died in Iraq since Romania sent its troops in 2001, while four have been killed in Afghanistan since 2003. The defense ministry said four soldiers helping to train Iraqi armed forces would remain in Iraq. He said with the pull out the country will |
