Romania’s road to NATO: the perception of the Romanian candidacy in Euro - Atlantic press / Drumul României către NATO: percepţia candidaturii româneşti în presa euro-atlantică

Romania’s road to joining NATO starts in the early ’90s, following the collapse of the Iron Curtain. The bilateral efforts, on the one side, through NATO’s new security doctrine oriented to the ex ? communist countries and on the other side the eastern countries through internal reform, allowed for two new enlargements (1999 and 2004) of central and eastern countries. An important component of this process was the international media’s perception. With reference to Romania, in particular, it outlines a series of structural issues: corruption, the presence of former members of the communist security in the secret service, but also positive aspects such as the full backing of the population towards the accession to the alliance. The 2001 September 11th attacks are identified as a turning point for Romania that becomes a strong American ally, which is credited as the primary reason for Romania’s later accession, and not its capacity for rapid and adequate reform.