Romanian ambassador to visit IU

Sorin Dumitru Ducaru, Romanian Ambassador to the United States, will visit IU today to give a lecture entitled, "Romania's Evolving Role in the International Environment: Choices, Challenges, Changes," at 4 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the Indiana Memorial Union. The lecture is sponsored by the IU Russian and East European Institute.\nAmbassador Ducaru has included Bloomington on his Midwest trip for the fact that IU has the only Romanian Studies program in the United States. Most American experts who work for the U.S. government concerning Romania in foreign service, humanitarian aid missions and educational exchange organizations are graduates of the IU program. The ambassador will meet with faculty and with IU President Myles Brand to discuss Romania's future support of Romanian studies at the University.\nRomania is the second largest country in Eastern Europe after Poland, with an important geo-strategic position between the Middle East, Russia and the West. \nIt is likely to be one of the next NATO countries because of its size and location as a factor in the stability of the region. Romania also plays an important role in southeastern Europe, participating as a stabilizing force in the Kosovo action and sending troops to participate in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. The country is currently under its third democratically elected president since the fall of communism.\nAmbassador Ducaru has been a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania since 1993. His original training was in applied electronics through the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest. He has also completed postgraduate studies in international relations through the Romanian National School of Political Science and the University of Amsterdam. Prior to his appointment as ambassador in fall 2001, Ducaru served as permanent representative of Romania to the United Nations.\nFor more information, contact Denise Gardiner, assistant director of the Russian and East European Institute, at 855-7309.