THE BENEFITS of building business links with Romania were highlighted by President Mary McAleese as she arrived in Bucharest yesterday on her first state visit to the country.
In a speech delivered at a trade dinner hosted by Enterprise Ireland last night, Mrs McAleese said "the long years when our relationships were relatively undeveloped have given way to a shared partnership in the European Union and a shared future that we are already building together".
The visit has been marred somewhat by protests over Romania's human rights record.
John Mulligan of the human rights group Focus on Romania said the President's visit appeared to lend Irish support to Romania's "appalling'' human rights record, particularly its treatment of people with disabilities.
