Rumanian head guest of Queen

Press, 15 June 1978, Page 9

Rumanian head guest of Queen

NZPA-Reuter London The Rumanian President (Mr N ; colae Ceausescu) on Tuesday began the first State visit to Britain by a communist leader and rode in an open horse-drawn carriage with the Queen amid spectacular military pomp. Mr Ceausescu is the Queen’s guest at Buckingham Palace, her official London residence, for the four-day visit.

It will not all be pageantry. The British Prime Minister (Mr James Callaghan) and the Foreign Secretary (Dr David Owen) are due to discuss East-West relations and Anglo-Rumanian economic co-operation with the Rumanian leader. Mr Sexusescu is expected to confirm Rumania’s readiness to conclude a £2OOM (S36OM) deal to buy 82 8.A.C.-11l airliners from the British Aerospace Corporation.

Most British newspapers emphasised that the visit was aimed at fortifying Rumania’s independentminded foreign policy, but some also criticised Mr Ceau. ecu’s human rights record. The distinguished columnist, Bernard Levin, wrote in “The Times,” that Mr Ceausescu was a dictator and said: “The cult of personality that he practises at home is without comparison in the communist world.” The Queen, speaking at a Buckingham Palace State banquet, praised the Rumanians for their "heroic struggle” for independence and added: “Today we in Britain are impressed by the resolute stand you have taken to sustain that independence.” She said both Britain and Rumania were anxious to relax tension and improve international relations in Europe and throughout the world.