From Mediafax:

The Romanian military has no knowledge about a detention center run by the CIA on the airbase Mihail Kogalniceanu (Constanta) and they invite journalists to have a look around anywhere they like there until they are convinced.

The problem of course is that it seems like this occurred in the past. Right now there aren't any American soldiers at Kogalniceanu and if there ever was a CIA secret "interrogation" center, it's long since moved on. But let's see what other papers are printing.

From România Libera:

Are There CIA Jails on Romanian Territory?

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu denies that there are "CIA bases" on Romanian territory where important members of the terrorist network Al-Qaeda are being kept. That's what the Prime Minister said in response to the accusations coming from Human Rights Watch, which said that Romania and Poland has hosted these kinds of secret prisoners, where those detained are tortured. HRW said that one important transfer point used by the CIA was the airbase Mihail Kogalniceanu.

A spokesperson for the [Romanian] Foreign Ministry, Corina Vintan, told the AFP that "on a governmental level this has never come up", meaning that our country [Romania] hosting a CIA base, and that "the United States never made a formal request [for us to host one]".

The SRI [Romanian CIA, more or less] released a statement saying "we have no information that would indicate the existence of this kind of detention center in Romania".

The Interior and Administration Minister stated that he had not given the USA the use of any bases, camps or detention centers under its control.

Cotroceni Palace [the Romanian "White House"]: There are no reports about CIA detention centers in Romania.

The spokesperson for the president, Adriana Saftoiu, said yesterday that the head of state had consulted with different branches of the government but there were no reports about the existance of a CIA detention center in Romania.

I'm translating the word "informatii" as "reports". Technically it could mean "information" or "data". It's a kind of shifty word to use because instead of just flat out denying it, the government is saying "we have no information" about any CIA detention centers.

Some of that is normal, as there was a different government in place when the Kogalniceanu base was being used by the Americans. And if just a handful of high-level people in the former administration knew about it, it makes sense that Basescu and the current gov't wouldn't have any "reports" about it. Not yet anyway.

So let's go to Evenimentul Zilei for the next article:

Romanian Guantanamo: Keeper of Secrets

Four people could be "key" in the incident in which the CIA is accused of torturing Al-Qaeda people brought to Kogalniceanu Base.

Only a few high-ranking Romanian officials would know the truth about the CIA's secret operation of interrogating Al-Qaeda terrorists on Romanian territory. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has revealed that the "CIA's detention centers" in Eastern Europe include specifically the Mihail Kogalniceanu Base (near Constanta), which was used by the American military. Yesterday, the Czech Republic stated that it had turned down an American request to host these kinds of detainees.

"Romania doesn't have CIA detention centers or bases"

In every host country, only the president and a few intelligence officers knew about the operation, according to the investigation by the "WAshington Post". Their revelations in the press also stated that these operations were ongoing in 2003. The president [of Romania] at the time, Ion Iliescu, said that he "had not heard" of a CIA airplane which was seen, in 2003, in Romanian airspace headed towards Kogalniceanu.

Meanwhile the current president, Traian Basescu, SRI head Radu Timofte and SIE chief Gheorghe Fulga all denied, via their spokespersons, the existance of "prisons or detention centers". Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu also denied the existance of any "CIA bases"...

..."The Romanian military has no knowledge that there is or ever was a detention center at Mihail Kogalniceanu," stated the Romanian Defense Minister.

I skipped translating all the HRW stuff which you can find in English here. Essentially Tom Malinowski of HRW said they tracked the N313P plane, the infamous "Red Sox" CIA plane, to Kogalcineanu and that's why he's pointing the finger at Romania.

But just because detainees were detained there doesn't mean they were interrogated or tortured there. The problem of course once again is that Ion Iliescu was president at the time and the utterly corrupt and toadying PSD party was in power. They would do anything to get Romania in NATO and the EU.

Think about it. There's a post-9/11 "war on terror" going on. The USA says "hey Ion, can we use your airbase?" and Ion says "sure". Then the US spends a few million bucks upgrading the place, pays an unknown amount just to rent it, then of course there's lots of cross-unit training and camaraderie, plus whatever other miscellaneous benefits to Romania. Including the "prestige" (yes it's true) of helping out the U.S. in its "time of need", to be one of its loyal buds, to be it's hombre, it's pal, it's true blue amigo in a time of trouble.

And Iliescu was all over that (so is Basescu, but slightly less so). And imagine George Tenet or one of his top deputies said hey Ion, we need your help. We just need a small room to keep a few prisoners in for just a short time. Week or two tops. They're super duper dastardly terrorists and we need to interview them in our gallant War on Terror. So can you spare us an isolated bunker somewhere on the base, buddy-ro? I'm sure he said yes. Why not? Nobody has to know.

There are hundreds of American planes landing on the base every week, so what if an extra one lands? And maybe it lands at night, and it offloads some "cargo" which is a sedated prisoner. And only a handful of Americans ever go anywhere near the building and they're all CIA.

Romanian soldiers never get told, American rank-and-file never get told. The CIA gets their isolated torture cell or whatever it was. And Iliescu benefits because then the USA owes him another favor. The best part is there's no necessary paperwork. Just the handshake between a few top level people. After all, it's only a handful of people being brought in at any one time - not hundreds.

I don't speak Polish but I imagine roughly the same thing is what happened in Poland, if this is what happened (AP report here). In both cases, the old administration is no longer in power. The current administration replaced all the top-level guys who would've authorized or known about the CIA prisoners. And what do you know? Bam, someone talks to the Washington Post and now the story is a worldwide headline.

The timing is certainly interesting. On one hand, you've got a new Polish leadership. On another hand, you've got Bush taking major, major heat for not distancing himself from someone who blew a CIA agent's cover. In fact, Bush has done everything but pardon his colleagues for either helping blow her cover or else lying about it. And that's not going to make the CIA very happy.

I have a sneaking suspicion that most of these secret bases (in Europe I mean) are closed or no longer being used. This was just a "dead" operation that still gets headlines. Consider it a "shot across the bow" by the CIA if you will.

Now for a paragraph from Jurnalul National:

Jails No, Airplanes in Transit, Maybe

According to our high-level sources, Romania did not receive nor host on its territory any prisoner of war of the kind captured by American forces in the world war against terror. "No American organization, on any level of the government, ever asked for our support in this kind of operation," our sources told us. It is possible that the special transportation that the American press is talking about - a plane carrying terrorism suspects - could have crossed Romanian airspace. "This does not mean that the Romanian authorities knew what was in those planes which crossed our airspace at 30,000 feet," said our sources.

Clearly this bears further investigation. I'm about 99% sure that there are no CIA detention centers or even transit use of the base in Constanta right now. In 2003 however it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Ionescu traded some kind of favor for the CIA being able to do this.

I will definitely keep you informed if anything new pops up...

Peace