Bucharest and the United States are preparing an agreement on setting up U.S. troop bases in Romania, in a deal to be signed during the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Bucharest next Tuesday, Romania's Foreign Ministry said Friday. Romania is due to be Rice's second stop on a European tour. The U.S. was planning four bases near the Black Sea, with the headquarters to be based at the military airport Mihail Kogalniceanu near the port city of Constanta, according to Romanian media reports. Part of Constanta's port was also to be made available to the U.S. forces as well as the military units Babadag near the Danube Delta and Fetesti, about 60 kilometres west of Constanta. U.S. security adviser Stephen Hadley had last held talks with the Romanian government in late October. --SP 2309 Local Time 2009 GMT
