BUCHAREST, June 29: Romanian President Traian Basescu slammed on Thursday a defence ministry proposal to pull out troops from Iraq, saying other state institutions and foreign partners should have been consulted.

The US ambassador to Bucharest also expressed surprise at the plan, backed by Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu, to withdraw Romania’s 890 troops from Iraq by the end of this year on the grounds that the mission was too costly.

The proposal needs to be approved by the 10-member Supreme Defence Council, which is headed by Basescu, and by parliament.

But the president’s statement did not make clear whether he would try to block any pull-out of Romania’s troops from the US-led coalition in Iraq.

The Iraq mission is unpopular with many people in the poor ex-communist country, which hopes to enter the European Union next year.

“The president considers as unacceptable the way the prime minister and the defence minister presented their opinions about the Romanian military presence in Iraq,” Basescu said.

“Any decision about the national security issues should be taken after preliminary consultations among the Romanian state institutions and with our foreign partners,” he said.

The defence ministry’s announcement followed a similar move by Italy, while Japan began withdrawing its troops last week. Polish President Lech Kaczynski said on Thursday his country’s troops were expected to leave Iraq by mid-2007 at the latest.—Reuters