Mr Iliescu and Dr Gonzi had a short meeting at the palace where, it is understood, they spoke of the Romanian EU accession application. Following the meeting, Mr Iliescu planted a tree in San Anton’s presidential garden, together with President Edward Fenech Adami.

The tree-planting ceremony was followed by a visit to the reverse osmosis plant in Pembroke and after that, a visit to the Freeport. At the Freeport, Mr Iliescu was given a presentation of the company’s operations by chairman Mark Protelli. Romania is interested in the Maltese operation as something to emulate in their own country.

Later in the afternoon, shortly before he left Malta at around 5pm, President Iliescu met with a number of businessmen at the Chamber of Commerce in Valletta. The highlight of the president’s visit was the country’s lobbying for EU accession.

Mr Iliescu was born in 1930 in Oltenita, a little town in the south of Romania. His university degree and professional field relate to hydro-energy, water resources administration and ecology. He graduated from the electro-technical faculty of the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest and from the Moscow Institute of Energy.

He was elected president of Romania on May 1990, after 30 years in politics during which he held a firm position about the country’s sovereignty and its relationship with the then Soviet Union. At the first presidential election held in accordance with the new constitution in 1992, Mr Iliescu obtained over 7.2 million votes.