Romanian President Traian Basescu departs a plane at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, Nov. 30 to meet with more than 150 Romanian soldiers as part of a visit to hear from some of his near 1,650 troops throughout Afghanistan. Basescu also flew to a nearby camp to have lunch with Romanian and coalition forces. Romania joined NATO in 2004 and has since been a player in operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.