BUCHAREST, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited a military base in Constanta, a Romanian port city on the Black Sea, on Monday, local media reported.

    Accompanied by Romanian Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu, Rumsfeld inspected the Kogalniceanu military airport and the barracks of the Romanian mechanized force in Constanta.

    Pascu hoped that the United States will agree to move its European military base to Romania. He said the infrastructure and support facilities there are up to the standard for the United States to establish a military base.

    He added that Romania needs more help from the United States to modernize the military base in Constanta.

    A Romanian TV station reported that although Rumsfeld is interested in the military facilities in Constanta, he did not make any comments on whether the United States will set up a military base there.

    The United States used the Kogalniceanu airport as a temporary military base during the war against Iraq in 2003 for sending US troops and equipment to the Gulf. It also used the airport to transport members of the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) and the NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Kosovo (KFOR).

    Rumsfeld will attend a meeting of NATO defense chiefs scheduled for Oct. 13-14 in Brasov, central Romania. Enditem