plan coordination; imports and exports;
personnel and training; administration; budgets; and accounting. The
ministry functions under the direction of the minister of foreign trade,
four deputy ministers, and a secretary general.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

In early 1972 diplomatic relations were maintained with ninety-six
countries and the so-called Provisional Revolutionary Government of the
Republic of South Vietnam (Viet Cong). Of these, forty-two governments
maintained embassies in Bucharest. Nine other governments conducted
relations through their embassies in Moscow; seven, through their
embassies in Belgrade; two through their embassies in Prague; and one,
through its embassy in Athens. The total includes Brazil, with which
relations were maintained at the legation level, and Spain and San
Marino, where Romania maintained consulates. Thirty-two of the states
with which Romania maintained diplomatic relations had not established
permanent embassies or legations in the country as of early 1972. Trade
relations were conducted with several other states with which the
government had not established formal diplomatic ties (see ch. 14).

Relations with Communist States and Communist Parties

The Soviet Union

Romania's pursuit of an independent foreign policy has resulted in
frequent conflicts with the Soviet Union and tense relations between the
two states. In general, the policy disagreements have centered on
Romania's unwillingness to participate more fully in the Warsaw Pact,
rejection of the concept of economic integration under COMECON, refusal
to take sides in the Sino-Soviet dispute, and development of a foreign
policy toward the West that runs contrary to Soviet desires. Soviet
leaders have interpreted the Romanian policies as a direct challenge to
the leading role of the Soviet party in the world communist movement and
a rejection of the PCR's obligations to promote "socialist solidarity."

The general policy differences between the two countries were repeatedly
demonstrated during the 1967-71 period in such instances as the Romanian
establishment of diplomatic relations with West Germany, the refusal to
follow the Soviet lead in regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the
refusal to participate in the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and
Ceausescu's strong denunciation of the action, and the rejection of the
Brezhnev Doctrine of limited sovereignty.

Perhaps the most important element complicatin