Sinaia, Romania ? Romania has no intentions of withdrawing its troops from the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, President Traian Basescu said Saturday, vowing to stay “because it’s a dishonor to leave your allies.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Basescu said he empathized with mounting calls to withdraw the country’s 608 non-combat personnel in Iraq, including impassioned pleas from the families of those serving.

But “Romania’s honor is greater than its feelings,” he said.

“An exit strategy is a matter of concern for us, and we are building it with our main allies, the U.S. and the U.K. But the states that form the coalition cannot abandon Iraq as it is now,” he said after addressing reporters at a presidential retreat about 60 miles northeast of Bucharest.

“We have an obligation to the Iraqi people. We will leave when the local authorities can provide security for the people,” he said.

Basescu also lashed out at Britain for announcing restrictions on Romanians trying to seek jobs there after the ex-communist country joins the European Union on Jan. 1.

“Romania isn’t a perfect country. It has good features, but also people who steal, who drink,” he said. “At the same time, it is hard for us to accept that countries such as Britain have imposed measures that are tougher than those imposed on the nations that joined (the EU) in 2004.”

Ireland has also said it would limit the number of workers from Romania and fellow EU newcomer Bulgaria after Jan. 1. Basescu said he hoped employers would pressure the two countries to overturn the proposed restrictions.

“I didn’t see them so outraged to have our troops fighting side by side with them in Iraq,” said Basescu, 55, a tough-talking former sea captain who made it a priority after his 2004 election to forge closer ties with Britain and the U.S.