Basescu's "axis"

Shortly after winning the presidential election in Romania in December, Traian Basescu expressed his committment to close relations with the US and Britain:

The Washington-London-Bucharest axis will be a foreign policy priority for Romania's president.

Now, it's clear that Mr. Basescu's intentions are positive. But, I question the use of the word "axis" here. Its use is a bit odd in the foreign policy context of fighting the "Axis of Evil." It also has a historically negative connotation, especially since Romania was initially part of the Axis in World War II. Perhaps a better term would have been "alliance" or "coalition."