| ROMANIA, NATO AND RUSSIA 14/05/2010 |
| Last updated: 2010-05-17 11:40 EET |
At the domestic level, the right wing had a disappointing performance, and its leaders gradually lost popularity. Which is why in 2000, Constantinescu declared himself defeated by the system and gave up the idea of running for a new term in office, and the Christian Democrats who had backed him failed to exceed the electoral threshold to be represented in parliament.
At a foreign policy level, the new power dramatically changed Romania’s status and “cured” some of its inferiority complexes towards Moscow. In 1991, it was only the dismantling of the Soviet Union which prevented the then president Ion Iliescu in signing a treaty with Moscow, which had already been drafted, and which practically stipulated that Romania would never join NATO. In 1997, US President Bill Clinton paid a visit to Bucharest to form a strategic partnership with Romania and to assure the Romanians that they would be included in a new wave of NATO enlargement. In 1999, in Helsinki, EU leaders decided to start accession talks with Romania. Not without a hint of pride, professor Emil Constantinescu recollects:
”Rarely in the history of bilateral relations between the Romanian and the Russian people can we speak of a more clear and strong break with the Russian influence than that during my term in office. Romania embarked on a new path, towards the EU and NATO. The strategic partnership with the US also included a security component, which Russia understood so very well. They respected this, because during my 4 year term in office I avoided addressing Russia arrogantly, considering that Russia is very sensitive towards its big power status. I’ve always said that Romania did not feel threatened by Russia at any level, militarily or economically, which was true. My statements sounded like this: we respect the general and regional interests of Russia as long as they don’t run counter to the interests of Romania”.
Consolidated in recent years by the presence of Romanian troops in the theatres of operation in Afghanistan and Iraq alongside US troops, and by the fact that the US army has set up bases on Romanian soil, the partnership between Bucharest and Washington is a very long term investment, says Emil Constantinescu.
”National security is just like people’s health. We truly value it only when we lose it and get sick. National security has been an old obsession with Romanian society for centuries. The strategic partnership with the US signed in 1997 was the first moment in the entire history of the Romanian people that its security was safeguarded by the most powerful nation of the world. It was commonly known that the US never gives up on its allies. The Romanian people saw an old dream coming true: its borders, integrity, sovereignty, and even its economic security were protected. We cannot say that all these things have been offset by inflation and other costs, since they are priceless.“
Although he withdrew from top tier politics a decade ago, ex-president Constantinescu continues to be a fine observer of major diplomatic developments. Romania’s NATO accession in 2004 and EU integration in 2007 were the results of that fundamental foreign policy change that he implemented, a policy that his successors to the presidency and ensuing governments continued to pursue. Romania’s recent inclusion in the US anti-missile defense system is only a natural consequence. Emil Constantinescu:
“There is already an American base in Romania, which was set up based on the strategic partnership. So it was only natural for Romania to be included in this system. This means there is protection in the future. More likely than not, it will become operational in 2015, but time goes by so fast. 13 years have already elapsed since we inaugurated the strategic partnership, and it has already started to produce effects. The influence it exerts nowadays is very significant, since Romania is now mentioned as an important player in Central Europe. People should understand that the costs they pay are insignificant compared to the huge costs which are primarily paid by the US to protect Romania in the future, for instance from missiles that can be fired from any place on earth, and which are a changing type of threat. The Cold War was built based on mutual threat between two major players, the United States and the Soviet Union, which could have destroyed each other. But this was also the reason why the two countries had a huge responsibility, which turned out to be functional, if we can say so, in spite of the complete terror created by nuclear arsenals. However, new, different players cam emerge nowadays in countries with dictatorial regimes, who can take extremely dangerous measures. That is why it is very good for Romania to have its entire territory protected.”
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2010-09-06
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