Romanian reactions to the Ukraine crisis

Romania supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity, condemns attempts to destabilize that country and warns over the risk of a series of long-term conflicts emerging in the Black Sea area. This is the message conveyed by Romania’s Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean, at the EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting held in Luxembourg on Monday.

Roxana Vasile, 14.04.2014, 13:42

Romania supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity, condemns attempts to destabilize that country and warns over the risk of a series of long-term conflicts emerging in the Black Sea area. This is the message conveyed by Romania’s Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean, at the EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting held in Luxembourg on Monday.

The Romanian citizens, minister Colatean went on to say, have no reason to worry about national security, given that their country is a NATO member. However, the recent developments in neighboring Ukraine are a reason for concern as their consequences might be very serious.

In turn, Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, has deemed as absolutely natural the Ukrainian authorities’ move to reinstate order in the eastern part of the country, where armed pro-Russian groups and militants have seized administrative buildings in the past few days.

In President Basescu’s opinion, the large number of Russian troops deployed at Ukraine’s eastern and southeastern border, encourages violent action by the pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine.

Moreover, the reemergence, on Ukraine’s territory, of an unidentified, yet highly trained type of soldier, raises a big question mark over the Russian involvement in the events in Ukraine.

Traian Basescu has said, against this background, that as early as the inauguration of the Obama Administration, he understood that the US President was planning to shift the US foreign policy focus from Eastern Europe to the Asia-Pacific area and warned the American decision makers that was a mistake. Why does president Basescu believe that? Because, in his opinion, the European Union does not show enough solidarity and unity to make up for the Unites States’ absence in the region, in terms of security and democratic development. Furthermore, the tools the European community has, in an effort to deal with crises such as the one in Ukraine are insufficient or weak.

“I am far from being an anti-Russian”, Traian Basescu has underlined, but Moscow should understand it has missed a great opportunity of having a very good relation with Romania, through its president.

Early this month, Russia, through the voice of the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, criticized some statements made Romanian leaders on the situation in Ukraine and emphasized that souring relations between Bucharest and Moscow didn’t do anyone any good.

The Russian diplomacy’s temptation to transfer the severe crisis which the Russian Federation is currently facing in its relation with the European and Euro-Atlantic community, onto its bilateral ties with Romania is ungrounded and false, Bucharest authorities have said. Romania has supported and continues to support, alongside its EU and NATO partners, the need to observe Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.