Radio România Internațional

Tag: eastern europe

  • Euro-Atlantic Security and the Bucharest 9 Group

    Euro-Atlantic Security and the Bucharest 9 Group

    Ever since its establishment, seven decades ago, when the Cold War started, NATO’s mission has been, according to its first secretary general, “to keep Russians out, and the Americans in (…)”. Along with the fall of the communist dictatorships in the east of Europe, the values of the free world have extended beyond the former Iron Curtain, and the former satellites of the Soviet Union, once set free, have chosen the North-Atlantic Alliance.



    From a geopolitical point of view, its eastern flank remains the most vulnerable, so the countries in the area are compelled to coordinate their security strategies. On Thursday, in Kosice, Slovakia, the presidents of Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia, adopted, at the end of the meeting of the Bucharest 9 Format, a declaration that highlights the importance of NATO’s enhanced forward presence, from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Launched at the initiative of the presidents of Romania and Poland, the B9 Format held its first summit in November 2015, in Bucharest, and the second one in Warsaw, in June 2018.



    In Kosice, in the presence of the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the nine presidents reiterated their concern for the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the recent tension in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The latest military actions show that Russia keeps threatening the stability of this region, said bluntly Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis. He stressed the fact that developments in the region had shown that the allied states must do more in order to secure a more robust ground, air and maritime defense.



    President Iohannis said that the NATO allies and partners in the east, such as Ukraine or Georgia, needed more support to consolidate their defense capabilities against any type of threat, be it military, cybernetic or mere propaganda. Moreover, the Romanian head of state added, a tight cooperation between the EU and NATO is needed. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent, the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, also pleaded for an enhanced alliance presence on the eastern flank. He termed Russia’s actions as a clear relapse of its imperial ambitions, to which NATO must respond appropriately.



    On the ground, these very days US military deployed in Europe are traveling from Poland to the ‘Mihail Kogalniceanu’ air-base in south-eastern Romania, as part of the US’s commitment to ensure the security of NATO’s eastern flank, under the Operation Atlantic Resolve. The 500-strong US military contingent is accompanied by tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, supported by helicopters. Alongside their Romanian comrades, they are participating in multinational exercises. The US troops will be stationed in Romania for nine months, to be then replaced by other units, in order to ensure a constant, rotating presence in Europe.


  • Food safety under the spotlight

    Food safety under the spotlight

    Around 70% of Romanians illnesses are caused by food and eating, while food additives are considered the third biggest cause of death worldwide after drug and medicine consumption and traffic accidents. The use of additives is not justified if their dosage poses a threat to consumer health, diminishes the nourishing quality of food products and hides certain major defects. Most food products contain additives, many of which have been proven to be hazardous for humans.

    This is why some countries in southeastern Europe have notified the European Commission with respect to the double standards in food quality. They accuse some western companies of marketing inferior quality products under the same label as in the west. On a visit to Bucharest, the European Commissioner for health and food safety said it was unacceptable to have double standards in the quality of food products depending on the country where these products are marketed. He promised a common methodology to allow member countries to carry out the necessary tests, as well as an appropriate legal framework.

    He emphasised that these food products of lower quality have a long-time negative effect on consumer health, leading to bigger costs, given that they have a higher content of sugar, which, if consumed for a long time, creates significant problems, cancer or chronic diseases. A working group has been set up in Romania with representatives from the agriculture ministry, the Sanitary and Veterinary Authority and the Consumer Protection Agency to identify cases of double standards in the quality of food products imported from Western Europe.

    The results of a comparative study conducted this summer on food products suspected of being of lower quality showed differences in 9 out of 29 samples, but the Romanian officials said the respective products are not a threat to peoples health. The subject has also been discussed in Bratislava last week at a summit where Romania was also present, in an attempt to combat the marketing of lower quality products in the European Unions younger members. The participants in the summit established a method of collaboration to identify the products that may show different quality parameters depending on where they are marketed. Romanian experts will thus work with the Euro MPs to regulate this field.

  • Euro-Atlantic security

    Euro-Atlantic security

    The US army is currently faced with five challenges:
    Russia’s aggression in Europe, China’s position in the Asia Pacific region,
    North Korea, Iran and the actions of the Islamic State terrorist organisation.
    In other words, the current world security background has changed dramatically
    compared with 25 years ago, and it requires a totally different approach, as
    the US Secretary of Defence, Ashton Carter, has recently stated. To reflect
    this change, the US may allocate 582.7 billion dollars for defence next year.
    Under the European Reassurance Initiative, the US may also allocate four times
    more money, up to 3.4 billion dollars, to Central and Eastern Europe, Estonia
    and Romania in particular.




    The fact that NATO and the US are paying close
    attention to Russia’s actions in the Middle East does not diminish the
    attention paid to Ukraine. The annexation, two years ago, of the Crimean
    Peninsula and Russia’s support for the pro-Russian rebels in the east of
    Ukraine have already boosted the US and NATO presence in Eastern Europe. It is
    envisaged that the Pentagon will deploy an additional 3,000 to 5,000 troops in
    the area. The US Army newspaper Stars and Stripes reads, quoting a US defence
    official, that heavy armament and vehicles will also be stationed in Europe.




    In Bucharest, the Romanian Government has hailed the
    US’s intention to earmark additional funds for its presence in Europe. The
    Romanian Foreign Ministry believes that increasing the defence budget four
    times is evidence of the US’s strong commitment to discouraging risk factors in
    the area and of a robust American military presence in Europe. The US’s
    decision has been hailed by the head of the Presidential Office, Dan Mihalache,
    who, alongside the Romanian Ambassador to the US, George Cristian Maior, had
    talks in Washington with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence James Townsend
    and the Senior Director for European Affairs at the US National Security
    Council Charles Kupchan.




    The excellent relations between Romania and the US
    and their importance with regard to regional stability were demonstrated by the
    activation, last year in Bucharest, of the NATO Multinational Division
    Southeast. Also, the antimissile defence shield in Deveselu, in southern
    Romania, was rendered technically operational in December 2015. According to
    presidential advisor Dan Mihalache, Bucharest expects this year’s NATO summit
    in Warsaw to send a strong signal regarding NATO’s interest in the central and
    east-European area, and also in the Black Sea. The US’s decision to increase
    the defence budget for Europe is already considerable proof of this interest.