The essential coordinates of Bucharest’s foreign actions remain
unchanged: to strengthen the role it plays in the European Union and NATO and
the Strategic Partnership with the United States. These pillars of the Romanian
foreign policy have this week been mentioned by the country’s President Klaus Iohannis,
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu at the annual
meeting of the Romanian diplomacy.
The event has been held as a videoconference to prevent the spread
of the coronavirus pandemic. In a message conveyed to the participants, NATO
Deputy Secretary General Romanian Mircea Geoana has underlined that Romania is
a vital member of the Alliance and plays the role of a ‘regional pivot’ in
terms of defence and deterring the threats against the alliance.
He pointed out to the fact that older security risks have been
amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic including in the Black Sea region. Russia,
Mircea Geoana went on to say, is continuing the aggressive-behaviour pattern with
disinformation campaigns, cyber-attacks and military actions.
The former head of the Romanian diplomacy in early 2000, the Deputy
Secretary General of NATO added that China’s global ascension is changing the
international balance and the allies must pay attention to this process. The
guest of honour, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and
Security policy, Josep Borrell has said that the EU members must continue to
work together in an integrated manner to give a common response to the new
geopolitical challenges. Another invitee, the Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha
Gonzalez Laya has said that ‘Spain doesn’t have any geopolitical ambition in
Belarus, its support in the context of the tensions in this country being
solely related to the precious values of the European Union.’
Viorel Mosanu, Romania’s ambassador in Minsk, conveyed a similar
message on Wednesday. The Romanian official joined his colleagues from other EU
countries to pay a visit to a leading figure of the opposition in Belarus,
writer Svetlana Aleksievich.
A recipient of the Nobel prize in literature, Alexievich, who has
been actively opposing president Alexander Lukashenko, has confessed that she
is afraid of being apprehended by his political police, which has kept the
dreadful soviet name KGB.
Romania’s
Foreign Minister has specified that the goal of Mosanu’s visit was to ensure
that human rights are being observed. I believe we must put pressure on the
regime to have an open dialogue with the opposition and stop using repressive
measures, the head of the Romanian diplomacy went on to say.
The latest
abuses by president Lukashenko, who has been in power for the past 26 years,
and has been described as Europe’s last dictator, have prompted reactions in
the two chambers of Parliament in Bucharest. The Romanian MPs have recently
passed two declarations calling on the authorities in Minsk to observe the
human rights and put an end to reprisals against their own citizens.
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