Radio România Internațional

Tag: security developments

  • Romania and European diplomacy

    Romania and European diplomacy

    With few exceptions, Russia’s war against Ukraine dominates the meetings of EU member states at the level of foreign ministers. Such was also the case of the Foreign Affairs Council that took place on Monday in Brussels. Romania’s Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, emphasized the need for swiftly providing military assistance to Ukraine, while at the same time adopting the 14th package of sanctions against Russia. The Romanian Minister also expressed support for the introduction of a new regime of sanctions for Russia’s hybrid actions. She condemned the recent unacceptable challenges to some EU member states in the Baltic Sea region and expressed Romania’s solidarity in that regard. The Romanian official also highlighted Russia’s hybrid attacks on the Republic of Moldova, which generate vulnerabilities in the context of the electoral processes in this country.

     

     

    Luminiţa Odobescu emphasized the need to continue and strengthen support for Ukraine and condemned Russia’s intense and repeated attacks on its civilian and energy infrastructure. Bucharest has offered substantial support to Ukraine in the field of energy and is willing to continue doing so, Minister Odobescu said. The Romanian chief of diplomacy also reiterated our country’s support for the European integration efforts of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and the organization of the first Intergovernmental Conferences by the end of June. With regard to president Zelenskyy’s peace plan, Minister Odobescu emphasized the importance of coordination at European level and with global partners to ensure the success of the Conference slated in June in Switzerland.

     

     

    The Foreign Affairs Council also tackled developments in the Middle East, with informal exchanges between European ministers and counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States. The Romanian Foreign Minister hailed the role of regional states in maintaining regional stability, de-escalating security developments and helping broker peace, as well as facilitating the provision of urgent humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. Luminiţa Odobescu emphasized the need to solve the crisis by continuing efforts to ensure the release of all hostages, secure a ceasefire, provide comprehensive humanitarian assistance and resume the political process leading to a lasting peace, based on the two-state solution, in coordination with the USA, Great Britain and regional partners. Minister Odobescu reasserted Romania’s constant commitment to improving the humanitarian situation and announced a new humanitarian assistance transport to Gaza via the humanitarian corridor in Cyprus. (VP)

  • Conclusions of the NATO-Russia Council

    Conclusions of the NATO-Russia Council

    After four hours of talks in Brussels, Wednesday’s
    NATO-Russia Council yielded no concrete measures with a view to solving the
    military crisis generated by Moscow and its alleged security claims. Russia
    says it has no intention to invade Ukraine, but it wants to stop NATO
    enlargement and the withdrawal of Allied forces from Central and Eastern European
    countries that joined NATO after 1997. According to NATO Secretary General,
    Jens Stoltenberg, the round of talks in Brussels proved useful to both parties,
    although the Allies have rejected the possibility of compromising on any of the
    Alliance’s fundamental principles, including the territorial integrity of every
    European country. Accordingly, Russia was told that any negotiation regarding
    its request to prevent NATO from expanding would be ruled out. It was also
    given a firm no regarding its call for NATO to withdraw its troops from
    Eastern members, which would virtually leave the area vulnerable.

    In fact,
    Secretary Stoltenberg explained that the whole idea of defense and deterrence,
    including NATO’s exercises and presence on the eastern flank, have been in
    response to Russia’s growing aggressiveness and its obvious willingness to use
    armed force to modify the borders of neighboring states. In this context,
    Moscow was told that, should it invade Ukraine again, the Allies this time will
    provide military support to Kiev, instead of just passing sanctions against the
    Russian Federation. Therefore, NATO has again called on Russia to pull out its
    soldiers deployed on the Ukrainian border in recent months. The only possible
    concession to Moscow would be for NATO not to deploy certain missile systems in
    Europe. Romanian Mircea Geoană, NATO deputy secretary general,
    explained that the anti-ballistic missile shield facilities set up in Romania
    and Poland do not fall under the same category.


    They serve no offensive purpose against the Russian
    Federation, which is why they will be excluded from any possible agreement.
    Conversely, the Russian Federation has mobilized a wide variety of ballistic
    systems and other types of equipment, including state-of-the-art technology,
    close to NATO borders. This is a major concern for us.


    In Romania, at the annual meeting of diplomats held in
    Bucharest, president Klaus Iohannis said boosting the US military presence in
    Romania remains a key objective in the face of growing security challenges.
    Romania needs a stronger deterrence and defense posture, and the recent
    security developments have showed they risk affecting Euro-Atlantic space as
    well. The president used this point to stress the importance of trans-Atlantic
    relations. (VP)