The Russian ambassador to Bucharest, Valeri Kuzmin, was summoned, on Sunday, to the headquarters of the Romanian Foreign Ministry in relation to a series of recent statements made by the Russian side. On the occasion of this summoning called by Minister Luminiţa Odobescu, the ambassador was notified about the deep dissatisfaction of the Romanian side with regard to the distorted, truncated and inconsistent manner in which important topics of bilateral relevance are addressed, including in the public communication of the Embassy of the Russian Federation, topics which originate in the historical past. On Friday, the former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, currently vice-president of the Security Council, declared that the recent resolution of the European Parliament regarding the return of the Romanian gold treasure sent for safekeeping in Russia in 1916-1917 is ‘impertinent’ and the European Union ‘can only be sent to hell’, reported the official Russian press agency TASS. Also according to TASS, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zaharova, said that Moscow not only returned to Bucharest all the gold that Romania sent to Russia in the 1916-1917 period, but also forgave it a huge debt, far exceeding the value of that gold treasure. We remind you that the European Parliament adopted a resolution asking Russia to fully return Romania’s national treasure that it illegally appropriated. MEPs point out that, despite several attempts at diplomatic negotiations after the First World War, Romania’s national treasure, sent to Russia between 1916 and 1917 for safekeeping was never fully returned.
Eugen Cojocariu, RADIO ROMÂNIA INTERNAȚIONAL
