Seen as a major security, defense and foreign policy event, the Black Sea and the Balkans Security forum in Bucharest served as an opportunity to reaffirm some key objectives of Romanian diplomacy. Romania will continue to support Ukraine with all its might, a country invaded by Russian troops, said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Thursday on the sidelines of the Forum. The Romanian official pointed out that Romania is one of the main energy suppliers of the neighboring country and is making investments in order to become the main logistic hub for Ukrainian goods. “We have started large-scale projects, worth more than 1.5 bln EUR, in the port of Constanța, because Ukrainian grain exports via Constanţa to the whole world thwarted yet another of Russia’s heinous plans”, the Romanian Prime Minister added.
This week, the Border Police General Inspectorate announced that, starting February 2022, when the Russian forces invaded Ukraine, and until May 21, 2024 at midnight, over eight million Ukrainian citizens entered Romania at national level. Most of them were in route to Western European countries, but about 84 thousand, accounting for 1% total entries, chose to stay in Romania. Last week, Prime Minister Ciolacu also gave assurances that Romania will maintain its aid for Ukrainian refugees. The victory of Ukraine against the Russian Federation means the victory of all democracies, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on the sidelines of the Forum in Bucharest. “It is important to stop the Russians from destroying even more!”, said the Ukrainian official who, like all Ukrainian political leaders, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy first and foremost, asked his partners, including Romania, for more sophisticated weaponry. In his message, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, the pro-Western Dorin Recean, said it is essential to combat disinformation and Russian propaganda, which undermine peace and stability in the region. Trustworthy and strong media institutions are needed to inform the public correctly and objectively, the Moldovan Prime Minister also stated.
Also on Thursday, the Government of Romania adopted a new support package for the Republic of Moldova, aimed at continuing energy exports, rehabilitating a student dormitory and providing public order and security structures. According to the Government spokesperson, Mihai Constantin, “the law stipulates in cases where the Republic of Moldova cannot ensure its national consumption of electricity through its own production, that electricity producers in Romania can sell energy products to traders or suppliers designated by the Government of the Republic of Moldova”. These electricity deliveries will exclusively cover the needs of end users in the Republic of Moldova, Mihai Constantin explained.
(Bogdan Matri, Radio Romania International)
