Russia’s Ambassador in Bucharest summoned at the Romanian Foreign Ministry following Kremlin’s statements on Romania’s Defence Strategy

Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has summoned the Russian ambassador Valery Kuzmin at the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest on Friday after the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry had attacked Romania’s National Defence Strategy a day ago, saying that “Bucharest uses the plagiarism method, which only confirms a deficit of independent thinking among the Romanian politicians”.

“The new version of Romania’s National Defence Strategy, where Russia is mentioned as a threat against the republic’s security, will be used to increase NATO and US presence in the Black Sea region,” , Maria Zaharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign ministry said.

According to a Romanian MFA’s press release, the Russian ambassador in Bucharest, Valery Kuzmin had been summoned at MFA and had a talk with the secretary of state on strategic affairs, Dan Neculăescu who told the Russian diplomat that “the fact the Russian Federation is mentioned in Romania’s National Defence Strategy must not be a reason of surprise, as it is the effect of the Russian side’s known conduct in the region in the past years”.

“This conduct is assessed as destabilizing, including within the common stances adopted on EU and NATO level.

The Romanian side pointed out that it would have appreciated the concern voice by the Russia MFA’s spokesperson for the Black Sea regional security to be accompanied by a correct assessment of the strictly defensive measures agreed on the NATO allies level, as NATO has adopted them precisely following the Russian Federation’s above-mentioned conduct.

The Romanian side also said that its new National Defence Strategy reflects Romania’s statute as NATO and EU member state (…) From this point of view, the document is the expression of Romania’s predictable policy of attachment towards the Euro-Atlantic values and international law.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry is thus reaffirming that a pragmatic dialogue, based on mutual respect can take place if the Russian side shows a real commitment in this regard”, the press release further reads.