September 13, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 13.09.2014, 19:16
Romania will be a leader-nation under the Trust Fund established by NATO to help develop Ukraine’s cyber-defense capacity, reads a communiqué issued on Saturday by the Romanian Intelligence Service. According to the Service, against the background of the current tense Russian — Ukrainian relations and NATO’s need to strengthen its eastern border, new security measures have been implemented. That also created the need for a Trust Fund, based on the volunteer contribution of the member states. Romania’s Supreme Defense Council has approved the decision, and at the recent summit held in Wales, Romania voiced its availability to play the part of leader-nation. This means Romania will ensure the project management and the training of Ukrainian specialists for an effective use of the system. Another task is to identify other NATO countries as contributors to the Fund, in order to ensure the necessary resources for project implementation.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry hails the celebration on Saturday of 3 years since the adoption of the joint declaration regarding the Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century between Romania and the US and the signing of the agreement regarding the deployment in Romania of elements of the missile defense shield. According to the Romanian Ministry, the two documents make up a solid ground for the relation between the two countries and clearly state their commitment to the Euro-Atlantic values. The main components of the Romanian — American cooperation are political and military dialogue, security, economic relations, inter-human relations, science and technology, research, education and culture. Romania remains a solid partner and a trustworthy ally to the US, against the background of the current regional and global challenges, the communiqué issued on Saturday by the Romanian Foreign Ministry also reads.
Gas deliveries from the Russian Federation to Romania came back to normal on Saturday, the Romanian Minister Delegate for Energy, Razvan Nicolescu has announced. He has also said that Bucharest has received no explanation for the situation on Friday, when gas deliveries to Romania were reduced by 5%. In another move, Prime Minister Victor Ponta has stated that Romania must acquire its energy independence, and this is a national goal. If the country is able to produce its own energy, for both itself and for the neighboring Republic of Moldova, nobody will ever be able to blackmail it, Ponta said. Unlike most EU countries, Romania’s imports from Russia account for only 10 to 15% of its consumption needs.
The Minister Delegate for Romanians Around the World, Bogdan Stanoevici has assured the leaders of the Romanian community in neighboring Ukraine of Bucharest’s full support in protecting their rights and maintaining their identity and values. Stanoevici has paid a visit to Ujgorod, in the western region of Transcarpathia, where he met with both local officials, and representatives of the Romanian community. He also attended the official opening of the International TV and Radio Festival for national minorities. The festival, called “My Native Land” has awarded productions signed Radio Romania Timisoara and the Romanian Service of Radio Ujgorod. There are approximately one million ethnic-Romanians living in the neighboring country, most of them in the west, on the Romanian territories annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, and taken over by Ukraine, as successor state, in 1991. Bucharest, which has permanently stood for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, calls on Kiev to guarantee the rights of the Romanian community, at European standards.
The biggest cultural exchange between the Romanian and Moldovan national theatres continues in Bucharest and Chisinau. Having as common denominator the Romanian language, this weekend each troupe is giving performances in the home hall of the other troupe. The Romanian troupe went to Chisinau with representative performances, both Romanian and foreign. In turn, the most important theatre in the neighboring country has come to Bucharest with shows from the international repertoire and also Moldovan contemporary performances. The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation is a media partner of the event, supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute.
Russia is not interested in a ‘buffer zone’ in Ukraine, said on Saturday the Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov. Kiev is accusing Moscow of wanting to establish a ‘state in state’ in this former Soviet republic, and then to conquer the whole of Ukraine. In another move, the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseni Iateniuk has said that the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objective is to eliminate Ukraine as an independent state and to recreate the Soviet Union. He also said that the pro-Western authorities in Ukraine are not yet ready for bilateral negotiations with Russia, eight days after the coming into effect of a cease-fire agreement concluded in Minsk, in neighboring Belarus, between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists in the east. The idea of the agreement was to put an end to the conflict that had been lasting for five months, claiming over 2 thousand 7 hundred dead, the Ukrainian Prime Minister said. In another move, Iateniuk hailed the new sanctions imposed on Moscow by the EU and the US.
