Regime change in Ukraine

The regime change in Kiev puts an end to 3 months of street protests that killed more than 80 and wounded hundreds.

Corina Cristea, 24.02.2014, 14:48

Calm, reticence, pragmatism, caution, full availability for dialogue and flexibility- these are the recommendations made by the Romanian President, Traian Basescu, to all Ukrainian political leaders. The Romanian president pleaded for widespread consensus, needed to overcome the crisis, stabilize the domestic situation and help the economy recover.

Romania, as Ukraine’s neighbor and as a EU and NATO member, supports Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, which should be observed and guaranteed by the entire Ukrainian political class and the international community. Also, according to Bucharest, Ukraine’s economic recovery with the help of the international community is one of the top priorities on short and medium term, alongside ensuring political and social stability.

The current events in Ukraine are very important for the whole region, the Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean said in an interview to the British TV channel SkyNews. Aside from returning to the 2004 Constitution and setting up a national union government, Ukraine needs to hold fair early elections, minister Corlatean said, reiterating Romania’s support for Ukraine’s European perspective. The country’s European integration, for which Ukrainians have been militating in downtown Kiev for 3 months, can only be achieved through the sovereign will of the Ukrainian people, and their wish has to be respected by all international players, the Romania Foreign Minister pointed out.

One of the measures taken by the new Ukrainian Parliament after the removal from power of president Viktor Yanukovych, was to repeal a law that provided for the recognition of regional languages, the Romanian language included. The Romanian diplomacy has to do its best to persuade its future Ukrainian partners to reconsider the measure, said head of Romanian Senate, Crin Antonescu:

“These are worrying things for us, that cannot be accepted. This law passed during the Yanukovych regime, which has now been repealed, was actually a good law, in line with the European democratic standards. One cannot speak of a genuine European democracy without granting national minorities the right to an identity of their own.”

Under the recently repealed law, the Romanian language had been granted the status of regional language in several towns in Ukraine.