What did Dmitry Kuleba want and what did he get in Romania?
Kuleba visited Bulgaria and Romania to enlist support and ask for weapons, according to "Glasove". Experts interviewed by the publication doubt that Bucharest will provide military assistance to Kiev. He has reasons for this.
Sofia Georgieva
Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba visited Bulgaria and Romania to enlist their support. On Friday, April 22, in Bucharest, Kuleba met with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuke and Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu. The issue of sending weapons to Ukraine was discussed at the meeting.
"If a country comes to us and says, "We don't have tanks, but we have bulletproof vests," we understand that, it's your sovereign choice, your national interest. In some cases, countries can do something, but they don't do it so as not to spoil relations with Russia," Kuleba said after a meeting with Prime Minister Chuke. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said that he raised the issue of arms supplies, and added: "We let countries decide for themselves how they can help us."
"If this does not happen, we increase diplomatic and public pressure. What we do not accept is hypocrisy. However, this does not concern Romania – since the beginning of hostilities, Romania has been very honest, open, friendly and active," Kuleba said at a press conference with Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu.
"Weapons, like money, love silence,
therefore, we do not comment on what we receive and from where, unless there is an official statement. Since February 24, Romania has been pursuing a reasonable policy. You can interpret the rest yourself," the head of Ukrainian diplomacy said.
Asked what kind of military assistance Ukraine has received from Romania, and whether Romania will provide its MiG-21 fighters to Ukraine, Romanian Foreign Minister Aureescu refused to answer, noting that "it's not good to talk about it publicly" because "everything is constantly changing."
On April 15, the Romanian Defense Ministry announced that the country was suspending flights of its MiG-21 Lancer military fighters due to "a large number of accidents" and was going to accelerate the planned purchase of used F-16 fighters from Norway.
According to Romanian media, Bucharest is not talking about military assistance to Ukraine. It is reported that last month Romania handed over 2,000 bulletproof vests and 2,000 helmets to the Ukrainian army for a total of two million euros.
After the meeting with Kuleba, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuke assured that Romania would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, including with refugees and Ukrainian exports.
For his part, Foreign Minister Aurescu recalled that Romania reacted to Ukrainian refugees as soon as Russia's military operation began. Aurescu recalled the humanitarian center in Zudec Suceava (Zudec is an administrative-territorial unit of Romania. – Approx. trans.), coordinating and delivering aid to Ukraine. Aurescu also said that the crimes committed in Ukraine should not go unpunished, and confirmed that Romania supports the international investigation of Russia's actions in Ukraine.
In the information about Dmitry Kuleba's visit to Sofia, the Romanian media quoted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, who said that refusing to provide weapons to his country was tantamount to supporting "Russian aggression."
In Bucharest, Kuleba said that the best way to stop Putin is to give Ukraine what it needs.
"You will give us everything we need to win, and we will detain Putin in Ukraine and defeat him there, so that it does not come to the test of the fifth article of NATO. The best way to stop Putin is to give Ukraine what it needs."
"War is the moment of truth when the true face is revealed, and Romania has shown it — its friendly face. She not only speaks, but also acts. We will never forget this," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said in Bucharest.
Public opinion in Romania is mobilized in support of Ukraine. A March survey by the IRES agency showed that 96% of Romanians surveyed believe that the country should support Ukrainian refugees, 38% were in favor of sending weapons to Ukraine, and 21% said that Romania should fight on the side of Ukraine. 79% of Romanians closely follow the events in the neighboring country, and 60% fear an attack on Romania.
The Adeverul publication reports that, unlike Poland and the Baltic states, Romania has so far pursued a balanced policy towards Ukraine, without spectacular or aggressive statements.
Answering the question whether Romania provides military assistance to a neighboring country, political analyst Stefan Vlaston said that Romania may have helped or is helping the Ukrainian army secretly, without noise in the media, although he clarified that he personally does not believe it. Most likely, the expert believes, Romania will not provide military assistance to Ukraine, because it fears that Russia will win this war, and does not want to upset Moscow too much.
According to foreign policy expert Oana Popescu-Zamfir, Romania's caution is related to the development of relations with Ukraine over the past 30 years. According to the expert, Romania is afraid of Ukraine, because from a geopolitical point of view, Ukraine is a huge country, the second largest after Russia in Eastern Europe. In addition, Popescu-Zamfir notes, Romania has complicated relations with Ukraine in general: among the disputes are the status of the Romanian minority in Ukraine, Northern Bukovina, the continental shelf and hydrocarbon reserves around Snake Island, the Bystroye Canal, the obligations of the Kryvyi Rih combine. According to her, the ideal option for Romania is Ukraine, maximally connected with Europe — the EU/ NATO, Ukraine, bound by the rules and collective decisions of these organizations, Ukraine outside the sphere of influence of Russia, dependent on the West, not too strong.
In public statements related to the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to Bucharest, Romania promises to continue supporting Ukrainian refugees and assistance to Ukrainian exports. In addition, she received an invitation from Dmitry Kuleba to take part in the restoration of Ukraine. More than 800,000 Ukrainians have fled to Romania since the beginning of the conflict, and, according to Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Romania has already provided humanitarian aid totaling $63 million to Ukrainian refugees.
At the same time, the National newspaper reports on a draft emergency decree prepared by the Romanian Ministry of National Defense, which has been amended to allow, according to the publication, to transfer weapons and military equipment to Ukraine free of charge. Under current legislation, donation to other countries is not allowed, only the sale of obsolete products or surplus weapons, or the write-off and disposal of used ones.
"At the extraordinary NATO summit and the meeting of the Council of the European Union on March 24, 2022, NATO and EU members decided to continue the necessary efforts to ensure the security and defense of all allies in all areas on the principle of "360 degrees". Therefore, it was considered necessary to lay down appropriate mechanisms for the transfer of products from the armed forces' own reserves for national defense between the allied countries or partner countries," the draft extraordinary resolution says, National reports and recalls that Ukraine has been a NATO partner since 1997.
The Government's explanatory note says that "due to the need for prompt response to requests from allied or partner countries and the lack of a legal framework that allows for the prompt delivery of the requested assistance, urgent legislative intervention is necessary, given that all these issues affect the interests of Romania's national security."
Answering a question about the draft a few days before Dmitry Kuleba's visit to Romania, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuke said that the law is under consideration, and after its final revision a concrete decision will be made.
