Basescu: Ukrainian civil war would have a strong impact on Romania

Romania could be strongly impacted by the instability of a possible civil war in Ukraine, President Traian Basescu told a press conference on Sunday.

The president stressed that the worries are related to the “inclusion of this region in an area of instability.”

“The instability will materialize also in the conditions for Romania’s loans on foreign markets, for its own needs. We are not talking of exports, imports, and so on,” Basescu said.

According to him, the events that produced victims in Odessa could be “the trigger of massive civil war.” He estimated that the complications of the situation in eastern and southern Ukraine have specific features of an incipient civil war.

Basescu called on the United States and Russia to ensure the beginning of a dialogue between the authorities in Kiev and the secessionists.

“If the two parties do not open a dialogue soon, there is a major risk of a civil war, and Romania, as Ukraine’s neighbor, is highly interested to avoid this,” he declared.

Meanwhile, he warned that “if the secessionist and Kiev are not brought quickly to the negotiation table, the major hazard is the impossibility of holding the presidential elections in eastern and southeastern Ukraine,” and “with a president elected only by the votes in central and western Ukraine, the breakup of Ukraine would be stimulated.”

Basescu and Ponta bump heads over the Ukrainian situation

Prior to the president’s statement on Ukraine, prime minister Victor Ponta went on the record Saturday saying that the situation is “getting worse and worse day by day and it represents the biggest threat to Romania’s national security in the last 2o years”.

The PM made these statements as part of a visit to the Plane Factory in Craiova where he told the constructors that even though “we’re on the brink of war”, that could translate into big orders. The PM also said that the situation in Ukraine and how it affects the Republic of Moldova will be discussed in the National Council for Defence (CSAT) as per his proposal, even though Basescu is the one that should call for a CSAT meeting.

The president reacted on Saturday evening saying that “CSAT has already discussed Ukraine a long time ago, but the PM didn’t realize it at the time”.

Basescu: Romania will not intervene with military force in Moldova

Romania is not planning on defending R. Moldova through military means, given that Moldova is a neutral state, Traian Basescu said on Sunday, referring to previous comments made by Prime-Minister Victor Ponta regarding what Romania can do to protect its neighbor.

“Romania isn’t planning on defending R. Moldova in any way through military means. As long as we are a democratic country we have to respect the constitutional status of one of our neighbors, even if it is Moldova”, Basescu said on Sunday.

The chief-of-state added that the PM should think about helping R. Moldova by giving priority to energy-linking projects, by offering institutional and political guidance.

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