The Romania-Russia joint commission on the recovery of the Romanian Treasure from Moscow is to resume works after a three-year break, Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu announced on Feb. 28. "A semi-governmental commission is looking into the issue of the Treasure; the commission has been operational for a given time, but dialogue was then halted for three years. I discussed the subject with Mr. Lavrov.
The Russian side said they would release the adequate signal,' Cristian Diaconescu told the Realitatea TV channel upon his return from a visit to Moscow on Friday. The Romanian ForMin mentioned that Moscow is to host the next round of negotiations. "The ball is in their court, it's us who should state our case clearer and better define our motivation,' he said.
The Treasure is a foreign policy issue of the ruling program of the PSD – PD-L power-sharing coalition; among others, the program provides that between 2009-2012 Romania will attempt to recover the Treasure from Moscow and that this will be a priority of the government that is to take 'steady political and diplomatic approaches towards recovering the Romanian Treasure from Moscow.'
The Romania-Russia joint commission on the investigation of issues arisen from bilateral relations – the Treasure issue included – held its first plenary session in October 2004, in Bucharest. This is a body established following the July 4, 2003 joint declarations of the Romanian and Russian Foreign Ministers and is an additional cooperation forum for Romanian and Russian scientists. The commission convened in 2005 and 2006, but with no concrete results. At the end of 1916, during WW I, the Romanian government decided to send the Treasure to Russia for safekeeping.
Of the 1,740 crates, only three contained gold bars with the BNR seal imprinted on them; the rest contained gold coins, the Crown Jewels, paintings and other valuables. Under an agreement between the Romanian and the Russian government of the time, the 94 tons of precious load were to be kept safely in Kremlin, but the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution nixed all protocols sealed with the Tsarist Government, driving the former empire into chaos.
Loading ...
Comentează acest articol