Financiarul

Romania should reinvent its relation with the Russian Federation as it would be a mistake to treat it in the terms of the election campaign, when spirits flare up and, usually, a short-term rhetoric is used, after which they come back to realism and pragmatism, Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi told the public TV station.

“It is a legitimate ambition necessary for our equilibrium in the neighbourhood and it is also a complicated task as it is no good our hiding the fact that this relation worked in connection with subjects related to blockage, which actually emptied the agenda for two decades.
Therefore, we must be sufficiently inventive and convincing in the political dialogue with Moscow for us not to throw overboard all litigious subjects, but for us to leave behind the stage during which, under the pretext of the existence of some litigious subjects, the political dialogue and the economic construction behind it are not to be found there,” said Baconschi.

He said that Russia was a major regional player, who comes back in force and takes part in the drawing of this global equilibrium, and emphasized the fact that Moscow would go on talking directly with the Americans, then with the great European players. “Referring to the new START treaty, it goes without saying that Moscow envisages a direct dialogue with Washington, the more so as the new American administration is a little less unilateral, more open to the dialogue.

There are subjects that are interesting to both the Russians and the Americans, no matter whether we are speaking of the Iranian nuclear file or of Iran or Afghanistan and, therefore, Russia will go on talking directly with the Americans, then with the great European players.
I think that the competition among various states for the access to alternative energy resources led to the division of the Europeans in point of their relation to Russia and that the new institutions will help them position in a unitary and homogeneous way,” opined Teodor Baconschi.

According to the Romanian chief diplomat, in this context Romania must reinvent its relation with the Russian Federation. “[Russia] has an enormous potential. We must no longer draw up the list of the trump cards Russia has, starting from its great culture and going up to its legitimate ambition of having a specific geopolitical importance,” added Baconschi.

When being heard in Parliament for the position of Foreign Minister, actually Teodor Baconschi said he would do “everything sensible and reasonable” for the relaunch of the relation with Russia and added that, in his opinion, Romania would have to examine the stage of the dialogue with Moscow “sincerely, without any preconceived hostile attitude.”
He opined that Romania would have to examine the stage of the bilateral relation, the pending litigious questions, the prospects and the capability of every government to strike new open attitudes.