European Council on Foreign Relations expert Nicu Popescu: Romania's President was inspired to visit all Black Sea countries but Romania's role in the region is reduced

Romania’s President Traian Basescu had very good instincts regarding the Georgian crisis and was among the few heads of state to visit the Black Sea region and not only Georgia. However, expectations regarding Romania’s role in the region are disproportionate because Romania is not fully integrated in the European project, European Council on Foreign Relations expert Nicu Popescu declared in an interview for HotNews.ro.

Among others, Nicu Popescu declared that Romania cannot have a bigger role in the region because the country is not yet completely integrated within the European project and it still lags behind important ‘homeworks’.

Moreover, he pointed out that Russia will delay negotiations with the Republic of Moldova on the Transniester conflict because now it’s ambitions have grown since winning the Georgian conflict and would not withdraw its troops fully from Georgia.

Popescu noted that the European Union should consider a stronger involvement in the Georgian conflict even if Germany is not ready to bother Russia. He added that Europe’s energetic dependency on Russian oil is pure fiction.