President Basescu: Romania supports Moldova and Ukraine for EU

Romanian President Traian Basescu said during an interview with the public television TVR on Tuesday evening that the purpose of his recent visit to Vatican was not to invite Pope Benedict XVI to Bucharest and recalled the positive intervention of the Pope regarding Romanian migrants in Italy. He said negotiation and peacekeeping mechanisms at UN Security Council level must be changed in order to maintain peace in Europe and said Romania heartedly supported the Republic of Moldova in its efforts to come closer to the EU.

Speaking of the Romanian position in the Georgian crisis and the country’s regional cooperation initiatives, he said that the declaration of Kosovo independence occurred as a Security Council resolution was in place guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Serbia. That is why, he said, changes should be made in negotiation mechanisms at the level of the UN Security Council and that a solution should be found to re-establish the authority of the Council.

On the issue of the frozen conflict in the breakaway region of Transdniester, in the Eastern part of the Republic of Moldova, he said the existing 5+2 negotiations format should be changed to one involving Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Transdniester, Ukraine or the Russian Federation, as Romania’s participation would bring more dynamism to the talks.

He also used the interview to criticize the main party backing him, the Democratic-Liberals (PD-L) for their new collaboration with the far-right Greater Romania Party, but also media groups for their campaigns against himself, alleging that he supported this political collaboration.