Moscow Will Never Decide Who Joins NATO – Romanian President

Basescu gave a speech on the conclusions of the NATO summit that took place earlier this month in Bucharest and spoke about relations with Russia. He said NATO member states have different approaches to the relation with the Russian Federation, although they all start from the premise that the relation with Moscow is essential for global security.

 

The head of state said NATO members should adopt a common stance toward Russia and not mix it with positions taken in bilateral relations.

 

On the other hand, Basescu said it is clear that former communist states that joined NATO are more reserved in their relations with Russia than older NATO members.

 

In his opinion, the situation may be described briefly as “lack of trust”.

 

"If there is a problem in the relation with the Russian federation, it is that former communist countries are reticent not only by virtue of the history in the past 50 years, but by virtue of centuries-old history. I cannot say how justified this lack of trust is, I personally don’t think it is, but we also see lack of trust on the part of the Russian Federation, and then the solution is transparency, solid partnerships built on transparency,” Basescu said.

 

In the relation with Russia, “we must go beyond what history left in our minds: fear and concern. Russia must understand NATO is not an enemy, and new NATO member states must understand that what happened to them in their relation with Russia will never happen again,” Basescu said.

 

"Moscow will never decide who joins or doesn’t join NATO," the head of state said, adding this was also apparent in the NATO summit declaration, which guarantees access to Georgia and Ukraine as soon as they meet the membership criteria.

 

Basescu added there are elements in the Bucharest-Moscow relation that show both parties have kept their word. He said that at the level of heads of state, both him and Vladimir Putin believe in what they tell each other.

 

"In three years of office, there was never the case when president Putin and I said one thing and did another,” Basescu said, adding neither himself nor Putin “ever hesitate to protect their national interest”.