As the war in Ukraine drags on, South-Eastern European leaders have mainly remained silent avoiding any engagement with Russia. But, it appears like EU Commission chief Ursula Von Der Leyen has discovered a pawn to foment a new unrest.
This pawn is none other than Romania, which over the last month has emerged as one of Russia’s biggest adversaries, second only to big stakeholders like Germany. The country is making every effort to take a shot at Russia.
But, these theatrics might cause problems for Romania. The nation has received a stern warning from Moscow to recede or else run like a bat out of hell.
Russia has sternly warned Romania to stop playing with fire. According to Romanian news portal, Russia has demanded Romania “to stop hiding behind humanitarian assistance” and admit the fact that it is sending weapons to Ukraine. Reportedly, these statements were made by Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press conference.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson in one her statement has stressed, “Romania must publicly acknowledge that it sends weapons to Ukraine. It must tell its people and the whole world how things are in reality”.
If one remembers correctly, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis held a news conference at the beginning of the Ukraine War to express Romania’s solidarity with Ukraine. However, he made it plain and clear that his country would not supply arms to Ukraine.
However, it has now come to light that Romania has been actively engaged in helping Ukraine. The skeletons in their closet saw the light of the day, when it was disclosed by the media that Bulgaria had acquired rusty missiles from Belarus through a Bulgarian firm and shipped them to Ukraine via a Romanian state-owned firm.
But there are other things that have bewildered Russia as well. Romania made many notorious attempts to impede Russia’s victory over the past month.
Romania’s notorious attempts
Last month, Romanian President Klaus lohannis repeatedly tried locking horns with Russia under the influence of Brussels and because of his strong ties to Ursula Von Der Leyen. The nation towed every line that Brussels stressed to do.
Firstly, Romania made it apparent that it looks to fight with Russia in Moldova. Romania militarized its borders with Moldova. Romania instated High Mobility Artillery Rocket System artillery vehicles in the town of Focsani.
These artilleries were approximately 300 kilometers south of the border with Ukraine but less than 100 kilometers west of the Moldova border and its contentious Transnistria region. Then, Romania expelled Russian officials from the nation.
Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) announced that a representative of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest was declared persona non grata and has been ordered to leave the nation immediately.
Furthermore, Romania expressed its intention to buy Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) from Turkey because it caused a severe loss to the Russian military gear in Ukraine.
However, Russian ignorance reached its breaking point when Romania crossed the line and supported a blanket ban on Russian tourists in the shadow of the Ukraine war.
Read More: Angry Europeans are now baying for expelling Ukrainian refugees from their countries
Ursula Von Der Leyen, what are you up to?
In case anyone missed it, Romania has just received its first payment to assist recent Ukrainian migrants, and that too after criticizing Russia.
In just one month, Romania has made Russia its worse adversary. However, all of this was brought on by Klaus lohannis, who is profoundly influenced by Brussels.
Romania’s Constanta port served as a transit point for transferring Ukrainian grains into Europe. At that time, the Romanian President stressed that his country will actively seek possible ways of overcoming the ‘weaponization of grain exports by Russia.’
Read More: In the aftermath of the Ukraine war, Romania has become the most important European nation
Klaus Iohannis has always been Pro-EU. However, this influence is sending Southeastern Europe, especially Romania, into scorching hellfire.
Whatever Brussels says, the Romanian president blindly abides by it, no questions asked. He has now officially become Ursula’s right-hand man, thanks to the EU’s so-called European unity, integration, and a single voice.
