Government Question Time/Aurescu: In Bystroye case, Romania's image was attacked by Russian propaganda

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, on Monday stated that, in what concerns the Bystroe issue, the Ministry acted "permanently and promptly" according to its powers, noting that some voices said that the Ministry was not firm enough with Ukraine, which is "false," as "Romania's external image was attacked by Russian propaganda" to block support for Ukraine.

"In the Bystroye case, the MAE acted permanently and promptly according to its powers, including in the last two months, since the first signals about the dredging appeared, even if not all the steps were public. I repeat, until the information appeared publicly in February, the MAE was not informed by Ukraine or by the relevant authorities that the Ukrainian side was dredging Chilia and Bystroye. We did not receive confirmations in this regard even afterwards. The MAE informed the European Commission on February 16, but also previously, including in 2022, that Romania does not agree with the inclusion of the Chilia and Bystroye arms in the TEN-T. I was in constant dialogue with my counterpart, Kuleba, directly on February 18, in Munich, February 23-24, in New York, and I have been in permanent contact these past couple of days as well. On every occasion, the MAW asked the Ukrainian side, including in writing, to immediately stop, to refrain from carrying out any deep dredging. Moreover, the Ukrainian side did stop any kind of dredging," Aurescu told the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, at the Government Question Time.

He also said that it is important to wait "calmly" for the data of the measurements, which must be interpreted, and afterwards environmental values are needed, noting that a conclusion will then be drawn.

The M also mentioned that the external image of Romania was attacked by Russian propaganda.

"Some voices said that the MAE was not firm enough with Ukraine. It's false, in fact Romania's external image was attacked by the Russian propaganda, which tried to use the Bystroye case to block Romania's support for Ukraine (. ..) We permanently defend Romania's interests in all files and it is in the direct interest of Romania and Romanians to support Ukraine with everything we can to win this war. Supporting Ukraine means more security for Romania. It is not in Romania's interest that Russia reach at the mouths of the Danube," Aurescu also said. AGERPRES