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The Secretary of State for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations in the Ministry of National Defence, Simona Cojocaru, said on Friday that, from a strategic point of view, Moscow aims to return to the paradigm of the Cold War in terms of security and to stop NATO enlargement.
She said Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine was a "strategic shock" to regional, European and Euro-Atlantic stability, as well as "the biggest security crisis in Europe" since the end of World War II. Cojocaru also stressed that Romania supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and strongly condemns the "unprovoked and unjustified" war of the Russian Federation.
The clarifications were made during the 4th edition of the "Atlantic - Black Sea Security Forum", with the theme "What New European Security Architecture after Russia's war on Ukraine?", an event organized by the Aspen Romania Institute together with "German Marshall Fund of the US "in Bucharest, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defence and the French Embassy in Romania.
"From a strategic perspective, Moscow is aiming to return to the Cold War paradigm on security matters and to stop NATO enlargement. (...) We can see that at the operational level, Russia is looking to create a land corridor between Donbas and the mouth of the Danube and take all majority pro-Russian regions of Ukraine. History was not supposed to play out this way, at least 12 years ago, when Russia was defined as a strategic partner in the previous strategic concept of the Alliance. Russia is focused today on eastern Ukraine without putting aside its plans for the south. Odessa sticks in Russia's plans as part of a later stage of long-term military actions. From this perspective, the most dangerous scenario for Ukraine, Romania and NATO would be the creation of a land corridor to Odessa and the connection with Republic of Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria," the secretary of state said.
She noted that if Russia succeeds in achieving its military objectives in the eastern part of Ukraine, "most likely, its operational efforts" will focus on the Ukrainian territories in the northwestern Black Sea. In this sense, the risk of regional instability could increase "significantly", representing "a major concern" for Romania.
"In any case, it is clear that Russia could not keep up the intensity of aggressive actions in the long term. Russia's retreat from Snake Island is proof of this. Nevertheless, we are facing a protracted war and we should be ready for an undesired reality in the long term. For regional security, this is the worst case scenario," she said.
Simona Cojocaru added that over the last few months the EU and NATO have recognized the importance of collective action. She mentioned that the NATO summit in Madrid represents a historic moment, during which decisions of strategic importance were taken, in order to adapt the long-term defence posture.
"Practically, last week in Madrid, we witnessed the birth of a new era of collective defence. (...) NATO's strategic concept is one of the main achievements of the Madrid summit. (...) From Romania's perspective, I would like to mention some important aspects included in this essential document, fundamental document for the Alliance. We appreciate the pragmatic approach on the relation with Russia, the reaffirmation of collective defence as the main purpose of the Alliance, the strong commitment of the Alliance to defend each and every inch of allied territory, the guidance on adapting the collective deterrence and defence posture, the inclusion for the first time of the Black Sea region in NATO's strategic concept, as of strategic importance for Euro-Atlantic security," Cojocaru said.
AGERPRES
