Romania's Foreign Ministry summons Russian ambassador over Kremlin’s comments about Romanian National Defense Strategy
The Romanian Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to Bucharest, Valery Kuzmin, because of a statement made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova about the Romanian National Defense Strategy.
"The reference to Russia in the Romanian National Defense Strategy should not come as a surprise, as this is a consequence of the well-known behavior of the Russian side in the region in recent years. We consider this behavior as destabilizing," reads the statement on the website of the Romanian Foreign Ministry.
Russia's interest in regional stability in the Black Sea should be accompanied by a "correct assessment of strictly defensive measures," Bucharest said.
Earlier, Maria Zakharova called reference to Russia in the "Threats" section of the draft National Defense Strategy of Romania for the period 2020-2024 a "shadowy trick" to justify increasing military presence of the United States and NATO in the Black Sea. According to her, Bucharest does not have an independent opinion.
The Romanian authorities published the draft National Defense Strategy on June 9. It refers to Russia's "aggressive behavior" and "actions to militarize the Black Sea region," which "forces" Bucharest to continue the process of creating new defensive measures.