Russia kills civilians every day, Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson says
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Bogdan Ţărnea, stated on Monday, August 10, that Russian officials should not comment on the national identity of a country while their own country is waging “a brutal war of conquest.”
The statements came in reaction to comments made by Yuri Pilipson, director of the Second European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The Russian official stated in a recent interview with the Russian state-owned news agency TASS that Romania was providing direct military aid to Ukraine through the Moldovan port of Giurgiuleşti, which it bought this year.
“Romania is already involved in providing direct military and logistical support to the regime in Kyiv,” said Pilipson.
According to him, the port of Giurgiulești, whose operator was acquired by Romania, has long been transformed “into a transit hub for the delivery to Ukraine of various goods, including those intended for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
During the same speech, the Russian official criticized Greece for offering support to Ukraine and said that the majority of Moldovans reject the prospect of unification with Romania.
"Any Russian official speaking about the national identity of a country is in an obvious contradiction. While spreading this kind of Stalinist propaganda, Russia is engaged in a brutal war of conquest. Russia kills civilians every day, while denying the sovereignty and national identity of a neighbor. How can one take seriously any statement on such subjects coming from Moscow?" the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Bogdan Ţărnea, said on Monday, August 10, in reply, cited by Agerpres.
According to him, in Tsarist Russia and later in the Communist Soviet Union, the official policy was one of forced Russification of occupied peoples. "National identities and national aspirations do not respond to Moscow’s demands, neither when it comes to language nor when it comes to economic decisions and investments. The times when Moscow chose by force for these nations or imposed on them what to do have passed," the Romanian official said.
In April of this year, the National Company Administration of Maritime Ports (or CNAPM), the port authority for the Romanian seaports Constanta, Midia, and Mangalia, completed the acquisition of Danube Logistics, the operator of the Republic of Moldova’s sole seaport, Giurgiulesti, from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
(Photo source: Andrei Tarnea on FB)
