Romanian president: Presenting claims for Transdnestr territory, Kiev must bring southern Ukraine to Moldova

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“If they in Kiev are intending to annex Transdnestr to Ukraine, they must take into account the necessity to bring territories of South Bessarabia and North Bukovina back to Moldova.” According to Ziua newspaper (Bucharest) of April 17, such announcement was made by President of Romania Traian Basescu at a debate in the Romanian capital.

“There are enough people in Ukraine, who although not on the official level, speak of returning Transdnestr back to Ukraine, but they forget about southern Ukraine that needs to be brought back to Moldova,” the Romanian president said. Basescu reminded that the territories were received by the former Ukrainian SSR after World War Two “from Stalin’s hands.”

The Romanian leader also noted that Romania did not find it necessary to sign a border treaty with the Republic of Moldova. “The treaty is not a priority for us. Right after the collapse of the Soviet Union we recognized previous borders. And we see no need in signing a treaty on the Moldovan-Romanian border,” Basescu said. According to him, “there is no need to strengthen consequences of the act of the times of World War Two (he meant the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact — REGNUM), which none of us considers to be active or legal.”

At the same time, according to the Moldovan leader, Bucharest supported Ukraine’s aspiration to NATO, as “it is in accordance with the interests of Romania’s security.” Speaking on Moscow’s position on NATO membership of Ukraine and Georgia, Basescu said that Russia “will never decide on whom to join NATO and whom not.”