Basescu: Russia is a partner for terrorists. EU could’ve done more to fight Putin

Newsroom 21/07/2014 | 23:40

President Traian Basescu on Monday accused the European Union of being weak and too slow in imposing sanctions on Russia to deter it from encroaching further into Europe after its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, writes Reuters.

“We’re now facing a reality because we didn’t discourage Putin, because in Eastern Europe there’s a conflict fueled by the Russian Federation so that 192 Dutch citizens died on Monday,” Basescu told a news briefing.

Basescu said it was a mistake to handle sanctions against Russia “with kid gloves”; tough sanctions should have been put in place to discourage “the ease with which Russia fuels the conflict generated by terrorists in eastern Ukraine.”

“Who is responsible in our analysis for what is happening over there: first the terrorists that are now occupying Donentsk and Lugansk and, equally, the responsibility belongs to the Russian Federation because, and I’m sorry I have to say this but I carry the weight of this statement, the Russian Federation has become a partner to these terrorists by supporting them politically, supporting them with qualified personnel, supporting them with arms of all categories, including artillery”, Basescu said, quoted by Mediafax.

Basescu attributed the EU’s stance towards Russia to various economic interests by member states: “There’s always an argument: one country has a big investment, other has to deliver sophisticated equipment, another is natural gas dependant. Today is Ukraine, then the Baltics borders are reached, then Poland and then Romania. Aren’t we at risk by making economic considerations weigh more than solidarity with states in the EU’s eastern flank ?”

Immediately after news of the Malaysia Airline crash spread, Basescu reacted very strongly by saying that shooting down a civilian airplane over Eastern Ukraine is an act of terrorism. Furthermore, experts believe this will further push Russia into isolation.\

President Barack Obama on Monday called on Russia to “get serious” about solving the crisis in Ukraine, as Dutch investigators were finally granted access to crash sites of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 by pro-Russian rebels and the bodies of at least 280 victims were shipped to government-controlled Kharkiv to be inspected and repatriated. Obama reiterated that Moscow has armed, trained and egged on the rebels in eastern Ukraine ever since the country’s pro-Western uprising toppled the Russian-allied president.

Now’s the time for President [Vladimir] Putin and Russia to pivot away from the strategy they’ve been taking and get serious about trying to resolve hostilities within Ukraine,” Obama said at the White House, quoted by Al Jazeera.

BR Magazine | Latest Issue

Download PDF: Business Review Magazine March (II) 2024 Issue

The March (II) 2024 issue of Business Review Magazine is now available in digital format, featuring the main cover story titled “BAT DBS Romania Hub: A Vibrant New Office For An Employee-Centric
Newsroom | 27/03/2024 | 17:32
Advertisement Advertisement
Close ×

We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used.

Accept & continue