These days begins in Bucharest the annual meeting of Romanian diplomacy – an event with tradition, but which, in any country, is considered the peak of diplomatic reflection and projection. It is the opportunity with which the diplomats of Romania from all over the world – ambassadors, heads of missions, generals, directors of cultural institutes – meet to discuss the strategic priorities of the following year.
This year, however, the meeting has a special character. It is the first edition organized under the new political administration of Romania. We have a new president, a new government, a new leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In such a context, the meeting acquires a double meaning: institutional and symbolic. It is also a moment of start and a moment of definition.
There are a lot of expectations. They concern, first of all, the professional body of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but they are also projecting on public opinion, especially in the current, volatile, tense and impact on Romania.
Romanian diplomats, those who represent the state in the most diverse corners of the world, want to feel and know that there is a vision. But not just that. I want, rightly, to be reintegrated into the process of formulating foreign policy. In recent years, the annual meeting has often become a formal exercise, without real stake, without listening and without authentic debate. It is time to abandon this style and use this opportunity to include all contributions and to align all the points of view within great national objectives.
Those from all over the world – ambassadors, heads of missions, consulates – do not want to attend political pedagogy lessons or hear platitudes, standard communications repeated year by year. They want to feel that their opinions, the expertise accumulated in different spaces, matters; That they are part of the process of construction and articulation of Romania's positions externally, that they are asked and listened to.
It is a positive step that the new leadership of the ministry has set up an advisory council formed by experts and representatives of civil society. But we must be honest: the main intellectual resource of Romanian diplomacy, and at the same time insufficiently used, remains the diplomatic and consular body.
I say this as a man who came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: from the Parliament, from the central administration, from government functions. I know the institution. And I can say with all conviction: there is no better prepared body of officials in the Romanian public administration than that of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But even more clearly, I realize, after more than eight years of diplomatic experience, that this human and intellectual resource is under -used.
On the other hand, the Romanian public opinion also has clear expectations. In a world in which international transformations are fast, tense and often unpredictable, Romania is perceived as absent. Without voice. Without a message. Without an articulated and coherent presence. Against this background the frustration among the public increases. And is not an unjustified one.
Therefore, it is necessary for a strategic repositioning, a clear, coherent, credible foreign policy that will project the strength of Romania's strategic values, interests and options to inspire interior confidence.
Romania retains its major directions of foreign policy, but within them they have to regain their tactics, reconsider its instruments and demonstrate creativity, because the reality around us has changed. The global competition is also one of strategic adaptation, given that international dynamics is no longer the same from 10 or 5 years ago, not even a few months ago.
In this imperative of adaptation we can also include the need to unify and coordinate the instruments of political, economic and cultural diplomacy, to respond to crises or capitalize opportunities, but also adequate and efficient communication. We have not yet been able to overcome the practice of standard institutional communication, nor to explain enough foreign policy actions and break the perception that our country is not sufficiently vocal.
Last but not least, clarifications regarding the personnel policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is needed. Too many times, each new leadership “discovers hot water” and resumes recurrent discussions, without substantive solutions. Some condemn detachments in the private sector. Others on the mayors. In fact, the lack of a predictable and transparent human resources policy seriously affects the institution's ability to build sustainable resources.
It is time to answer, lucid and professional, to a series of fundamental questions, including what is the recruitment policy of the ministry; What professional profiles we are looking for; What type of competitions we organize and with what degree of difficulty; How do we attract valuable people, how do we keep them and how do we ensure the continuity and refresh of the Romanian diplomacy?
The topics above are essential, and the annual meeting must be the space where answers begin to form. Not all will be final. But it is time to start this process with honesty, professionalism and respect for people who, every day, defend Romania's interests in the world.
It is already clear that we are in a period of transition, of global resettlement, at the end of which we still do not know what the world will look like. This is why it is important to understand that we are not spectators in this process, but main actors. The work and contribution of each diplomat will count and we must matter. We can start with this meeting.
