Kelemen Hunor, dissatisfied with Romania's foreign policy: “It is drifting on an open and stormy sea”. Message to the president Nicușor Dan

UDMR President Kelemen Hunor stated, in a post on Facebook, that Romania is “lacking weight” externally, not having its own positions and lacking solid regional partnerships. At the same time, Kelemen asked President Nicușor Dan “to raise the level of the country's foreign policy”.

In his post, Kelemen Hunor makes an analysis of Romania's foreign policy, in the context of an international situation that is going through radical changes that require us to give up illusions.

“Romania is weightless”

“Permanent complaining, mourning the old order and silent waiting is not a strategy even for smaller states like Romania. Recognizing this is the first step to avoid the situation where, one sunny morning, the country finds itself served on the menu,” wrote Kelemen Hunor.

Thus, even if democratic states must build their foreign policy on fundamental values, realpolitik is “the only viable way”.

“A small country on the periphery, alone, is vulnerable and doomed to failure: economically weak, permanently dependent on imports, militarily irrelevant, unable to ensure its own defense against a larger aggressor. This means, unequivocally, that membership in NATO, but also membership in the EU — with all their problems and advantages — must take priority,” believes the president of the UDMR.

He claims that our country lacks strong regional partnerships, especially with its neighbors, the exception being the Republic of Moldova.

“Romania today is weightless: it has no assumed positions on almost any subject, it does not even draw its own direction, it aligns itself with the positions of others and floats adrift on an open and stormy sea. It would need local and regional allies. Currently, among its neighbors, Romania does not maintain a strong relationship based on trust with anyone. The situation of the Republic of Moldova is of a different nature and it can also be managed on the basis of realpolitik”. supports the leader of the Union.

The partnerships Kelemen wants

Kelemen indicates at least three directions of action that Romania should have. First, cultivating close relations with two important countries on NATO's eastern flank, Poland and Finland. A greater rapprochement with Turkey would also be necessary, to which “an active presence in the Western Balkans” should be added.

In addition, Romania should be among the initiators of the long-delayed reforms regarding the functioning of the European Union, in coordination with small and medium-sized states.

“Whether we like it or not, what is valid on the stage of world politics is also valid inside the EU. Big and powerful countries always impose their own state interests at the expense of smaller ones, only they do it in a much nicer package than any of the three big global powers”, believes Kelemen Hunor.

He ends his post with a message to President Dan: “It becomes all the more important for the president to raise the level of Romania's foreign policy and achieve results that provide security and ensure relevance for a country on the periphery of Europe within the system of Western alliances.”