In his interview, given to the Romanian e-magazine Universul.net, Artem Filipenko, head of the Department for Research of the Lower Danube-Black Sea Region (Odessa), commented on the petition made by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Romania, directed at Crown Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania. In this petition the Russian diplomats severely criticized the utterances of Crown Princess regarding Russian policy in the Black Sea Region, including Russian aggression against Georgia and Ukraine.
According to the expert of the NISS, reaction of the Embassy of Russia was highly inappropriate. In his opinion, there were more hidden reasons behind this reaction. “To begin with, Russia responds negatively to the criticism against its agenda in the Black Sea Region, especially in case of its aggression against Ukraine. For another thing, for Russians this statement served as a cause for articulating their attitudes in Romanian public space. Unlike Moldova, Romania is not that much susceptible to the Russian influence, especially when it concerns information.
At present, there is a progress of good relations between Romania and Ukraine. Moreover, Romania is an important ground for the interests of the NATO in the region. Therefore, it is most likely that the Russian mission strives to aggravate the situation in Romania, to provoke conflicts between Romania and Ukraine, and to incite romophobia in Ukraine.
Russia desires to turn the Black Sea into its internal basin. For this purpose, aside of military means, she also needs to use media attacks. I think, we will witness more attacks on Romania. In addition, nowadays we witness the new style of the Russian diplomacy — insolent and impolite”, — pointed out Filipenko.
“I guess, they know how historically important is the royal family for Romania, first and foremost, as a symbol of consolidation of the Romanians, — stressed the expert.—Thus, the aim of this message was to affect authority of the Crown. No wonder there are references on historical events in this text. History for Russia is a weapon in hybrid warfare. Russian propaganda instigates a strong interest for the Second World War, which they call the Great Patriotic War. Moreover, Russia denounces discussions regarding the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that caused partition of borders and the Soviet aggression against Romania. Russia thinks that she contests with the entire Western civilization. Therefore she regards rapprochement with Europe on the part of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia as a violation of her rights”.
Artem Filipenko also spoke in favor of enhancing the cooperation between the navies of Ukraine and Romania. In addition, he stressed the necessity of the NATO’s strategy for the Black Sea Region.
See the full text (Romanian): universul.net