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EU Foreign Affairs Councils backs Romania in condemning Russian Deputy PM Rogozin's declarations
The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union has condemned in its Monday conclusions any declarations and visits similar to those made by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean declared after the Council's meeting in Brussels.
'I have presented the unacceptable situation following the provocative visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin to the Republic of Moldova, through Chisinau to Tiraspol, the definitely unacceptable threats to the Republic of Moldova and to Romania, including his action aimed only at generating new tensions and at destabilizing the Republic of Moldova, namely the transfer, retaining and carrying of boxes, of lists of signatures purportedly in support of secession in the Republic of Moldova,' Corlatean said upon leaving the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council.
The head of the Romanian diplomacy mentioned that he has asked the support and solidarity of EU member states in this respect, and he got a positive response.
'Romania, as an EU member state, has to abide by the Union's decision, to which it contributed as regards the sanctions regime, so these matters are non-negotiable; it is not a unilateral action. It is a matter concerning the need of preventing the free movement, the transit of a Russian official whose name was on the sanctions list. And he wasn't the only one in that plane,' Corlatean underlined.
He pointed out that the Romanian Foreign Ministry got no answer to its call to the Russian diplomacy to specify whether it assumes Rogozin's assertions on using a strategic bomber, as Romania had closed its airspace to the Moscow official's plane.
Aircraft carrying Rogozin fraudulently passed through Romania's airspace
Romania's Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean on Monday said an aircraft with Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin aboard had fraudulently passed through Romania's airspace. He said the flight that carried Rogozin to Chisinau, Moldova, was a privately operated one that was not permitted to fly over Romania.
'That flight was a privately-operated one. Although it had an official delegation aboard and was a special one, the aircraft fraudulently passed through probably Bulgaria and Romania's respective airspaces. There was a brief transit time through the Romanian airspace as the flight had been approved by the Eurocontrol, yet it was fraudulent because the questions asked by the relevant Bulgarian and Romanian authorities - ROMATSA and the Aeronautics Authority - got elusive answers. There was even an interruption in communication and a lie when they explicitly said Rogozin was not on the passenger list,' Corlatean told Digi 24 private broadcaster.
He added that when it became clear that Dmitry Rogozin indeed was on the passenger list, which was proved by his presence on Chisinau, the relevant Romanian authorities denied the aircraft in question the right of to fly over Romania coming from Moldova.
Corlatean insisted that a ruse had been used to win the transit right from Eurocontrol for the so-called privately-operated flight, adding that Romania was not sure about the passenger list because the pilot refused to provide answers to the questions about the list.
He added that the measure taken in the case of the flight was a normal measure, in line with the sanctions approved by the EU.
He said that at his proposal, the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) of the European Union on May 12 condemned, in conclusions of its meeting on Ukraine, statements made and visits conducted like the ones that involved Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.
'The profile of the Russian deputy prime minister is well known. We know what he used to do before starting up in diplomacy and then politics, but we have equally to say that he has crossed a red line, violating the sanctions by his threats against Romania and Moldova, by his blackmail against Moldova through blocking or making others block Moldova signing an association agreement with the EU by threats of drastic economic sanctions on Moldova. Once this red line was crossed, Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) had a very clear public reaction and today, at the FAC meeting, I raised the issue and there was a concrete result, a clear position adopted by the EU foreign ministers,' said Corlatean.