Newly elected Romanian President Nikusor Dan said in an interview with the publication "Politico" that he does not consider it appropriate to send Romanian troops to Ukraine as part of a future peacekeeping force, BTA reports.
“To have large operational support on Romanian territory – yes. To be part of the armies guaranteeing peace in Ukraine – no. "I think it would not be very appropriate given the tensions that already exist between Romania and Russia," Dan explained.
He has been critical of US President Donald Trump's approach to seeking a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose unrealistic demands do not bode well for peace, notes "Politico".
Dan reiterated that when it comes to settling the peace, "everything about Ukraine must be decided and agreed upon by the Ukrainians themselves". He added that he was not very optimistic that there would be peace very soon, but that he was also glad that the Europeans had collectively decided to continue supporting Ukraine until the Ukrainians received "the most reasonable peace for them".
In his extensive interview with "Politico", he also indicated that "strongly" would support greater integration of EU defense.
“I want to maintain our partnership with the United States, but I support Europe's efforts to strengthen regional security, to interoperate the structures of European countries (and their armed forces) and, of course, to increase (defense spending)“, Dan said.
Nikușor Dan also stressed to the publication that Romania has not been “active enough“ in Brussels in recent years. Ahead of the EU budget negotiations, he promised to be more energetic in “promoting the Romanian interest, which in the near future will be focused on the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (and) the Common Agricultural (Policy)“.
The EU's enlargement to the Balkans and support for the “European direction“ of Moldova would also be key policies, he added.
In domestic politics, Dan could appoint a new ombudsman, change the composition of the Constitutional Court and appoint new prosecutors. He also wants to reorganize the judicial inspectorate, which regulates the activities of judges and prosecutors, because it does not provide proper assessments and acts inconsistently.
Dan added that he intends to appoint a new prosecutor general in the first year of his presidency, who will “systematically work to uncover major corruption points, which are: tax evasion, real estate, deforestation and the drug trafficking network“.
The newly elected president of Romania will be sworn in on May 26 (Monday) at 12:00. local (and Bulgarian) time at a joint plenary session of the two chambers of parliament, the website HotNews.ro recalls.
Nicusor Dan, who was the previous mayor of Bucharest, won the second round of the presidential elections on Sunday with about 54 percent of the vote against the leader of the far-right opposition party “Alliance for the Unity of Romanians“ (AUR) Gheorghe Simion, who is described by the Western media as a “Eurosceptic“ and categorically opposes providing military aid to Ukraine.