WITHOUT NAMING RUSSIA, ROMANIAN LEADER ASSAILS ITS POLICY IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS GEORGIA AND MOLDOVA

Kyiv Post, Ukraine
Oct 31 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) – Romanian President Traian Basescu took aim Tuesday
at Russia, indirectly accusing the country of benefiting from the
continuing "frozen conflicts" in countries such as Georgia and Moldova.

"The single winner of the extended period of having frozen conflicts
is the country which doesn’t like to have democratic development,"
Basescu said.

"It is the country which still continues to believe that different
countries can be controlled for next decade or for the next century,"
he said.

Basescu’s comments were delivered via an international video hookup
in Bucharest to a gathering of experts at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies in Washington.

He was a participant in a conference on economic and security
development in southeastern Europe.

Basescu, whose country was part of the old Soviet bloc, warned that
the status quo in countries where there are frozen conflicts could
become permanent if they are allowed to fester.

"It is our obligation to find a solution as soon as possible," he said,
adding that no solution should be accepted that does not respect the
territorial integrity of each country.

It was not clear whether Basescu was holding Russia responsible for
all frozen conflicts of the Black Sea region. Russia has troops in
the disputed South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia and in
the Trans-Dniester area of Moldova.

Other frozen conflict regions that he mentioned during his presentation
were Nagorno-Karabakh and Kosovo.

Basescu also urged the United States to do what it can to prevent
a recurrence of authoritarian rule in Eastern Europe. He said this
should be one of the highest priorities for the region.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress