Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Monday said that Romania must rethink the relation with Russia next year and to direct to other markets of Africa and the Gulf area. “I believe next year we must relaunch, rethink a relation with Russia. (…) To have a more pragmatic firstly economic and secondly political relation with Russia is something that can only be beneficial for Romania,” Victor Ponta said at the National Bank of Romania (BNR) headquarters at the launching of ‘Romania 2020 Report: New ambitions, rediscovered ambitions. Dialogues on national interest’, edited by Aspen Romania Institute and German Marshall Fund. The Prime Minister added that rethinking the relations with Moscow had nothing to do with the anti-missile shield, nor with the support for the Republic of Moldova’s European integration, which remained national interest objectives. “Romania can be an ambitious player without anyone seriously doubting its loyalty to the European Union and to the trans-Atlantic partnership,” Ponta said.
The chief of Government also pleaded for Romania’s directing its interests towards Africa and the Gulf countries. “Africa is another continent where Romania had an extraordinary presence, many years ago, where there is a high collaboration potential that we do not use at all. (…) I believe the countries of the Gulf represent another area which Romania must direct to in the coming period,” Ponta also said, as quoted by Agerpres.
