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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ROMANIA UKRAINE
HEADLINE: Romania Assumes Leading Role in West’s Support for Ukraine
TEASER: New role as a weapons facilitator pushes Romania to modernize its military and quietly push aside historic frictions with Ukraine
PUBLISHED AT: Thursday, 07/06/2023
BYLINE: Ricardo Marquina
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Bucharest, Romania
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina
VIDEO EDITOR: Rod James
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA Original, Romanian Air Force, Zoom
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _x_
TRT: 2:57
VID APPROVED BY: PCD
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO))
[[Sharing a border with Ukraine, Romania has become one of the European Union countries most exposed to the conflict and a key NATO supplier of weapons to Kyiv. Despite Romania's support of Ukraine, its historically troubled relations with Ukraine still pose difficulties. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Bucharest.]]
((NARRATOR))
Romanian soldiers conduct live fire training in the mountains of Transylvania.
They are preparing not only for the usual threats, such as possible — though unlikely — aggression from Russia, but also for Romania’s new, more prominent role
as a member of NATO supporting Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine has placed Romania on the geopolitical front line against Russia, increasing its strategic importance in NATO.
[[RADIO VERSION: Jonathan Eyal is the Associate Director of Strategic Research Partnerships at the Royal United Services Institute defense and security think tank in London.]]
((Jonathan Eyal, Royal United Services Institute - (Male, ENGLISH))) ((Zoom)) ((ORIGINAL VOA))
“The reality is that the Romanians played a very important role in the supply of weapons to Ukraine, largely acting as the country of transit for the route. // There was the question of ammunition. They much needed ammunition stocks, which came via Romania as well. Some of them are from Romania stocks.”
((CG: Courtesy of the Romanian Air Force))
((NARRATOR))
But Romania is largely unprepared for a leading role.
The Romanian Armed Forces are severely outdated, and the war in Europe has forced them to speed up their modernization by trading, for example, their old Soviet-built MIG-21 jet fighters for American F-16s and F-35As.
Analysts say Romania is a facilitator - not a supplier - of NATO weapons.
[[RADIO VERSION: Claudiu Degeratu is a researcher at Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law, a Netherlands government project in Bucharest.]]
((Claudiu Degeratu, Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law Researcher, (Male, English)) ((Zoom))
“To be very open, the Ukrainian defense sector, industry sector was more advanced, and it is more advanced than ours and they produce modern version of the Soviet license equipment. We do not have the same level.”
((NARRATOR))
Romanian government officials have been reluctant to speak about their nation’s support of Kyiv. Relations between the two countries were far from good before the war and that, analysts believe, explains Bucharest’s secrecy.
[[RADIO VERSION: Again, Royal United Services Institute's Jonathan Eyal:]]
((Jonathan Eyal, Royal United Services Institute -((male, ENGLISH)) ((Zoom))
“The big difference is that while Poland was very keen for the world to know of its support for Ukraine, Romania played a much more quiet role and very often did not like to say anything at all about what it was doing. “
((VIDEO: People's Palace, Romanian Parliament, "AUR" Party. George Simion. ORIGINAL VOA))
((NARRATOR))
The reluctance is largely rooted in history.
Romanian nationalist political parties such as the Alliance for the Union of Romanians openly criticize Kyiv’s treatment of Romanian minorities in Ukraine, as George Simion, the party’s leader and a presidential candidate, explains to VOA.
((George Simion, Alliance Party for the Union of Romanians. ((Male, ENGLISH)) ORIGINAL VOA))
“We have half a million Romanians living in Ukraine in the territories that belonged once to Romania and was stolen by Stalin, and they do not respect the rights for school and church.”
((VIDEO: Bucharest, panorama, people, street, traffic. ORIGINAL VOA))
((NARRATOR))
The Russian invasion of a European country has suddenly brought Romania to the geopolitical forefront. Preparing for that new, important role is, for Romania, a work in progress.
((For Ricardo Marquina in Bucharest, Romania, Elizabeth Cherneff, VOA News))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Bucharest, Romania
Embargo DateJuly 6, 2023 05:08 EDT
BylineRicardo Marquina
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
