DefMin Ciuca: Black Sea region very important player in recent strategic decisions and actions

Romania is in a region that represents "a centre of gravity" when it comes to the recent strategic decisions and actions, the interim Minister of Defence, Nicolae Ciuca, said on Monday, at the launch of the Romanian Security Barometer, the October 2021 edition, conducted by the Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations "Ion I.C. Bratianu.""We are in a region that, in my view, is like a centre of gravity when it comes to strategic decisions and actions of late and it has the potential to remain so in the future. For this reason, our efforts in everything we have done and are doing are, on the one hand, to succeed in drawing the attention of all important actors, starting with the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, and also of the important players we have strategic partnerships with, in order for them to understand that we do everything we do not only for what the national responsibility part means, but we do it for everything that means strengthening security in the Black Sea region, so that it does not continue to remain a soft belly in the field of security," Ciuca said. The head of the Institute of Political Science and International Relations "Ion I.C. Bratianu," Dan Dungaciu, spoke about the international context in which the sociological research was carried out."The fatal question: "Who do you love more, mother or father?," meaning the European Union or America, may not be avoidable in the near future. That is why we did ask about these things to see what Romanians think about this dilemma," said Dungaciu.He added that the National Recovery and Resilience Plans will be the "governing projects" of many states."Everything we see around us unspoken is a federalization or an approach to federalization of the European Union, and the main tool created for this are the famous PNRRs, which must be read from this point of view as well. Think that they will be the governing projects of many states. (...) What is happening now in Poland and Hungary, in the dispute between Brussels and the two states must be read through this grid. (...) It is a very clear message that Brussels sends: "We pay the money, we want to order the music as well, keeping the proportions, of course," the ISPRI director explained.According to him, in Romania there was "a deep, unique strategic consistency, perhaps, in the south-eastern European space," but in the next elections there could be politicians "who would bring this dilemma onto the table and turn it into a a political vector." "Such a thing has never happened in Romania, (...) sociologically speaking, but it could happen," added Dan Dungaciu.***The ISPRI research was conducted between October 1 and 10, on a sample of 1,002 people, which is representative for Romania's population, with an error margin of plus/minus 3.1pct, at a confidence level of 95pct.According to the study, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the gap between institutions that typically enjoy high public trust. The European Union and NATO continue to enjoy much confidence, and the biggest threats to the EU are the economic crisis, the pandemic, misunderstandings between some member states and migration from outside the EU, the study said. The research also shows that Romanians are not necessarily against the COVID vaccination, but rather hesitant about the serum used.   (Photo: https://www.facebook.com/IonelNicolaeCiuca/photos/pcb.3116196421937028/3116196371937033/)