Dincu : Russia is not a direct threat for Romania, but it is a threat for the security in the area

The minister of defence, Vasile Dincu, considers that Russia is not a direct threat for Romania, at the present moment, but it is a threat for the security in the area, saying that our country must be prepared for anything at all times.   Vasile Dincu was asked, in Friday, at Digi 24, about the fact that the Russian officials referred to the Deveselu shield as being an issue and if Romania monitored this situation.  ‘Romania, in the NATO must be prepared for anything at all times, and this is, eventually, the only condition, nowadays, for defence, to be always prepared for any type of possible conflict in our area’ explained the minister of defence.   The minister of defence considers that by means of these discussions, Russia puts pressure in the negotiations they have with NATO.  ‘It is one of the propagandistic demands of Russia, in which they say that the military bases in Romania and Poland may be used offensively, although NATO has shown that they are used only defensively, so they cannot be used for this, at the present moment, but obviously these are statements where Russia puts pressure on the negotiations with NATO regarding a security belt, which is difficult to accept, as in fact it is a security belt which would start from the Berlin wall towards Romania and it would include all the countries which accessed NATO after 1997 and there should be no NATO presence here’ Dincu said.   The minister said : ‘ We are ready, obviously the dialogue may stay at this level and our population need not worry, as the dialogue at this moment is very important. You saw that being about a centralized system, with centralized decisions, such as  Russia, the United States and the NATO countries sped up the dialogue between the United States, NATO and Russia’   Asked if Russia would be more offensive in 2022, Vasile Dincu stated:’ Russia is offensive. During this period they have risen the tone, they have increased the aggressiveness of the discourse and they have had ultimate demands, but my opinion is that they are rather forms of negotiations. I don’t think it is very easy for Russia to start processes which could be followed by an economic blockade as an economic blockade for Russia would not be a thing they can manage. We hope reason will prevail’.   According to him, the situation in Kazakhstan’ is rather complicated’ and ‘it adds something to the trouble in the eastern part’. The minister said that the authorities are interested in the situation of the Romanians in the respective area, but for the moment there is no information that somebody would be in danger. In case of necessity, the minister states there is the possibility of bringing the Romanians back with military aircraft.    ‘It is a rather complicated situation and it is a situation which adds something to the trouble in the east. Obviously, it has no influence on Romania besides that. We have inquired about the situation of the Romanians there. We know there are Romanians who work there, including in the oil area, in the gas area and we want to know if there is need to bring them back in this situation. There is still no information about any possible danger’ stated on Friday night, with Digi 24, Vasile Dincu, when referring to the situation in Kazakhstan.   The minister mentioned the fact that in general ‘Our embassy there is very active and we got informed’.    Asked if the Romanians could contact the embassy, in case of emergency, given the jamming of communications, the minister said:’ Not all communications are jammed, according to our sources. Surely the ones that could lead to collective mobilization are jammed, especially in the area of social networks in order to keep the situation under control as regards the people’s revolt. But otherwise, communication is possible with this area’.   The minister also stated that, in case of necessity, the law allows the intervention of the army to save the population: ‘The moment there is an emergency situation, we are by law, we are authorised to do this, for rescue missions, to take part in matters of civilian protection in the country or where there are Romanians abroad who are in danger’.   The Kazakh president Kasim-Jomart Tokaiev announced on Friday that he authorised the law enforcement to open fire ’without warning’ with the purpose of putting an end to the revolts which are troubling the country, and rejected any negotiations with the protesters.