Romania needs to proclaim its neutrality with respect to the conflict in Ukraine, the controversial former minister of foreign affairs and convicted criminal, Adrian Severin, has said. In a letter addressed to Romanian authorities, Severin, who in recent years has been promoting sovereigntist and anti-Western theses similar to those appearing in narratives spread by Russia, is also reiterating some of Russia’s war propaganda themes.
NEWS: “In the current context, when the threat of a nuclear-scale global war, capable of involving Romania, is growing by the day and by the hour, I call on the Romanian Government to take the following actions: To declare and observe its absolute neutrality in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Romania’s territory cannot be used as a point for launching any attack from a belligerent state against any other belligerent state, nor as a refuge for the armed forces of any of the belligerent parties, a source of supply or as a transit area for belligerent parties. […] To provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of the war in Ukraine, with a view to ensuring the medical (the sick must be isolated in adequate spaces and receive medical treatment, also with the aim of preventing the spread of contagious diseases), social (criminals and violent people must be contained in the appropriate institutions, to prevent an increase in crime rates) and political security (intelligence agents and people with political agendas hiding among refugees must be returned to where they came) of the Romanian nation […] To call on its allies and partners within NATO and the EU to put an end to warring rhetoric and immediately start peace negotiations with the belligerent parties involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict […] To call on the UN Secretary General to organize an international peace conference with a view to settling the conflict in Ukraine, with the participation of Security Council permanent members and of Ukraine’s neighbors […] To call on its allies and partners within NATO and the EU to immediately elaborate and provide guarantees that should allow Ukraine a safe and free existence, with the exclusion of Ukraine joining any military alliances”, Corectnews.com writes.
NARRATIVES: 1. Romania must proclaim its neutrality with respect to the conflict in Ukraine. 2. Romania must convince NATO to negotiate peace in Ukraine. 2. Romania’s Western allies have a hostile rhetoric against Russia. 3. Ukrainian spies and instigators have infiltrated refugees.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Adrian Severin’s list of demands includes a number of false narratives and themes that seem to emulate some launched by the Russian Federation, or that clearly benefit the Kremlin. In fact, Adrian Severin became increasingly known after he was handed a prison sentence, for spreading certain narratives (sovereigntist, anti -Western, etc) that echo those coming from Moscow. Severin was accused by the media of being one of “Putin’s cronies” in Bucharest. Veridica covered a number of Adrian Severin’s pro-Russian disinformation narratives. Now, his demands were launched a day after Russia presented its own list of demands to Kyiv authorities on March 7.
The proposal to adopt an “absolute neutrality” ignores the fact that, as a member of a military alliance, Romania cannot preserve a neutral status, and it coordinates its actions with its NATO allies and EU partners. The idea of a possible military involvement of NATO is nothing but a Russian propaganda theme. Moscow – by far the most aggressive state in Europe in the last decades – claims it has been aggressed (or is about to be aggressed) by NATO, which is a defensive alliance that ex-communist countries joined for the very reason of being protected against further Russian aggression.
The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has made no hostile statements regarding Russia, but it did call on this country to stop the unwarranted invasion of Ukrainian territory. NATO has made no public threat against Moscow so far. The Alliance is not a part of this conflict, and had nothing to do with its outbreak – Russia is the one that invaded a foreign country. Severin’s statement about the warring rhetoric is a carryover of a recent Russian propaganda theme, according to which NATO had set up military bases in Ukraine, as well as of older narratives that a defensive alliance is hostile to an expansionist power.
Last but not least, the idea that Ukrainian spies have infiltrated refugees and are pursuing their own agenda cannot be verified and is part of a wider campaign, which Veridica first tracked down in the Republic of Moldova, targeting Ukrainian refugees, with the purpose of discrediting Ukraine and Ukrainians and finding arguments to support certain stereotypes reinforcing the idea of a battle between the good Russians and all that is evil.
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