Romania should not support Ukraine because its borders are not recognized, according to Senator Diana Sosoaca. This false narrative has been widely distributed by the Russian media.
Propaganda: The war in Ukraine was caused by a number of foreign interests, therefore Bucharest must not get involved
NEWS: “Romanian Senator Diana Sosoaca has stated that Ukraine does not exist from a legal point of view because its borders are not recognized by the UN and it has no agreements with its neighbors. The parliamentarian mentioned that Ukraine has issues with Russia, but Bucharest should not get involved in this conflict”, according to the Argumenti publication, which recalls that the “special military operation” launched by Russia is being carried out successfully.
“Why should we be put in the middle of all this by American interests, by NATO interests and risk bombs falling on our heads or have our children sent to the front in Ukraine", Russia now Telegram channel has quoated Diana Sosoaca as saying, mentioning an awakening of the public opinion in Romania.
“The state that has unrecognized borders does not exist from a legal point of view”, Livejournal writes, noting that this point of view was expressed by the representative of the Romanian Senate, who in the past requested the annexation by Bucharest of some territories that are part of Ukraine.
NARRATIVE: Bucharest should not support Ukraine in the war because its borders are not recognized.
Reality: Ukraine's borders have been recognized internationally, including by Russia which, in addition, has guaranteed them
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In order to justify the war started by Moscow against the Ukrainian state, the Russian state media and Telegram channels in Moscow translated a fragment from the discussion between Senator Diana Sosoaca and journalist Luis Lazarus , in which the parliamentarian argues that Ukraine should not be supported by Romania. Diana Sosoaca's statement was quoted by one of the most read Telegram channels in the post-Soviet space, Russia now (1.6 million subscribers), being picked up by the media outlets in Russia and the Ukrainian regions occupied by the Russian army. The statement is presented as an awakening of the public opinion in Romania, a correct and appropriate point of view. The Russian press recalls that Diana Sosoaca officially requested the annexation of the territories where Romanian-speaking communities live in Ukraine in the context of discussions about the successful implementation of the “special military operation”.
In reality, at the time of the outbreak of the war in Donbass and the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine had border recognition agreements with all its neighbors, including Romania and Russia. At the same time, Diana Sosoaca does not represent the point of view of the Romanian Parliament or Romanian society, as the Russian press claims.
Under a Russian-Ukrainian agreement from 2003, Moscow recognized the state borders of Ukraine , and Kyiv recognized those of Russia. According to the agreement, Russia recognized Crimea as Ukrainian territory. Moreover, through the Budapest Memorandum, Russia offered Ukraine security guarantees in exchange for giving up the nuclear arsenal inherited from the USSR. The Kremlin also committed itself never to attack Ukraine through agreements on the deployment of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. All these international agreements have been violated by Russia starting with the annexation of Crimea and ending with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The statement regarding the non-recognition of Ukraine's borders by the UN is also false. In 2014, the UN General Assembly expressed its support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. In 2022, 143 UN states condemned the aggression of the Russian Federation and spoke for the territorial integrity of Ukraine based on the UN Charter. The war in Ukraine is a military aggression by Moscow, and Ukraine has an inherent right to defend itself. In this context, according to international law, Romania or any other state can support Kyiv’s right to defend itself against an armed aggression.
The Russian press quotes Diana Sosoaca quite often, presenting her position as a dominant one in Romanian society. In April, the Russian media wrote that the senator's speeches are very brave and fair because they show concrete evidence that Ukraine is a terrorist state. The Russian press also wrote that Diana Sosoaca opposes the pro-Western policy of Bucharest which helps the “Kyiv regime”. On the other hand, the publication “Vzglead” called Diana Sosoacă a fascist senator, which presents herself as friendly to Moscow. Another publication, EurAsia Daily, called Diana Sosoaca a devoted anti-NATO fighter who calls a spade a spade.
Veridica has debunked a series of false narratives launched by Senator Diana Sosoaca in the Romanian information space. In April this year, Diana Sosoaca said that the future Polish-Ukrainian state will dismantle Romania. In March, the senator submitted to Parliament a law providing for the annexation of territories belonging to Ukraine. Early this year, Diana Sosoaca stated that occult forces will take the children from Romanian families.
