The European Union sees Romania as one of its frontline states when it comes to the war in Ukraine. The country of 19 million people, a member of both the EU and NATO, has a land and sea border with Ukraine of more than 600 kilometres. It has been a transit hub for weapons supplies to Kyiv. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have passed through Romania, and more than 130,000 have been granted temporary protection in the country, according to the UN. Talking Europe interviews Viktor Negrescu, a Romanian politician from the Social Democratic Party. He is a Member of the European Parliament and he was Minister Delegate for European Affairs in the government of Romania between 2017 and 2018.
Romania's Negrescu is adamant that the European Political Community, or EPC, should not replace the process of EU accession for countries that want to join the bloc.
"This platform (the upcoming EPC summit in Moldova) will allow us to have a better interaction with the countries that are trying to get into the European Union," he says. "But this should not replace the process of integration. We have to offer a European perspective for Ukraine, for the Republic of Moldova, for the countries in the Western Balkans. They have to get into the European Union, not into another platform. So we should not create formats that will keep those countries out of the EU."
Negrescu implies that it's time to go up a gear in the enlargement of the EU. "We need to move from nice words to concrete elements," he says. "For instance, we have two new candidate countries; Ukraine and Moldova. Normally they should get access to the EU pre-accession funds. But they don’t have access to those funds yet. There are some countries that are not willing to amend the European budget to provide those countries with the necessary resources so that they can make the reforms that would bring them closer to the European Union."
Negrescu welcomes the various financial tools that the EU has adopted in the last few years, but he says the bloc needs to go further.
"Our countries are facing important transformations on the digital side, on the green side, and for all of that we need more instruments to be capable of leading the process," he says. "For example, on the financial support that's being provided to countries in need, most of the help is in the form of loans, not grants. And if you take the recovery plan (the EU's post-Covid Recovery and Resilience Facility, or RRF), we don't have enough common initiatives. Romania has its own recovery plan, but Bulgaria has another recovery plan and they are not linked even though we are neighbouring countries in the region. We are not cooperating with Poland, we are not cooperating with France, and France is not cooperating enough with Germany, despite the good relations that they have. So developing the European dimension when it comes to those challenges is key."
On the issue of Ukrainian grain exports, Negrescu notes: "Sixty percent of the grain exported by Ukraine goes through Romania. So this is an important issue for us. Romania has joined other EU member states in requesting additional support for our farmers. There have been two financial decisions to support farmers in our region. This support does not fully cover the costs we are currently facing. But we are working with the EU; developing new tools to verify the grains, and also tools to make sure that the grains reach the markets that most need it, especially in Africa."
Programme produced by Isabelle Romero, Yi Song, Perrine Desplats and Sophie Samaille
