News

The Black Sea, at the forefront of the new cold war between Russia and the US

Bucharest (Romania), Oct 15 (EFE/EPA), (Camera: Robert Ghement).- Romania entered NATO in 2004 as a secondary ally, but the Russian occupation of the Crimea in 2014 has put the Black Sea in the front line of the new cold war between Moscow and Washington, and the Balkan country as a crucial link in the defense strategy of the Atlantic alliance in Europe. FOOTAGE OF AND STATEMENTS BY IULIAN FOTA, DIRECTOR OF THE ROMANIAN DIPLOMATIC INSTITUTETranslations: "In recent years, Romania has faced and continues to face major geopolitical changes and new paradigms that we have not experienced since the end of the Cold War. One of these paradigms is that of having become a frontline state. Because of all the aggressive military actions Russia has carried out in the Black Sea, due mainly to the illegal annexation of the Crimea and the separatist war Russia has incited and is keeping alive in eastern Ukraine, we have become a frontline state.The confrontation between Russia on the one hand and the United States and the West on the other hand for the future of Europe takes place in this area.From the north, from Norway, down through the Baltic countries, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, we are at this moment the front line of geopolitical competition, of confrontation and hopefully not also of conflict, a situation that the two Germanies experienced during the entire Cold War.And I do not think it is a coincidence that the Black Sea has become the epicenter of a geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the United States for the future of Europe.The great battle for the future of Europe that once took place in Germany between West and East Germany is now taking place in the Black Sea region."