Romania’s Interests in South-Eastern Europe and Cooperation with Turkey

Abstract

The article deals with Romania’s foreign policy vectors in South-Eastern Europe regarding its membership in NATO and in the European Union. It is noted that the main foreign policy vector of Bucharest in the region is an alignment with the Republic of Moldova and a prospect of these two states uniting. The role of Romania is presented in a platform for negotiations which is the South-Eastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP), in the Three Seas Initiative, the Bucharest Nine Initiative and in the Romania –Poland– Turkey trilateral dialogue. The place of the Black Sea region in ambitions of the Romanian leadership and its significance in a strategic partnership between Romania and the Republic of Turkey are revealed. The author notes that the Balkans are not a priority vector of Romanian foreign policy, but the Western Balkan states are always present in Bucharest’s objects of attention, since here, as well as in the Black Sea region, global players are present, including Russia, a country Romania’s relations with has been in a critical condition for many years. In regards to the Romania’s relations with the Western Balkan countries, cooperation between Romania and Serbia stands out. Despite the pressure from Brussels, Romania supports Serbia in not wanting to tolerate the self-declared independence of Kosovo. Different approaches to policies of the Russian Federation are the reason behind the inconsistencies in the Romanian-Serbian relations. Romania does not possess enough recourses to lead an independent activity in the Balkans region and it mainly integrates in the policy of the European Union and the USA. Turkey pursues a policy of increasing its influence in the Balkans, with the cultural strategy of reconstruction of the Turkic world being one of the evident manifestations of the policy. The Romanian leadership abstains from any comment on this topic. Having not the same weight in world politics, Romania and Turkey на декларативном уровне demonstrate complete trust in one another and mutual understanding on a declarative level, but, according to the analysis of foreign policy platforms and partners’ particular political acts, their relations develop in the context of varying and sometimes even opposite approaches to a list of crucial international events.