Romania’s defense minister Vasile Dincu has resigned after he said that the war in Ukraine could only end if peace talks with Russia begin, with the involvement of the U.S. or NATO. The minister, who delivered such an opinion, stepped down due to an ’inability to collaborate’ with the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis who is also chief of Romania’s armed forces, and takes a completely opposite position. After the incident Dincu was advised by the Head of State that he should have studied the official position of the EU and Romania on the war in Ukraine more closely. ’Only Ukraine will decide when and how it will negotiate’, he added.
Romania is a committed Euro-Atlantic country that has been one of NATO’s strongest pillars in Europe since it joined the Alliance, as well as a close and loyal ally of the United States. Vasile Dincu’s suggestion to start peace talks and involve the United States or NATO in the negotiations should be interpreted in this context.
As a cabinet member of a well-informed, well-positioned and militarily strong country, the Romanian defense minister did nothing more but tried to give his voice to common sense in the search for a solution. However, it cannot be rule out that it was the video prank on Youtube with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba what urged him to make his statement and hand in his resignation. Well, Kuleba spoke quite honestly about how much the Kyiv leadership relies on American and British help. After listening carefully to Kuleba, the Romanian defense minister argued very logically when he said that the issue of war and peace in Ukraine should be discussed by the United States or NATO.
Or should all this be attributed to the upcoming midterm elections in America? Republicans were just debating whether such huge support was needed for Ukraine, and whether Washington should continue to devote almost unlimited resources to support Kyiv…
Dincu’s resignation came as a surprise, but it is very likely that more and more analogous opinions will be heard in the international arena. Until now, there was hardly anyone in Europe who dared to say that the U.S. should sit around the table to promote the peace process in Ukraine. Not including the Pope, the only leader who dared to raise his voice against the opinion of the loud majority was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary’s leader recently openly expressed his firm conviction at a Berlin forum that US-Russian talks are not only necessary but inevitable.
Given this precedent, it is notable that two weeks after Orban’s statement, Romania’s defence minister also spoke in a similar tone, and then, on French President Macron’s request, Pope Francis has signaled his desire to establish dialogue between the Russians and the Americans to discuss the war and to advocate for peace.
So, the domino game seems to be starting. I sincerely wish common sense would prevail.
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