PRESIDENT BASESCU'S MOLDOVA SPEECH: NOBODY SHOULD

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUCHAREST 000255


STATE FOR EUR/FO, EUR/CE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL MD RO
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT BASESCU'S MOLDOVA SPEECH: NOBODY SHOULD
ERECT A NEW BERLIN WALL

Classified By: CDA JBonner for 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) At a special joint parliamentary session April 14,
Romanian President Traian Basescu delivered a speech on
recent developments in Moldova. Basescu prefaced his remarks
by noting that he had deliberately avoided responding to
"provocations" over the past week that might provide a
pretext for justifying further repression in Moldova, but
added that he could not remain silent forever. Key points
made by President Basescu included the following:

--While Romania had a "moral duty" not to abandon those who
shared a common language and history, he insisted that
Romania had no claim over territories lost in the past and
did not question Moldova's borders or sovereignty. He also
reminded listeners that Romania was the first state to
recognize the Republic of Moldova and to establish diplomatic
relations with Chisinau.

--As a European state, Romania has a responsibility to let
the world know what is happening across the Prut River.
Moldovan citizens were the victims of a totalitarian regime
and the denial of the Romanian identity was part of this
totalitarian legacy. Basescu said that Romania "will not
accept that Romanians be made guilty for being Romanians.
"We will not accept that Romania be accused of actions aimed
to destabilize the Republic of Moldova" he said.

--Basescu characterized human rights violations taking place
in Moldova as "alien to the European spirit" and called for a
"European investigation" into the "repressive actions" of
recent days.

--Basescu reminded listeners that under Article 7 of the
Constitution the Romanian state had an obligation to grant
support to ethnic Romanians outside its borders. Romania
would support individuals in the Republic of Moldova "who
consider themselves Romanians and feel Romanian" so that they
could regain/retain their identities.

--Romanian law provides for the restoration upon request of
Romanian citizenship to former citizens and their
descendants. Basescu announced that he had instructed the
Cabinet to adopt fast-track amendments to the Citizenship Law
to expedite the process of restoring citizenship to allow
Romanians in the Republic of Moldova to "regain Romanian
citizenship" in an accelerated manner.

--Basescu closed by remarking that Communist totalitarianism
was a thing of the past and--twenty years after the fall of
the Berlin wall--"nobody had the right to erect a new wall
between our countries." Basescu said he reaffirmed the
values that inspired the 1989 anti-communist revolutions:
that individual freedom was inalienable; nothing justified
demeaning human beings in the name of a false reason of state
or of party; and that nobody had a monopoly on truth or could
deny citizens their rights to express their opinions, move
freely, or to organize themselves politically.


3. (C) PSD head Mircea Geoana in press comments after the
speech chided Basescu for not engaging in prior consultations
with political parties prior to the speech, opined that the
speech only "poured gas on the fire" and added that Basescu
should have spoken out earlier when protesters in Moldova
needed support. (Note: interestingly, PSD Foreign Minister
Cristian Diaconescu quickly came to Basescu's defense by
saying that he had "naturally" been consulted.) Geoana also
repeated earlier assertions that events in Moldova had shown
the inability of Romanian institutions to deal adequately
with the "dramatic evolutions" taking place across the
border. Geoana also insisted that Romania must "re-launch"
relations with the Russian Federation and work harder to
bring issues affecting the "EU-NATO border" to the attention
of Western decisionmakers. (Note: This tracks closely with
Geoana's comments to Embassy the previous day, when he noted
to us that Romania was surrounded by a "ring of instability"
along its borders and was playing a "lonely card" in the
region because of the GOR's unsophisticated foreign policy.
Geoana also evinced dismay at the lack of European solidarity
in the face of pervasive Russian efforts to make Central
Europe a place for "strategic competition" and expressed
concern that the Russians could use events in Chisinau to
"pre-determine" the Transnistria issue to their advantage.)


4. (SBU) PNL Spokesman Vosganian--who earlier criticized
Basescu's silence--remarked afterwards that the speech while
late in coming was a welcome defense of Romanian interests,
adding that Basescu was correct to speak out against abuses
committed against Romanian citizens that were unimaginable
for a democratic country. Former PNL Defense Minister
Melescanu echoed Vosganian's line, noting that Basescu's
concern for the situation in Moldova was generally
commendable. Even former Chamber of Deputies head Bogdan
Olteanu--usually a vocal Basescu critic--told reporters he
was "favorably impressed" with the speech.


5. (C) Comment: President Basescu's obvious reticence in
remarking on developments in Moldova over the past week had
drawn the attention--and some flak--from the Romanian media,
human rights NGOs, and some political enemies as a sign that
the President was not adequately protecting Romanian
interests. National Security Advisor Iulian Fota and Foreign
Policy Advisor Anca Ilinoiu told us prior to the speech that
this political pressure was nearing a "boiling point" and
needed to be released. They and other Cotroceni contacts
assured us prior to the speech that Basescu's remarks would
be balanced and moderate, and that he would take a very
"European" approach that would move the spotlight from the
troubled stage of Romanian-Moldovan bilateral ties towards a
larger European context. Basescu's characterization of
events in Moldova as "alien to the European spirit" and his
call for a "European" investigation of human rights abuses
can thus be read as an act of political ju-jitsu intended to
transfer any calls for Romanian authorities to "do something"
to the Brussels switchboard. Basescu also clearly intended to
re-frame the debate as a freedom-vs-communism issue rather
than a bilateral matter, an issue where he can claim to hold
the commanding heights compared to the (ex-communist) PSD.


6. (C) Comment Con't: President Basescu's offer of fast-track
"restoration" of citizenship to Moldovans may also be
motivated in no small part by election-year political
calculations (e.g., to consolidate support among
Moldovan-Romanian voters and--if the process is quick
enough--to bring new voters into his camp). As noted,
reactions from Basescu's political rivals have largely been
muted, and Embassy's full-court-press lobbying of political
contacts to avoid making the Moldova issue part of the
domestic political battlefield may have had some beneficial
impact. One excellent sign that Basescu managed to safely
release some of the domestic political pressure on this issue
was the fact that while the event got lead coverage in the
evening news, most broadcasts quickly moved on to other big
stories of the day, including the continuing detention of
football magnate (and right-extremist politician) Gigi
Becali, reportage on the ongoing "war" between Basescu and
media moguls, an ongoing soccer-fixing scandal, and other
more pressing matters. In short, silence is golden, but
indifference is almost as good. End Comment.


BONNER