Voci critice la politica externă a lui Traian Băsescu

În martie 2009, Revista 22 a publicat un bilanţ critic al politicii externe  a României  în mandatului lui Traian Băsescu, realizat de Ileana Racheru şi Octavian Manea. Dosarul celor doi are meritul de a privi dezinhibat şi nepartizan politica externă a României şi de a evidenţia direcţiile şi rezultatele acesteia în timpul celor aproape cinci ani de când Traian Băsescu a devenit preşedinte. În linii mari sunt de acord cu concluziile acestui bilanţ. Totuşi, voi evidenţia anumiţi factori care au influenţat în mod decisiv politica externă a României între 2004 şi 2009.

Un factor decisiv, dar neglijat în bilanţ, a fost impactul personalităţii lui Traian Băsescu asupra politicii externe româneşti. Rolul lui Traian Băsescu în politica externă a fost hotărâtor în aceşti 5 ani, impunând opţiunile şi priorităţile şi neacceptând abaterile de la acestea. Declaraţiile sale tranşante şi proiectele politice au marcat politica externă a României. Nu se poate vorbi de o izolare a României pe plan extern, aşa cum acuză criticii săi, dimpotrivă mandatul său a fost caracterizat de activism diplomatic.

Romania’s fighter dilemma

As part of an ambitious 15 billion euros modernization plan, conceived in 2005, Romania should have replaced by now its aging fighter force with a new modern multipurpose aircraft. However, political difficulties, internal wrangling and the economic crisis of September 2008 have delayed these plans and threaten Romania’s ability to protect its airspace and fulfill its obligations as a NATO member.

The mainstay of the Romanian Air Force for almost forty years has been the Soviet built MiG-21 Fishbed, which has now become hopelessly outdated and needs replacement. A series of upgrades and overhauls in the mid 90’s have allowed the MiG-21 fleet to stay airborne until 2012 and maintain a decent degree of interoperability with other NATO partners. However the life expectancy of these air crafts is now almost over and they offer little military capabilities. Consequently in 2006 the Romanian Ministry of Defense decided to allocate 4.5 billion euros to buy 48 new multipurpose fighters for the Air Force. The decision to buy these fighters should have been taken in 2008, but for political and economic reasons it has now been deferred most likely until 2010.

The Austrian Embassy in Bucharest has sprung a leak

I should start by saying that someone at the Austrian Embassy in Bucharest had a really bad day at the office this Sunday… In short it seems someone from the embassy’s staff has leaked a memo, written by Ambassador Martin Eichtinger in which he surmises Romania’s position on thorny diplomatic issues concerning energy security, EU-Russian relations and Turkey’s accession to the EU. The document reveals not only Romania’s foreign policy agenda and positions, but also possible future decisions the government will take in the near future regarding the Nabucco gas pipeline, the PEOP  project (Constanta-Trieste oil pipeline) the national energy security strategy, the current situation in Moldova, relations with Russia and Ukraine. All the informations in the leaked document are taken from statements which president Traian Basescu made to EU diplomats or from his meetings with various European and regional leaders. In essence the document is nothing more than a diplomatic report which every embassy has to send back home to the foreign ministry. This particular document was destined for the Austrian foreign ministry and for the Austrian embassies in Chisinau, Bruxelles, Kiev and Moscow.

România se retrage din Irak

România a decis a să-şi retragă forţele militare din Irak începând cu luna iulie 2009, după cum a anunţat chiar ministrul român al Apărării, Mihai Stănişoară. Retragerea va fi coordonată împreună cu guvernul Irakian şi aliatul principal al României, Statele Unite.

What type of ally is Romania?

A recent article titled “A Tale of Two Allies” which was published in the American newspaper Christian Science Monitor has sparked furore in the Romanian media. In brief the article accompanied in the electronic edition of the Christian Science Monitor by an interview with A. Wess Mitchell, Director of Research at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington D.C. analyzes the way in which the United States of America deals with its allies in Europe. The article basically argues, using Poland and Romania as examples, that the United States of America classifies its allies in two categories: mature allies-partners which do not require coaxing, as the article argues and another category (which I call it allies of opportunity, since the article fails to give a proper category) with which the United States has a relation based on reciprocity.

When Internal Politics Affects Foreign Policy

Hans Morgenthau, one of the most remarkable thinkers in international relations, argued that the difference between internal politics and foreign policy is not a difference of kind, but of degree. Another great theorist of international relations, Raymond Aron, argued that a political unit, meaning a state defines itself partially by being capable of external action – foreign policy. Using these two theoretical benchmarks as starting points for this article I will argue that the current crisis in Romania’s internal politics have affected its foreign policy in a negative way. This article is the third instalment in the series of articles dedicated to Romania’s foreign policy.