Romania Versus Russia: Black Sea Region Ambitions

A difficult historical relationship between Romania and Russia has left Moscow ever-present in the collective memory of Romanians. This is especially true for the generations in their 40s and 50s, due to more than four decades of a communist regime imposed by Soviet troops. For older generations, Russia is even more frightening, with many issues still fresh in the memory: loss of family members, seizure of property, deportation, torture of political prisoners as well as a lack of fundamental rights and freedoms. Two other major historical events impact on this: the loss of Bessarabia (currently territory of the Republic of Moldova, part of the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP)) lost through the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of August 1939 and confiscation of the Romanian National Bank’s treasury—handed over to Russia for shelter in 1916 due to the advance of the Central Powers, according to the National Bank. The Romanian treasure has still not been fully recovered to this day.