THE STRATEGIC INTEREST OF ROMANIA AS A NATO
AND EU MEMBER
Vasile V. Crăciun, PhD Candidate, Military Sciences
National Defence University Carol I, Bucharest
Abstract: After 1989, Romania entered a historical period when the foundations of the country’s
long- and short-term development were laid. Joining the European Union, along with the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), were objectives constantly and strongly supported by the
people who were aware that the country constituted a catalyser of solidarity and convergence of
political forces towards promoting the national interest. Romania belongs to the European space of
culture and civilisation which it shares similar values with: democracy, rightful state, human rights
and market economy. These values constitute, in fact, the basis of politics of economic integration.
Romania became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in
2004. The strategic interest to be part of a Western and Euro-Atlantic military
organisation was combined with a series of political and economic interests: finding
itself under Western European and American protection, Romania can defend itself
better against a number of recent perils in the region (drug and arm trafficking, money
laundring, people trafficking), it can benefit from the advantage of a more intense
traffic on the Danube, it can exploit more effectively the oil axis from the Caspian Sea
to the Black Sea, and it can hope for a development of the oil rafinery industry.
Moreover, considering the perspective of Russia becoming a more and more important
oil exporter, Romania’s location is excellent.
From a political and military point of view, Romania being a NATO member
can influence the stability in the Balkan region and in the South-East of Europe, as well
as in the South Caucasus. The Black Sea seen as a continuation of the Mediterranean
region and its connection to the Caspian zone and the energy sources in the Caucasus
represent solid reasons too.
Another important point of Romania’s strategic interest in joining the European
structures is the creation, in the near future, of a military force proper to the EU.
Romania will bring its own military force to this project, just like it has already been
involved in a number of European military initiatives.
Terrorism, which is considered the greatest threat to world stability and security,
could also appear in Central and South-East Europe. By including Romania and
Bulgaria in the Alliance and extending the Southern wing of NATO, our country’s role
in the region will be consolidated and it will contribute to its security.
Romania’s main preoccupation has been to become a stability factor in the
region, along with its foreign politics objective: integration in the political, economic
and European security structures, after the Euro-Atlantic integration.
The diversification and amplification of threats and provocations to security
demonstrate the fact that cooperation between European states only is not enough, and
that the trans-Atlantic relationship cannot be replaced, despite the differences of
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opinion between Europe and the USA during the Irak military intervention. These were
overcome through dialogue and cooperation, and substantial progress was made as far
as the regional and global implementation of the security and defence politics was
concerned.
Standing by its objectives, the EU has developed and consolidated the European
Politics of Security and Defence, allowing the legal frame for the creation of civil and
military forces (the Political-Military Committee, the Military Committee and the
Military Headquarters) capable to take part in peace-maintaining operations.
Along with adopting an Action Plan to fight against terrorism and mass
destruction weapons and a project of unitary strategic concept, the EU has gained a
clear strategic identity.
In this context, the USA have constantly supported the development of the EU
as a strong European pivot within NATO, meaning the creation of a „separable but not
separated” military force from that of the Alliance. The military side of the EU would
be allowed to use NATO resources and solve missions such as the Petersburg one
(common disarming operations, rescue and humanitary missions, military assistence
and consultancy services, conflict prevention and peace-maintaining missions, crisis
management missions, including forcing peace and post-war stabilisation), in case
NATO and the USA choose not to get involved.
The present security situation in the world is characterised by reactions to global
processes, the European and Euro-Atlantic enlargement, Russia’s preoccupations to
gain a more important role in deciding on international problems, the gradually
stronger affirmation of Asian countries in world politics, to which we can add the crisis
within the Muslim world and denunciation of the nuclear weapons Treaty by NorthKorea, as well as escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers.
In order to control and manage these regions, the USA have requested a more active
implication of NATO and have suggested re-deployment of military forces, bases and
facilities in the East, in order to ensure the protection of its own interests in the Black
Sea region and the Middle East. To these security interests, we can add economic and
energetic ones, as well as making sure that terrestrial, aerial and naval transportation
will not be affected.
Recent global provocations have promoted relationships which could not be
envisaged before 1989. At present, there is a tendency to reshape global politics and
open interest spaces. The existence of enormous natural gas resources and minerals in
the Euro-Asian region confers it a special geostrategic, geopolitic and geoeconomic
dimension.
The American analyst Zbigniew Brzezinski noted in his study „A strategy for
Eurasia” that this region represents the international geopolitic axis, and whoever
dominates this super-continent will have a decisive influence on the mondial evolution.
Brzezinski concludes that the role of the USA as super-power will not be contested, but
that this mondial impact will impose finding new ways to approach international
relations referring to: the implication, together with Great Britain, Germany and
France, in the EU and NATO enlargement, to serve long- and short-term American
interests; attracting Russia in a wider European cooperation frame, along with support
offered to its independent neighbours; supporting China as Eastern anchor, given the
fact that this country represents a great regional power, and that its super-power hopes
are still difficult to achieve; in the long-run, the stability of Eurasia will be realised
through a trans-Atlantic security system, through NATO enlargement and collective
security engagements with Russia, China and Japan.
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As a consequence of geopolitical and geostrategic mutations in the European
region of ISC, the authorities in Kremlin have begun several surprise „crisis”
initiatives, such as the unconventional tour of President Vladimir Putin in Egypt, Israel
and the Palestinian Territories, a tour through which he tried to compensate for the
„political losses” by regaining influence in the Middle East. By doing this, Russian
politics interfere „discreetly” with the priorities of the American foreign politics: the
Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus-Caspian area.
Although it has not managed to suppress regional centrifugal tendencies, Russia
is trying hard to regain its external influence and weight by developing relations with
the EU and allying with NATO against international terrorism, and by looking for
means to have a more vocal role in the NATO decision-making process, with the
Organisation enlarging more and more towards Russia’s borders.
Unhappy about being considered a second-hand power because of its weak
economy, Russia has been busy playing its last two cards: first, its armed force and its
military-industrial complex, and second, its own energetic resources, as well as those
from the Caucasus and Central Asia. The convergence of these two elements has
constituted the main aspect of Russian politics from the past few years.
As a result of the new configuration of major interest zones for NATO,
Romania’s geostrategic value has been recognised and an important role as „strategic
control point” of the space situated at the East of the Black Sea has been assigned to it,
while numerous analysts consider this area „point zero” of the world politics over the
next few years. Romania’s joining NATO means that the Alliance will have control
over the Black Sea and Eurasia regions, and will have easier access to the „hot” zones
in the Middle East. Moreover, the proximity of NATO’s responsibility area in the
Black Sea region will ensure direct control over the crisis areas in Central Asia and will
supervise the energetic lines of the Caucasus and Caspian Sea while offering more
credibility to Romania’s suggestions regarding the construction of a more direct line of
oil transport from the Caucasus to Europe and over the Black Sea.
Romania’s location, well-defined by the Danube’s confluence with the Black
Sea, has been and will always be dominated, throughout history, by „different political
representations” of power centres. Peace treaties, international conventions and interstate treaties, taken as geopolitic and geostrategic reality, have imposed a strong
political and diplomatic effort within Romania and the area of the Danube river, the
Black Sea and the Carpathian mountains.
It has to be mentioned that Romania was the first Central and Eastern European
country to begin official relations with the European Community: in 1974, a deal
incorporated Romania in the Centralysed System of Preferences of the Community, six
years later an agreement on industrial problems was signed, in 1990 diplomatic
relations were established, and a year later a commercial cooperation agreement was
signed. In 1995, Romania solicited to become a member of the European Union, and
four years later, in October 1999, the European Commission recommended the
beginning of accession negotiations, which started off in February 2000.
The year 2004 remains a reference one in the transition period which began with
the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Along with the success of juridically
becoming a full NATO member on the 29th March 2004, the Brussels summit of the
Presidents and Prime-Ministers of the 25 EU country members confirmed the end of
accession negotiations for Romania and Bulgaria on the 17th of December. On top of
that, on the 25th April 2005, the Accession Treaty was signed in Luxembourg which
led to Romania becoming a full member of the EU on the 1st January 2007.
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Amongst the several advantages of this accession we can note: the benefit of
belonging to a great family of nations and the security this implies; the opportunity to
participate to the greatest unique market in the world, with all the possibilities related
to economic growth and increase of job opportunities; the irreversible consolidation of
economic and political reforms which were initiated after 1989; the facilitation of
access to structural funds dedicated for less prosperous regions of the EU, and which
were useful and beneficial for countries like Ireland and Portugal right after their
accession.
A number of programme and contextual documents constituted the basis of our
country’s joining the European Union. Amongst these: the government programmes
between 2001 – 2005, the priority action plans for the last 3-4 years, the Road map
which was adopted at the European Council in Copenhagen in December 2002, and the
Joining Partnership in March 2003. These documents, bearing multiple strategic
valences, have ensured, on the one hand, the necessary internal preparation, and the
connections to match the structure and functionality of the European Union, on the
other. All these documents were enclosed in the 31 chapters which were fruitfully
negociated. It must be noted that the aspects and issues in the negotiation chapters
pointed out the fact that joining the European Union could be rightfully defined as a
strategic priority of the entire Romanian politics.
In the final stage of the discussions and debates, which began in the second half
of the year 2004, the Romanian delegation took a firmer stand and an increased interest
in hastening the negociation process. A number of convincing objectives formed the
basis of this decision, such as: more significant and weighty progess made in the fields
of justice (finalising the reform), administration (consolidation of the capacities), fight
against corruption (eliminating some networks), respecting human rights in general and
the rights of the national minorities in particular – an objective which was appreciated
positively by the international societies; guaranteed finalisation of joining negotiations
by the end of 2004; emphasising the reform in the economic sectors in view of
increasing the capacity of economic agents and the economy in general, in order to
cope with growing competition; going more throughouly, along with Bulgaria, into the
political dialogue with the European Union, in order to participate more actively in
extended EU projects, such as the Constitutional Treaty, supporting the initiative for an
enlarged EU vicinity; intensification of the political dialogue and of the credible
cooperation with the European Union in domains such as collective security and
defence, justice and domestic affairs; participation of Romania in the management of
EU crises, and in the preparation programmes for this purpose.
Meanwhile, a series of measures and appraisals were aimed at, in order to meet
the criteria established for joining the EU during negotiations: taking over and
implementing the community acquis to supervise financial services (money laundring);
applying the European Union commercial politics and a more active participation in the
implementation of its development programme; promoting Romanian interests in
certain areas outside the continent as means of supporting the strengthening of the
global role of the European Union, and in order to consolidate NATO’s European pillar
and to provide a better and more real action capacity; implication in technical and
technological programmes and projects of the future European Alliance for Developing
Defence, Research, Acquisition and Munitions Capacities.
The European integration is a process that will carry on for a long time, and its
success depends on constant efforts from its initiators and supporters to reply
adequately to all the provocations agains the European Union and its member states.
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The main provocations which the European Union and its member states
(Romania too) have to face are the following: globalisation – the geographic
implantation remains a decisive factor for research and innovation in all human activity
fields. It is, therefore, crucial to improve the attractivity of the European Union in
terms of production, services, tourism, education, culture etc.; technological evolution
– it means combining information and communication technologies, new managerial
and organisational techniques, and developing a qualified working hand to allow for a
substantial improvement of competition in all sectors of activity of the Union;
innovation and enterprising spirit – competitiveness amongst industrial units is based
mainly on the permanent creation of new factories and improvement of existing ones,
especially in a phase of rapid technological progress. Industry, agriculture, education,
culture, health, social protection, security and defence in Europe need constant
developing and economic exploitation of new or ameliorated produces and services and
optimisation of the processes in institutions and factories. A larger budget for research
and development directly proportional with GIP is necessary, for the European Union
is outrun by its main competitors in many of the above mentioned domains; a lasting
development and new society demands – the European Union must deal with an
increasing demand of security, health, social protection and consumer protection,
which reflect partly the public opinion’s preoccupations as a result of the consequences
of a number of technologies in the fields of environment, ethics or health.
Simultaneously, a priority should be made of the amelioration of the European
Union’s integration politics, to cope with the provocations that the organisation and its
member states are confronted with. It is thus essential to keep an eye on the immediate
integration of all the activities of the European Union which could contribute to
achieving its strategic objectives in all activity fields. The primary targets would be the
commercial politics, the politics related to the unique market, the transportation and
energy politics, the research and development politics, the competition politics, the
regional politics and the macroeconomic politics. All the other politics should also be
considered if the aim is to bring into accord the objectives of the European Council
from Lisbon with those of the European Council from Goteborg, and to simultaneously
follow the economic, social and environmental objectives as part of the lasting
development concept. Amongst the „secondary” politics could be mentioned: the social
politics, the professional formation politics, the consumer protection and public health
politics, environmental protection and the social responsibility of the industry units.
As a result of its accession as a member of the European Union on the 1st
January 2007, Romania will also be confronted with the above mentioned provocation.
Therefore, it is a must for the authorities to adopt a number of political, social,
economic and cultural measures in order to counterbalance the specific provocations to
the European integration, and those which are generated by joining the organisation
itself.
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References
Preşedinţia României, Strategia de securitate naţională a României, Editura Monitorul
Oficial, Bucureşti, 2001
Balaban, Constantin, Consideraţii privind securitatea naţională la sfârşit de mileniu,
Editura AISM, Bucureşti, 2000
Frunzăverde, Sorin; Onişor, Constantin, Europa de Sud-Est, Dimensiuni principale de
securitate, Editura A’ 92, Iaşi, 2004
Zbigniew, Brzezinski, A Geostrategy for Eurasia, in Foreign Affairs, nr. 76, 1997
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