President Nicușor Dan on Thursday firmly condemned drone attacks by the Russian Federation on commercial corridors, calling them a flagrant breach of international law. The message was read by Vlad Ionescu, state counsellor in the Presidential Administration. Dan said the Black Sea incidents are not isolated and have multiplied and grown more severe recently.
He said a real long-term reconstruction of Ukraine requires this unjustified, illegal war to stop. Romania is the NATO and EU member state with the longest border with Ukraine and feels the war's impact acutely through maritime drones, aerial drones, mines, electronic interference, cyber incidents and threats to critical infrastructure. He said serious incidents recently took place in the Black Sea near the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, where drones struck ships, including with human casualties. The attacks, he said, have affected human lives, civilian transport and freedom of navigation on the Black Sea.
Dan said the Black Sea is constantly under pressure from Russia, which remains the main threat to Euro-Atlantic security and especially to the Black Sea region. Romania's assessment is that the Russian Federation is willing to take ever greater risks, acts irresponsibly and causes increasingly serious incidents in the region, with an impact on NATO states as well. Romania has taken measures nationally and with allies and partners to raise security in the Black Sea and protect civilian shipping lanes. He said that since the start of the war and the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has had particularly important support in Romania, and that support continues on all levels, including so Ukraine can approach future peace negotiations from a position of strength. He also described Romania as one of the main supporters of Ukraine's European integration path.
He said the Republic of Moldova is highly exposed to the risks of the war and greatly needs Romania's coordinated help to secure itself, strengthen energy resilience and counter hybrid threats.
On reconstruction, Dan said Romania is in the most advantageous geostrategic position to facilitate Ukraine's reconstruction through strong cross-border cooperation. He pointed to Romanian Black Sea ports, especially Constanța, Danube ports including Giurgiulești, and rail and land connections under development in Romania as able to turn the country into a multimodal logistics hub. Regional energy infrastructure and existing or planned logistics interconnections are, he said, a strategic advantage. Beyond geography, he said Romania can contribute substantially through its institutions and business community because of deep knowledge of the region and links already built.
He said Ukraine's reconstruction is closely tied to its European path, and that an integrated approach to reconstruction and regional interconnection should also cover Moldova and Black Sea connectivity. Romania recently opened a new border crossing between Sighetu Marmației and Bila Țerkva, at the same time as traffic began on the new bridge over the Tisa, the Maramureș–Transcarpathia bridge, which provides a modern road and pedestrian link between Romania and Ukraine and encourages contacts between communities, business and the two economies. Work continues to raise transport capacity on the Danube, with modernisation at all river ports and sea ports and on railway infrastructure. Dan called these projects essential for reconstruction and for connecting Ukraine with the European Union, and crucial in preparing accession. He encouraged Romania's private sector to take an active part, including in expanding and modernising infrastructure, logistics, energy and connectivity.
The New Strategy Center is holding the third edition of the international conference Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investment on Thursday and Friday at Romexpo. The event is dedicated to identifying strategic projects and concrete investment opportunities for Ukraine's reconstruction and to strengthening economic cooperation between Romania and Ukraine. Main themes include strategic infrastructure and connectivity, transport and logistics, security and defence, energy, agriculture and sustainable development, financing reconstruction, trade and investment, and the role of local and regional communities.