The Romanian Foreign Ministry told the ambassador that the mention of Russia in the strategy "should not be surprising", as "this is a consequence of the well-known behavior of the Russian side in the region in recent years."
Bucharest argues that Romania’s national defense strategy reflects Romania’s membership in NATO and the EU and demonstrates its policy on “Euro-Atlantic values and international law”.
At the same time, the ministry said that a dialogue based on mutual respect with Russia is possible if Moscow “shows a real commitment in this regard”
According to a statement on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during a briefing on June 11, commenting on the Romanian National Defense Strategy, Zakharova noted that ranking Russia as a source of global problems is not new. According to her, in the West this dubious trick is used to blame others for their own flaws and miscalculations.
“The fact that the method of plagiarism is used in Bucharest only confirms the lack of independent thinking among Romanian politicians, their willingness to serve other people's confrontational ideas in relation to Russia even at the cost of their own interests, which, inter alia, are due to our common belonging to the Black Sea,” said Zakharova.
She also expressed confidence that the new version of the Romanian defense strategy will be used to strengthen the military presence of the US and NATO in the Black Sea.