Russian-Romanian relations

The Russian Federation has an embassy in Bucharest and a consulate in the Black Sea city of Constanta . Romania also has an embassy in Moscow and two regional consulates in the cities. St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don .

Romania and the Russian Empire

Diplomatic relations between Russia and Romania were established on October 15, 1878 , immediately after the liberation of Romania from Turkish-Ottoman rule (from the 16th century), with which the regime of Greek fanariots in Wallachia was closely associated. The Russian Empire took a direct part in the liberation of Orthodox Romania. Soon, however, Russian interests in the Balkans clashed with the interests of other European powers, primarily Austria-Hungary, which already controlled Transylvania populated mainly by Romanians (53.8% in 1910). In turn, in 1806-1812, the Russian Empire recaptured the Dniester and Prut ( Bessarabia ) rivers , populated by Moldovans , from the Ottoman Empire. In addition, Wallachia and the Principality of Moldova later merged into Romania. The following historical and cultural circumstances contributed to this to a considerable degree. After the Hungarians arrived on the Middle Danube, a rather aggressive policy of Magyarization began. Both Romanians and Russians adopted Orthodoxy according to the Byzantine model in the early Middle Ages. Romanians for a long time used the Church Slavonic language and Cyrillic alphabet for communication and writing texts, which is reflected in the modern Romanian language, which, although it is Romanesque in origin, however, contains a significant amount of Slavic elements.

Romania and the USSR

After World War II, Romania joined the USSR-led ATS and CMEA . Until the late 1950s, Romania dutifully complied with the requirements of the Soviet side on almost all issues. In 1949 - 1953, the Romanian leader G. Georgiu-Dej joined the boycott of Yugoslavia carried out by the USSR ^[1] .

After the Soviet troops were withdrawn from Romania in July 1958 ^[1] , relations between Moscow and Bucharest deteriorated. The Romanian side committed a number of unfriendly actions in the early 1960s: in December 1961 a decision was made to rename the "Russian" names of streets, factories and cities, in 1963, Russian language lessons in Romanian schools became optional, they "cleared" from the army Soviet agents " ^[2] . Moreover, in the conditions of the Sino-Soviet conflict in Bucharest in August 1964, Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Yi was received ^[3] . Nevertheless, the USSR did not finally break off relations with Romania (as, for example, with Albania ). The Soviet side continued to provide assistance to Romania (for example, during the construction of the Romanian-Yugoslav hydroelectric station Gerdap I ), while Romania remained in the police department and the CMEA.

Military cooperation

1949 - the first group of Romanian officers arrived in the USSR for training ^[4] . Autumn of 1954 - 6 generals and 2 officers of the Romanian army for the first time participated in maneuvers organized by the Soviet side to exchange military experience ^[4] . January – March 1955 — Romania signed a series of military protocols with the USSR on the development of a plan for supplying the Romanian army in 1955–1959, on the deployment of Soviet ships and submarines in the Black Sea, the formation of an air defense system on the Romanian coast, etc. ^[4] 1958 year - a decision on the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Romania ^[4] .

The main problems in relations between the two countries began in a new time. A certain role in them was played by the veiled, but rather persistent intervention of a number of Western powers in Romanian politics ( USA , France , Great Britain , NATO countries ).

• The Romanian intervention of 1918 and its subsequent unification with Bessarabia , which provoked several anti-Romanian revolts, in which Russian-speaking residents participated. ^[five]
• Romania in World War II : the country came out on the side of the Axis bloc countries and switched to the side of the Allied Powers only when the failure of Nazi Germany became apparent.
• The fate of the Romanian treasury, exported to the USSR after the end of the war.
• Criticism of the foreign policy influence of the Soviet Union in post-war Romania and the bringing of communists to power.
• The movement for the unification of Romania and Moldova
• Transnistrian conflict
• Romania's support for NATO . Romania has been a NATO member since March 29, 2004 and an EU member since January 1, 2007.

The most recent conflict in the 2010s was connected with the creation in Romania of elements of the US missile defense , which, according to Russia, pose a threat to its security ^[6] .

• Russian Embassy in Romania
• Romanian Embassy in Russia