03 mai 2007

In perioada 3-4 mai 2007, la Istanbul, Alteta Sa Principele Radu de Hohenzollern-Veringen, Reprezentant Special al Guvernului Romaniei, a participat la lucrarile celui de-al 10-lea Summit Economic Euro-Asiatic, organizat de Fundatia Marmara. Aceasta organizatie, infiintata in anul 1985, depune eforturi sustinute pentru promovarea cooperarii internationale si pentru imbunatatirea situatiei economice din Turcia si din regiunea de sud-est a Europei. Vineri, 4 mai, in cadrul primei sesiuni de lucru a zilei, la sectiunea "National and International Security", AS Principele Radu, Reprezentant Special al Guvernului Romaniei, a sustinut o alocutiune cu tema "Security and Identity. A Romanian View".

In cadrul acestei interventii, Principele Radu s-a referit la rolul Romaniei in cadrul Uniunii Europene si la avantajele geopolitice pe care le are prin deschiderea la Marea Neagra. De asemenea, Principele Radu a subliniat faptul ca, la mai bine de jumatate de secol de la aparitia conceptului Europei Unite, procesul de largire continua si produce efecte benefice cum ar fi: stimularea cresterii economice, coeziune sociala si, nu in ultimul rand, intareste rolul si influenta Europei in lume. Tara noastra a mai fost reprezentata la acest Summit de catre Excelentele Lor domnii Ion Iliescu si Emil Constantinescu, fosti presedinti ai Romaniei, domnul Varujan Vosganian, Ministrul Economiei, Comertului si Energiei si domnul Teodor Melescanu, Ministrul Apararii Nationale.

De asemenea, la Summit-ul organizat de Fundatia Marmara au mai participat fostul presedinte al Turciei, ES domnul Suleyman Demirel si fostul presedinte al Bulgariei, ES domnul Zhelyu Zhelev. In cadrul Summitului au mai fost abordate subiecte legate de economie, stabilitate, energie, securitate si aparare in contextul regional, cuprinzand Marea Neagra, dar si Caucazul de sud, Orientul Mijlociu sau Africa de Nord. Totodata, s-au mai dezbatut subiecte legate de cooperarea inter-regionala in Eurasia si s-au facut declaratii in favoarea continuarii procesului de pace in Orientul Mijlociu.
 

Security and Identity. A Romanian View
The Eurasian Economic Summit
Marmara Group Economic ans Social Researsch Foundation, Istanbul, 3-4 May 2007
HSH Prince Radu of Hohenzollern-Veringen
Special Representative of the Romanian Government

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure and a privilege for me to take part in the Eurasian Economic Summit, held in Istanbul, this European city of history and art. It is equally a reason for hope and pride since, a few months ago, my country became a full member of the European Union. In this important event today, aimed to exchange views between the EU and countries of Central Asia and the Middle East, Romania is present with two former heads of State, President Iliescu and President Constantinescu, who played a major role in my country’s accession in both NATO and the EU, as well as with senior members of the Government.

This means continuity, courage and farsightedness. As a citizen of Europe, I would like to thank you very much, Mr. Chairman of the Marmara Group Foundation, for discussing here – openly and in all honesty about the weaknesses, fears and confusions of our world, and not only focusing on Europe’s virtues and potential. Historically, Romania has always been a European country. In the Middle Ages, important princes of Moldova or Walachia maintained links with Western Europe, some of them even paid a heavy price for their friendship with the Western world. The first European head of state that Romania had was Carol I, a German prince who became the most important leader of Romania’s modern age. Our Constitutions of 1866 and 1923 were amongst the most advanced in Europe. In 2005, together with King Michael I, I traveled all the way from Transylvania to Prague, to lay flowers on the graves of the 66,000 Romanian soldiers who died in 1945 not to free Romania but to free the European continent from the Nazis.

66,000 Romanian soldiers gave their lives in the name of a Europe of shared values. In this crucial moment of transformation of both society and people, I think that all of us should seek love and inspiration, kindness and generosity as well as sharing ideas, views and ideals. The seminars, round tables or lectures do not aim to radically change, directly and suddenly, things in the world. But they help us to understand better the state of the world, through the words of a Turkish, an Azeri, a Bulgarian, a Macedonian, a Turkmen, a Czech, a Georgian, a Latvian or a Romanian. In the last years, Romania became a predictable country, benefiting from the blessing of democracy, freedom and a coherent and solid concept of national security. Much of our achievement of the last years was possible thanks to the privatisation, enforcement of the rule of law, the implementation of the market economy, competence and professionalism of the local administration and military reform.

The age of asymmetrical risks, the current environment of security or insecurity highlight the organic connection between the U.S, NATO and the EU, and, hence, have dictated the guiding lines of Romania’s strategy for national defence. Thus, Romania’s efforts to follow the paradigm established by the new risks and threats to the stability of the international system have served not only the interests of the European Union, NATO or the United Nations, but have also corresponded perfectly to the national matrix of security. The combination of soft and hard power in a transatlantic context, as well as the strategic plans regarding the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and Southern Caucasus region have placed Romania in a privileged position for the next twenty years perhaps.

In addition to her international institutional presence, I believe that, in the third millennium, Romania will also have to rely on the contribution of her native personalities and on the symbols that ensure a permanent link between us and the civilized world, beyond temporary circumstances and geopolitical calculations. More than a half a century after the creation of the European Idea, the EU enlargement stimulates economic growth and social cohesion; it strengthens Europe’s role and influence in the world. Following the fifth wave of enlargement, by the accession of Romania and the Republic of Bulgaria, Europe has to rethink its institutions, to stand for ideals and to find people able to embody ideals, in so far as the European citizens may live in a Union of convictions and not of directions.