ForMin Melescanu says international institutions helped mellow East - West collision

The East -West collision is currently less intense although it hasn't yet fully died out, and this is the effect of action by international institutions, Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu on Wednesday told the seventh edition of the Bucharest Forum. 

He said that one of the most important actors in this respect is the UN, thanks to its encompassing practically the entire international society. It's not just accidental that the latest efforts of the UN are about the reform of the Security Council and creating a committee tasked with strengthening global peace, said Romania's top diplomat. As for the current situation, it's again no mere coincidence that Romania has taken up the chairmanship of both structures, the Committee on the reform of the Security Council, and the Peacebuilding Commission. This is one of the key organizations playing a special role in maintaining international security, said the Foreign Minister. 

Melescanu added that other highly important actors in the process are NATO and the EU and that the major change in terms of the East - West confrontation is the massive shift in war-related concepts. 

There is a very clear international tendency, under the effect of NATO Article 5, of keeping actions below the level that would trigger this article. This also shapes a certain vision we call hybrid war, which builds on particular elements such as fake news, the use of cybernetic systems, involvement in another country's elections. As a result of all this, the confrontation's character is different than strictly military, said the ForMin. 

As to one of the subjects under debate in the forum - 'The rise of (Eur)Asia and the West: Collision, Collusion or Cooperation?', Melescanu underscored that in his view the concept of conciliation and cooperation is the only solution to everything currently going on. 

The Foreign Minister said that the term at the Presidency of the Council of the EU as of January 1, 2019 is a particular opportunity for Romania, and brought to mind that ensuring EU's internal and external security and expanding the Union's international role are among Romania's priorities for this term.