Foreign Affairs Minister Oana Toiu said Romania chose in 2022 to stand on the right side of history by supporting Ukraine and will continue along that path.
'A peace imposed by force is not peace,' she wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, describing it instead as merely a pause in the face of aggression that will not stop. Ukraine's sovereignty, she added, is a 'red line' for the very idea of freedom in Europe, agerpres reports.
'No matter how long the winter, spring always comes for those who do not stop believing in freedom. I also hear the voices of those who, weighed down by difficult times, want a quick peace, hoping calm will immediately return everywhere. It is only natural to wish for suffering to end. But there are moments when wanting it is not enough, and those who side with Russia are not hastening peace; they are paving the way for a future in which an unpunished aggressor will continue the wars it chooses,' Oana Toiu said.
The minister added that Romania shares the longest border with the conflict and that Romanians were 'extraordinary' in welcoming families seeking refuge. The struggle and sacrifice of Ukrainians also contribute to our own security, she stressed.
'In those first days of Russia's aggression, Romanians proved to be good neighbours, opening their doors to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war. It was not about official protocols or bilateral treaties, but about thousands of Romanians who opened their homes, offered a cup of tea and an embrace to fellow human beings, frightened and searching for a way out of horror. We showed the finest side of our humanity - solidarity without reservation - because history has taught us what it means to long for those who do not return,' Toiu wrote.
She also said she attended the headquarters of NATO alongside artist Oleksyi Say for the inauguration of an installation bearing the message 'Volya' ('freedom' in Ukrainian), composed of letters recovered from a village in the Kherson region.
'The letters were recovered from a village in the Kherson region, and the marks of war are the result of the Russian invasion. Artillery did not strike only letters, but also children, priests and soldiers. More than 500 children and thousands of civilians have been killed in this war. Yet in October 2022 Ukrainians regained their village. The Russians lost what they had seized, just as the territory they currently occupy - 0.7% of Ukraine - will one day return to the people who love their country and defend it with their lives. The letters from the front are now the installation we had the honour to inaugurate with artist Oleksyi Say at NATO headquarters,' Oana Toiu wrote.
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