Long Term Strategies for Romania: Where are We Heading To?

In the last decade, Romania has faced new and challenging experiences, going through a period of change with a broad social, economic and political impact: the accession to NATO and to the EU and the need to adapt to European and Euro-Atlantic values. This complex process requires firstly a look back in order to observe the achievements, but also the failures, followed by a prospective look, the main directions of analysis being represented by the answer to some questions like: How has the Romania’s position within NATO and EU been shaped and structured? What was its role in the critical moments? The substance of these questions must be kept, but the orientation has to be directed toward the future. In addition, we believe that it is paramount for Romania to capitalize on EU and NATO membership by establishing a comprehensive set of priorities in the relations with Moldova, Ukraine and the Western Balkans, as well as a coherent strategy regarding the Black Sea. These priorities should be directed toward supporting the European aspirations of Moldova by transferring experience from Romania to Moldova in social, political, economic and security issues, relaunching the bilateral relationship with Ukraine to mitigate the Russian influence in the region and to avoid having a border with Russia, strengthening the bilateral and multilateral cooperation in Western Balkans to launch projects for development and regional stability, creating a Romania’s identity as an active player in the Black Sea region, focusing on energy, security and fight against organized crime.