Bucharest - Topics seen as critical to countries in the region, including security matters, are to be tackled during the works of the Black Sea Forum, particularly given that one of the regional insecurity sources is the long-lasting dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh province. The latter is an enclave with an Armenian majority on Azer territory, which declared its independence after the USSR collapse. The crisis made some 30,000 casualties in the early ‘90s and forced approx. one million to leave their homes. President Traian Basescu had bilateral meetings with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev and with President of Armenia Robert Kotcharian on Sunday afternoon.
The Head of the Romanian State also offered a dinner in the two Presidents' honour on Sunday evening.
An initiative launched by Romania , the Forum intends to create the circumstances for a transparent dialogue and for the launch of a reflection process on the future and identity of the Black Sea region, a process compatible with current developments in the Euro-Atlantic community.
The Forum is also aimed at facilitating the identification of common grounds with respect to investment projects, scientific research, and at helping states in the region to solve their instability issues in due time.
Presidents of the Republic of Moldova Vladimir Voronin , of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili and of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko have confirmed participation in the meeting, while Bulgaria , Turkey and Greece will be represented by ministers. Also attending will be high-level officials for EU, NATO, OSCE and UN, as well as officials of European states such as UK , Germany , Spain , Italy , France and Poland .
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a news release sent to Mediafax on Sunday the comprehensive list of official participants in the summit meeting, which does not include representatives of the Russian Federation .
The American delegation will be headed by deputy national security adviser to the US President, J.D. Crouch (former Ambassador to Bucharest ), who met with President Traian Basescu yesterday afternoon. Also taking part in the works will be representatives of the academic community and the civil society in the region and in the Euro-Atlantic space, as well as representatives of leading private operators in the energy and construction sectors. The summit meeting will be followed by four meetings at an expert level, which will address issues related to the regional cooperation architecture, good governance, sustained development and energy security and crisis management.
FM Ungureanu doesn't believe in taboo topics
Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu stated in an interview to Mediafax that there will be no taboo topics in talks between presidents in the Black Sea Forum, and that through this initiative Romania did not mean to claim “imaginary leadership.” Ungureanu added that the event will allow for talks on any topic of mutual interest, both at a bilateral and at a multilateral level, and emphasised that the representation level is not an indicator of a country's interest in the Black Sea topic, given that the outcome document of the summit was agreed on by delegations from all riparian states.
He also pointed out that the Romanian initiative benefits from the attention of European governments, most of which have sent Foreign Ministry officials, able to convey the message of the meeting and turn it into a political platform of the European Union.
“We are concerned with the security state of our Oriental neighbours. Unfortunately, the Black Sea has a rather negative image, it is perceived as a conflict-worn area, an area where policies are fuzzy, or underground, rather than open and cooperation-driven,” says FM Ungureanu. According to the Head of the Romanian diplomacy, there is no regional cooperation at the Black Sea , or if there is one, it has a hardly articulated form and is short-lived. “We believe more can be done, we believe an influx of authentic political support is necessary,” Mihai Razvan Ungureau pointed out, adding that Romania designed this forum as a communication between partners with equal standing.