On September 19, the BMW Center for German and European Studies was honored to host Minister of Foreign Affairs for Romania Oana-Silvia Țoiu for an event titled “Romania and the US – Championing Shared Values on NATO’s Eastern Flank.” Țoiu has been a Member of Parliament since 2020 and Vice-President of the Save Romania Union (USR – Renew Europe, one of the ruling coalition parties) since 202
The event began with an introduction from Dr. Abraham Newman, Director of the BMW Center. Newman noted the timeliness of the event’s topic given recent incursions of Russian planes in Estonian airspace and Russian drones over Romania.
Țoiu then began by discussing her country’s strategic importance, particularly its border with Ukraine and its role in NATO and the European Union.
“For us, it is quite clear [the drone incursions into our border] have been intentional. Our border is the border of Romania, the border of NATO, the border of the European Union, the border of the Schengen area. Our responsibility is to protect it for all of these four spaces,” she said.
She highlighted Romania’s economic growth, with its GDP increasing tenfold since the 1990s, and its commitment to NATO, increasing military spending to 2% of GDP.
“Why do I start with economy? Because I think this is essential, and one factor that has contributed to what has been the perceived security and safety of Romania, and also of the region. But in my generation, since I was in kindergarten, basically, we never thought this security would be challenged again,” Țoiu said.
Emphasizing the need for a strong defense and resilient societies, including investments in education and healthcare, Țoiu said such investments are “investments in our democracies.”
“When you speak about the money, we need to put it into the main objective, which is to keep us safe and create peace in the region. I think it’s fair not just to look at the military spending and the procurement spending, but also on how do we take these lessons and have the proper investments, proper decisions in terms of education, in terms of free media, in powerful, honest journalists, for example, who have a great role in the core of having remedial societies,” she said.
The minister also noted the importance of energy independence, with Romania becoming the EU’s top natural gas supplier. The event concluded with a thoughtful Q&A session joined by the Romanian ambassador to the United States as well as the Dean of the Political Science University of Romania.
