ROMANIA PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE VOWS END TO UKRAINE GRAIN EXPORT- Romania to hold re-run of presidential election in May
Romanian presidential candidate Victor Ponta has stated that he would stop Ukrainian grain exports via the country’s Black Sea ports if elected to protect local farmers, but pledged to defend neighbouring Moldova in case of a Russian attack.
Romania, a European Union and NATO member state, will hold a re-run of its presidential election in May, and Bucharest’s role in NATO and the EU, as well as its aid to neighbouring Ukraine is currently in the spotlight.
Romania has helped to export roughly 29 million tons of Ukrainian grain through its Black Sea port of Constanta in the three years since Moscow’s invasion, becoming Ukraine’s main alternative route out.
Ponta has stated that the recent policy of favouring Ukrainian grain in terms of access to port facilities in recent years is to the detriment of Romanian grain, adding that Romanian farmers were greatly affected by it.
Ponta expressed his support for the “radical change” taking place in the United StatesPonta said his “Romania first” approach in the EU and NATO would focus on supporting EU accession for Moldova and the Western Balkans, as well as focusing on strategic partnerships with Poland and Turkey, the main military power in the Black Sea.
