Why Moldova Urgently Matters NATOs Article 5 offers little protection against Vladimir Putins Russia, Iulian Fota, Romanias presidential national security adviser, told me on a recent visit to Bucharest. Article 5 protects Romania and other Eastern European countries against a military invasion. But it does not protect them against subversion, that is, intelligence activities, the running of criminal networks, the buying-up of banks and other strategic assets, and indirect control of media organs to undermine public opinion. Moreover, Article 5 does not protect Eastern Europe against reliance on Russian energy. As Romanian President Traian Basescu told me, Romania is a somewhat energy-rich island surrounded by a Gazprom empire. The president ran his finger over a map showing how Romanias neighbors such as Bulgaria and Hungary were almost completely dependent on Russian natural gas, while Romania -- because of its own hydrocarbon reserves -- still has a significant measure of independence. In the 21st century, the president explained, Gazprom is more dangerous than the Russian army. The national security adviser then added: Putin is not an apparatchik; he is a former intelligence officer, implying that Putin will act subtly. Putins Russia will not fight conventionally for territory in the former satellite states, but unconventionally for hearts and minds, Fota went on. Putin knows that the flaw of the Soviet Union was that it did not have soft power.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 13:01:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015