Senator of the upper house of the Romanian parliament, Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă, has submitted a draft law demanding “denunciation of the Treaty on Good Neighborliness and Cooperation between Romania and Ukraine,” ratified by Law no. 129/1997. By denouncing the Treaty, Șoșoacă is demanding that Romania annex territories that were part of Romania until the 1940s, a process that could only be possible through a declaration of war by Romania.
Image: Senator Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă. Sursa Inquam Photos / George Călin
The Romanian media reported on the “initiative” of a well-known pro-Russian senator, Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă, who submitted a draft law to the country’s legislature aimed at abolishing the Treaty on Good Neighborliness and Cooperation between Romania and Ukraine. Șoșoacă’s draft law requires the termination of the treaty with Ukraine in 2027 “with a notice period of at least one year before the expiration of the treaty,” as a result of which “Romania will annex the historical territories that it owned, respectively, Northern Bukovina, the region of Herce, Bujak (Cahul, Bolgrad, Izmail), historical Maramures and Zmeinyi Island.”
“With this law, we want to return the cultural identity, traditions, customs, and religion to the Romanian population, which is estimated at about one million, including mixed families,” the Romanian senator said. She added, “Ukraine has never respected the reciprocity between the rights granted to the Ukrainian minority in Romania and has barbarically tried to destroy the cultural and national identity of Romanians in Ukraine.”
Another reason for the territorial claims mentioned by the senator is related to the assistance Romania provided to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees after the outbreak of the war started by Putin.
“Given the conflict in Ukraine and the fact that the Romanian state is financing Ukraine with military equipment and weapons through NATO, and that approximately 3 million Ukrainians have passed through Romania, we are asking Ukraine to give us the lands where our Romanian brothers live.”
Who is Diana Șoșoacă?
A Serbian by birth, she is known for her far-right views that fit into the context of Kremlin narratives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the senator was among the activists of the anti-vaccination movement, and she called quarantine restrictions nothing less than “fascist acts” or “the biggest scam of the century.” Șoșoacă organized provocative raids on hospitals and quarrels with doctors, posting videos on her Facebook page.
With the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Șoșoacă was distinguished by her categorical denial of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv. The most interesting thing is that it was at this time that the senator also made strange statements about a “neutral” Romania, which was forced into NATO by “incompetents, plagiarists, thieves, robbers, cowards, traitors, mediocrities, awarded by foreign countries for special services…”.
According to the Romanian media, with his initiative, Șoșoacă publicly supports the speech of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who said last summer that Romania wants to annex the territories of Ukraine.
Romanian journalists also report that Șoșoacă is a good friend of the Russian ambassador to Bucharest. On her last visit to the Kremlin’s office in Bucharest, the senator went to celebrate the “results of the special operation” [as Russia calls this aggressive war] in Ukraine.
In fact, her legislative initiative is more in line with Moscow’s official line than Romania’s. It was Russia that, after the war began, tried to convince the international community with phantasmagorical theories that other neighboring states would also like to start a conflict with Ukraine to return the territories that had belonged to them before World War II.
Of course, such a legislative initiative has no chance of being implemented. It is not only absurd and detached from reality, but also contradicts both international law and Romania’s official policy.
Fortunately, official Bucharest demonstrates solidarity with Ukraine. In addition to providing important assistance and support to Ukrainian refugees, Romania has joined the anti-Putin coalition of European states. In particular, it joined the initiative of the Baltic states, Poland, and Slovakia to create a special center for Russian aggression.
