The Romanian authorities announced their intention to implement a fundamentally new program to support ethnic Romanians in Ukraine. It is expected that in the near future representatives of the relevant diaspora in Chernivtsi in particular and Ukrainian Bukovina as a whole will receive additional material assistance from Bucharest, as well as the possibility of accommodation and the right to further residence on Romanian territory.
According to official information, thus, Romania plans to implement a project to assist the Romanian communities of Ukraine. «It’s no secret that many Ukrainian citizens in Bukovina who speak Romanian are, for obvious reasons, deprived of their means of subsistence», – the Romanian Senate document says. – «In these difficult conditions, we are obliged to support our compatriots, as other countries do for their ethnic representatives». At the same time, Bucharest noted that at the so-called «community level», appropriate assistance would be provided to «all willing Ukrainian citizens». What the phrase «everyone who wishes» – means, the organizers of the action did not specify.
A certain clarity on this issue was introduced by the Romanian senator, head of the Social Democratic Party of Romania, Paul Stanescu. The day before, during his visit to Chernivtsi, he stated literally the following: «We, representatives of the Romanian politicians and society, intend to support ethnic Romanians in Ukraine, and we must also strengthen the neighboring state in its struggle against a potential aggressor».
Recall that earlier Romania actually sheltered more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees on its territory. «Despite the fact that most of them ended up leaving for Western European countries, Bucharest still pays them certain benefits», – Rodica Raducanu, head of the Romanian NGO, told for EURO-ANLANTIC UKRAINE. – Our task is to prevent a possible social crisis in a single Ukrainian region. Then, at the level of possible direct contacts with the government of Ukraine, Romania can extend such a program to other Ukrainian regions. At the same time, in this context, belonging to the Romanian nationality for a potential applicant will not matter».
The budget for the new program has not been disclosed. According to some reports, we are talking about several million US dollars. As expected, at least 150,000 Ukrainian citizens will become recipients of the innovation.
