Romania's defence minister resigns
Romania's Defence Minister Vasile Dîncu resigned on Monday citing difficulties working with President Klaus Iohannis, who is also chief of the Romanian armed forces. Iohannis had severely reprimanded Dîncu after the latter suggested that negotiations with Russia were the only chance for peace in Ukraine and that Ukraine was not capable of negotiating because it was not prepared to make territorial concessions.
This spat is discrediting the country
The row between Dîncu and Iohannis is an unworthy spectacle, Spotmedia complains:
“When a minister with a sense of responsibility is confronted with such a 'hopeless' situation, he either quietly resigns to protect his office and the state or he explains very clearly exactly what he means to leave no room for speculation and avoid placing the entire country under suspicion. ... But now the whole grotesque spectacle is playing out in the defence zone of a Nato country on whose border a war is raging. And this at a time when Romania wants to prove that it has the maturity to become the eastern and toughest border of the Schengen Area.”
Nato has a problem in Romania
These disputes are symptoms of a conflict that Nato should be worried about, warns Adevărul:
“If the defence minister says that Romania's president is anxious, mentally unstable and so incapable of institutional cooperation that the army's ability to function, national security and the operations of Nato troops [in the country] are at risk, then Nato has a huge problem in the midst of a military conflict. ... We should not be surprised if other states soon demand Klaus Iohannis' resignation. ... Not so he can become Nato secretary-general, but so he can be consigned to the rubbish heap of history. War is for strong leaders, not for unstable characters who put Nato at risk.”
A row over war and peace
Commenting on the Mediafax website, journalist Ion Cristoiu speculates:
“Vasile Dîncu's statement on how to achieve peace with Ukraine bothered the president quite simply because the defence minister spoke about peace. Klaus Iohannis does not talk about peace. ... Iohannis, who is nothing less than the US's press secretary, talks only and exclusively about war. He is one of the most bellicose Nato leaders. ... Is Vasile Dîncu the spokesman for those internal forces that oppose Klaus Iohannis' bellicose policy?”