Romania–Ukraine relations

Romania–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Romania and Ukraine. Diplomatic relations between both countries were established on February 9, 1918, and re-established in 1992. In 2020, it was announced that Romania would open a consulate for Ukraine in Sighetu Marmației.[1]

Romanian-Ukrainian relations
Map indicating locations of Romania and Ukraine

Romania
Ukraine

Disputes

Romania and Ukraine had been negotiating a broad treaty of friendship and cooperation for several years, but disagreement over ownership of the Snake Island and more importantly the oil and gas reserves that are thought to lie beneath its area of the Black Sea, as well as the northern border of Romania with Ukraine, had kept the sides apart. In June 1997, Romania signed a bilateral treaty with Ukraine that, among other concerned, resolved territorial and minority issues that had impeded the development of improved relations between the two countries:

History

On 5 September 2020, the Minister of National Defense of Romania Nicolae Ciucă and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran signed an agreement for technical and military cooperation between the two countries.[4]

On 4 April 2022, amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy gave a speech to the Parliament of Romania.[5][6] Later, on 26 April, a group of Romanian officials visited Kyiv, promising more cooperation between Romania and Ukraine.[7] After this, a Russian hacking group started a campaign of cyberattacks against Romanian government and other official websites.[8]

On 19 April 2022 Romania announced a planned reform to the government decree that regulates the export of military weapons and national defence products in order to provide these weapons not only to NATO allies but also to Ukraine.[9] The Ministry of Defense developed the draft decree which states that the reason behind this decision is Russia's aggression against Ukraine.[10]

Maritime delimitation
Main article: Maritime delimitation between Romania and Ukraine

The status of Snake Island was important for delimitation of continental shelf and exclusive economic zones between the two countries. If Snake Island were recognized as an island, then continental shelf around it should be considered as Ukrainian water. If Snake Island were not an island, but a rock,[11] then in accordance with international law the maritime boundary between Romania and Ukraine should be drawn without taking into consideration the isle location.

On 4 July 2003 the President of Romania Ion Iliescu and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed a treaty about friendship and cooperation. Romania promised not to contest territories of Ukraine or Moldova, which it lost to Soviet Union after World War II, but requested that Russia as a successor of the Soviet Union recognized in some form its responsibility for what had happened.[12]

On 16 September 2004 the Romanian side brought a case against Ukraine to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a dispute concerning the maritime boundary between the two States in the Black Sea.[13]

On 2007, Ukraine founded the small settlement of Bile on the island, which was criticized by Romania.[14]

On February 3, 2009, the ICJ delivered its judgment, which divided the sea area of the Black Sea along a line which was between the claims of each country. The Court invoked the disproportionality test in adjudicating the dispute, noting that the ICJ, "as its jurisprudence has indicated, it may on occasion decide not to take account of very small islands or decide not to give them their full potential entitlement to maritime zones, should such an approach have a disproportionate effect on the delimitation line under consideration" and owing to a previous agreement between Ukraine and Romania, the island "should have no effect on the delimitation in this case, other than that stemming from the role of the 12-nautical-mile arc of its territorial sea" previously agreed between the parties.[15]

Resident diplomatic missions
  • Embassy of Romania in Kyiv
    Embassy of Romania in Kyiv
  • Embassy of Ukraine in Bucharest
    Embassy of Ukraine in Bucharest

See also

References
  1. "Ukraine to open new consulate in Romania". Ukrinform. 8 September 2020.
  2. Ukraine loses the dispute over Snake Island to Romania, Centre for Eastern Studies (3 February 2009) Archived May 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Ukraine – Romania: a sustained deadlock, Centre for Eastern Studies (30 December 2011)
  4. "România și Ucraina au semnat un acord la nivel guvernamental în domeniul cooperării tehnico-militare". Profit.ro (in Romanian). 5 September 2020.
  5. Zelenskyy tells Romania European peace at stake.
  6. Speech by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Romanian Parliament.
  7. "Imagini cu Marcel Ciolacu și Nicolae Ciucă la Kiev, cu Volodimir Zelenski. Vizita ar fi trebuit să aibă loc mâine, împreună cu Florin Cîțu". www.antena3.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  8. "Val de atacuri cibernetice în România. Vizate mai multe instituții, între care Guvernul și Ministerul Apărării / Atacurile, revendicate de hackerii pro-ruși de la Killnet". economie.hotnews.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  9. Garzon, Elsy Fors (19 April 2022). "Romania to modify its laws to deliver weapons to Ukraine". Prensa Latina.
  10. "Romania is planning to hand over lethal weapons to Ukraine". «Ukrainian Military Center» Public Organization. 19 April 2022.
  11. Ruxandra Ivan (2012). New Regionalism Or No Regionalism?: Emerging Regionalism in the Black Sea Area. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-4094-2213-6.
  12. Russia and Romania: compromise on history. BBC Russia. 4 July 2003
  13. "Romania brings a case against Ukraine to the Court in a dispute concerning the maritime boundary between the two States in the Black Sea" (PDF). International Court of Justice. September 16, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2008.
  14. "România a demonstrat și cu imagini din satelit că Insula Șerpilor nu face parte din coasta Ucrainei". România liberă (in Romanian). 3 September 2008.
  15. "The Court establishes the single maritime boundary delimiting the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones of Romania and Ukraine" (PDF). International Court of Justice. February 3, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 5, 2009.
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