Romania is a "strategic" player in the region, Mircea Geoana, founding president of the Aspen Institute Romania and independent presidential candidate, said on Thursday, stressing that our country should play an even "stronger" role.

"Romania is a strategic player in this region, but we should play an even stronger regional role, our country should become a regional power. (...) Of course Romania will play a role and, regardless of the results of the elections in Romania, it is clear that Romania needs its neighbours, we are surrounded by friends and hopefully allies. (...) Romania is an important player in this region, but we need to help our friends and those in the region to join the EU," Geoana said at the Aspen - GMF Bucharest Forum, an event organised by the Aspen Institute Romania and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

He said that it is not normal for Romania not to be a full member of the Schengen Area or the OECD.

"It is not normal for Romania not to be a Schengen member and I want to urge the Austrians to reconsider this situation, it is not right (...) We need low inflation, purchasing power for citizens. (...) When I was foreign minister, I was the one who initiated the steps for OECD membership. Here we are, after so many years, we are not in the OECD and it is not right," Mircea Geoana mentioned.

According to him, the Republic of Moldova is a "symptom" of the way in which the hybrid war, "somewhat unseen", waged by the Russian Federation is being carried out.

"The Republic of Moldova is a symptom of the way in which this somewhat unseen hybrid war is being waged. A few days ago, we saw that Russia is using a set of tools with which it is waging a total hybrid war against the West. From espionage, to sabotage, to assassinations, to disinformation, to intimidation. (...) They basically have a set of tools that Russia uses every day. At the same time, it is adding fuel to the fire in our countries at the official and political level, something that can be seen in Romania, Moldova, the United States, France or Macedonia, Montenegro and the Western Balkans. All this is happening because the Russians provoked it. They are exacerbating existing inter-ethnic tensions (...) They have sophisticated techniques of exacerbating these situations in such a way that they lead to destabilisation in our democratic societies," the former NATO deputy secretary said.

Mircea Geoana also emphasised that there is an "obligation" to help Ukraine: "There are revisionist powers like Russia, that are tempted to rule the new world order through war. Ukraine has our support and needs our support. Let us hope that it will soon join NATO and the EU. We have an obligation to help a heroic nation freely and sovereignly choose its own future. The way in which the war in Ukraine will end will also show us how we will reorganise ourselves globally." AGERPRES (RO - author: Sorinel Penes, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)