On the Other Side of the Romanian Border

The Ukrainians don’t just give up. On Thursday night, they came with military ships near Chilia Veche and tried to anchor some extra beacons in the Romanian shore of the Danube. Yesterday sources inside the Frontier Police in Tulcea confirmed us their actions that appear at less 24 since the Romanian External Affairs Ministry addressed a letter to Kiev asking for the removal of all the Ukrainian beacons anchored in the Romanian shore.

BLOCKED BY OUR PEOPLE. The Ukrainians moved their two drags above the Maican Island, towards Chilia Veche and continue with rapidity the dragging of the Chilia branch. On Thursday night, few minutes after the secretary of state in the Romanian External Affairs Ministry, Bogdan Aurescu, announced he sent a verbal note to the Ukrainians asking them to remove their beacons from the Romanian territorial Danube, one military ship belonging to our neighbor state has crossed the border again. The Ukrainians tried anchoring a few more signaling beacons. "Welcomed" by the Romanian Frontier Police, they used audio and luminous signals, but backed out without anchoring any.

THEY CAME BACK YESTERDAY MORNING. The operation restarted on Friday morning when, at about 10:10 - 10:20, they tried anchoring the two drags also in the Romanian territorial waters. The Romanian Frontier Police intervened with two motor-boats using audio and luminous signals in order to let the Ukrainians know they have crossed the border again. The Ukrainians accomplished their mission, assisted by two military ships and they filmed the entire operation. Few hours later the anchors have been removed also by the Ukrainians. At about one o’clock in the afternoon, a Ukrainian ship got close and removed the two anchors from the Romanian territorial waters.

INTIMIDATION? Our sources inside the Frontier Police in Tulcea say that they cannot find any logic explanation for the things that happened on Thursday and on Friday on the Chilia branch. "There’s only one hypothesis possible, that of testing our reaction. They go to our limits, but we won’t respond, we cannot fire at them, we cannot do anything, because we are not allowed to", our sources stated. The Frontier Police is still alert, waiting for the next Ukrainian moves. There will probably be some hard days to come for our policemen, taking into account the fact that the Ukrainians just don’t want to be good neighbors.

AMBASSADOR BAUER, CALLED IN BY GEOANA AGAIN

Ukraine’s ambassador in Bucharest, Teofil Bauer, has been called in again by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The chief of the Romanian diplomacy, Mircea Geoana, was supposed to meet yesterday Bauer in order to communicate to him the Romanian demand, saying that Ukraine should immediately remove the beacons illegally anchored in the Romanian territorial waters. "If the Ukrainians don’t acquit of their commitment, we will do everything we can to remove these beacons ourselves", warned Geoana. The Minister stated that the institution he leads and the Internal Affairs Ministry (IAM) have a perfect collaboration in order to re-establish a "normal situation" on the Danube as soon as possible. On the 26th of august Bauer has been also been called by MEA, when Geoana presented Bucharest’s express request of stopping the works for the Bistroe channel until a study of environmental impact of it towards the Danube Delta will be made.

On the other hand, six British deputies from the Labor Party have submitted this week, at the House of Communes in the London Parliament, a resolution asking the British Government to immediately request from the Ukrainian executive to stop the establishment works at least until the proper evaluation of the construction’s consequences. (By Lavinia Tudoran)

KIEV GOES INTO US

Unbelievable, but true, the Ukrainian Ministry of External Affairs accuses Romania of moving "without permission" the beacons indicating the safe lane for the ships in the area of the Danube frontier, says a statement made public by the Daily Russia agency. According to this statement, "the Romanian frontier ships and boats without any recognizing marks have moved, without the permission of the Ukrainian side, the navigation beacon no. 36 on the Danube’s channel". We want to remind the officials in the MEA in Kiev that the anglers that, on Tuesday, dared to move the beacon no. 36, illegally anchored in the Romanian territorial waters, have registered boats, which was pretty in the photos shown by Jurnalul National. In the same statement, the Ukrainians accuse Romania of that they fill in the Danube’s channel with sand and refuse accepting Ukraine’s proposals regarding some bilateral consulting for the regulation of the problem concerning the river sector of the Ukrainian-Romanian frontier. (Lavinia Tudoran)