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Organization and the European Union, at the same time being able to access its true potential for economic, social and cultural flourishing.
Placing Romania under the umbrella of structures with a beneficial economic, political and security vocation has shaped today’s geopolitical profile of the country, paving the way for further achievements well into the future.
Where we want to be
With these considerations in mind, even if perhaps inherently subjective and partial, it
is time to ask ourselves where we want to be. In other words, with the experience of having traversed the last century, it is legitimate to explore the question of how we would want to live in the next century, that is, where a second Centennial should take us.
Firstly, of course, we should be more at peace with ourselves. More determined to bring
to the fore what unites us instead of what divides us. More inclined to highlight what we can deservedly highlight, what we have been able to accomplish, and what Romania can further do in its region and in the world.
We need a new country project, one that is at the same time ambitious and realistic. We cannot delay designing such a project and upgrading our objectives without risking a wasting of our resources, and leaving the future generations to pay the price. We need to exit the paradigm of progress through trial and error in favor of a paradigm of rationally defined goals and means.
Setting our objectives is the easy part, and, in fact, we are mostly aware of what they are. To put it succinctly, what this means
is accessing a new profile as a country, appropriate to Romania’s status as seventh in the European Union in terms of territory and population, - soon to be sixth, following Brexit. We can substantiate this rather
statistical position by bringing our economic record, in terms of per capita GDP and life quality, in line with it!
We can open a wider access to authentic economic prosperity for Romania by reducing, and in the end eliminating the gaps separating us from the most advanced European countries! We have the resources for this, most importantly, we have the Romanians’ intelligence and their ability to learn and to adapt to what is new.
Increased capacities as an economic power, together with respect for the rules of the game and for our commitments, bring with them an increased influence in the organizations and structures of which we are part at the regional, European and global levels.
The stakes of the changes continuously going on around us are too high for us to afford being merely spectators; we must aspire instead to become real movers.
Membership in NATO, and in a European Union whose defense and security dimension will develop, our Strategic Partnership with the US, our faithful respect of the values and rules of multilateralism, have brought us to the greatest assurance of security in our history.
However, nothing can be taken for granted
in a world such as the one we live in, where risks, challenges and threats tend to diversify, amplify and become even more sophisticated. Trends seen in such phenomena as politically and religiously motivated terrorism, increasingly frequent cyber security threats to individuals, institutions and states, the recourse to hybrid, military and
non-military, conventional and nonconventional means, as a way to solve situations of conflict are will remain a staple on the international geopolitical menu. This reality should compel
us to redouble our efforts to protect our own security and the security of state
family of values.
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