INTERVIEW Radu Magdin: Respect for Romanian troops on field should generate political capital

Romania's representative to the NATO Emerging Leaders Working Group, Radu Magdin says in an interview with AGERPRES that the Romanian troops are highly respected for their bravery in the theaters of operations, and this respect on field should generate political capital, in order for Romania to have more influence within the North Atlantic Alliance. In addition, Magdin referred to the Middle East conflicts and the solutions to ease tensions in the region, as well as to the risks facing the US and NATO amid increasing contacts between China and Russia. As for the forthcoming appointment of the EU Commissioners, Radu Magdin is skeptical about Romania's chance to keep Dacian Ciolos at the agriculture portfolio.

AGERPRES: Mr. Magdin, you are a member of the NATO Emerging Leaders Working Group. Tell us more about this structure because the general public's knowledge on this matter is pretty scarce.

Radu Magdin: Everything starts from this anniversary year. 2014 is a very important year for NATO and not just in terms of de facto developments, I'm referring to the events in Crimea or ISAF's withdrawal from Afghanistan. It's an anniversary year. This year we celebrate the 65th anniversary of NATO, 10 years since Romania's accession to NATO, 15 years since the accession of the Visegrad states, 25 years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall, so it's a multiple anniversary moment.

Within this context, there have been many questions raised on the direction we follow, on the direction NATO follows, and therefore the NATO Secretary General, whose term ends in October, when he will be replaced by Norwegian [Jens] Stoltenberg, so incumbent secretary general [Anders Fogh] Rasmussen said during the preparations for the NATO Summit in Cardiff this...