Russia’s Ambassador in Romania, Valery Kuzmin, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) after the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, responded to Romania’s claims over its national treasure which Russia confiscated following World War I.
Kuzmin was specifically called in to discuss „important themes of bilateral relevance, which originate from a historic past”.
In WWI, between 1916 and 1917, Romania sent its national treasure (which included significant quantities of gold, art collections, jewellery, archives) for safekeeping in tsarist Russia in case of the occupation of Romania’s national territory.
Last Thursday Romanian MEPs in the European Parliament unanimously demanded that Russia return Romania’s treasure in full and that the EU executive and other competent European institutions do everything possible to support this effort.
In response, Maria Zakharova declared that Moscow not only returned to Bucharest all the gold that Romania sent to Russia in 1916-1917, but also forgave this country a huge debt, far exceeding the value of the respective gold reserve, according to the quoted press agency.
The ambassador of the Russian Federation was reminded of the need for full and permanent inclusion in diplomatic practice, including in terms of maintaining a responsible conduct in public communication,” reads a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, currently Vice-President of the Security Council, declared on Friday that the European Parliament’s resolution regarding the return of the Romanian gold sent for safekeeping in Russia in 1916-1917 is „obscene”, and the European Union „can only be sent to hell”, mentioning in this context the gold reserves of the Russian Federation frozen by the West, reports Agerpres.
Romania really buckles down to get its treasure back from Russia
