President Basescu: EU should take more resolute action on Ukraine

President Traian Basescu on Wednesday night called for more resolute action of the European Union as regards Ukraine, this being his point of view expressed at the European Council meeting in Brussels.

"My point of view was that if the European Union does take more resolute action to impose sanctions, and immediately move to the third stage of sanctions, Ukraine will turn into a country no longer able to advance towards the EU, and this fact will also affect the Republic of Moldova, given the Transnistria separatist movement. But the impact on a country like Ukraine will be infinitely greater for the EU, due to the size of Ukraine," Traian Basescu said at the end of the meeting in Brussels.

When asked whether the suspension of financial operations by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) can be interpreted as a transition to the third stage, the head of state said he does not think so. "What might come next is a switch to Russian companies, but this measure has not been adopted yet," the Romanian head of state said. AGERPRES