western family

Speaking ahead of a European Union summit Thursday set to decide on further sanctions against Turkey over its actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged the bloc's leaders not to forget the country's importance to the transatlantic alliance and the West at large.

Ahead of a key EU leaders' summit, the head of NATO on Dec. 10 urged EU countries not to forget Turkey's importance to the alliance and the West and to seek out "positive approaches."

President Klaus Iohannis passed on a message on Monday on the occasion of Romania's National Anthem Day, stating that this is the moment when "we look forward with confidence and optimism to the future of our nation." "On July 29, we celebrate, as every year, the National Anthem Day, one of the national symbols that inspire our sense of solidarity and the pride of being Romanian.

The Euro-Atlantic family is going through one of the worst crises in its history, as its unity is being challenged, mainly by its most powerful member. The parents in the Western family - the US and Europe - are locked in a confrontation that until a short while ago seemed unthinkable, leaving their creation, NATO itself, in the grips of - one could argue - existential angst.