Kyiv hopes Romania will recognize borders (11/24/96)

Kyiv hopes Romania will recognize borders

KYIV - The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry's envoy for special assignments, Volodymyr Vasylenko, stated that Kyiv hopes Romania will recognize Ukraine's territorial integrity following the election of Emil Constantinescu as president, reported the Jamestown Monitor. Mr. Vasylenko noted that Mr. Constantinescu's campaign emphasized the goal of Romania's early accession to NATO and the European Union as a high priority.

The two organizations require countries aspiring for membership to drop territorial claims on their neighbors and to sign treaties of good-neighborly relations, Mr. Vasylenko pointed out. He expressed hope that Bucharest would now move "as expeditiously as possible" to recognize Ukraine's borders and finalize the negotiations toward a bilateral political treaty.

Ukraine's first deputy foreign affairs minister, Anton Buteiko, speaking to the North Atlantic Assembly, also expressed hope for an improvement in relations with Romania. But Mr. Buteiko asked NATO to defer consideration of Romania's accession to the alliance pending its recognition of Ukraine's borders in a bilateral treaty.

The Western-oriented Mr. Constan-tinescu and his Democratic Convention defeated incumbent President Ion Iliescu and his leftist coalition in this month's presidential and parliamentary elections. Bucharest until now has directly or indirectly affirmed its perceived title to parts of Bessarabia, Bukovyna and to Serpents' Island, which have been part of Ukraine since the dissolution of the USSR. Negotiations toward a Ukrainian-Romanian bilateral treaty are stalled over Bucharest's demand that the document reflect its position on those territories.