| One of the central moments of today's working visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Romania is the signing of an agreement on the burials of Soviet soldiers on the territory of Romania and Romanian soldiers on the territory of Russia. The only problem is that there are 115 such burial sites in Romania, and not a single one on Russian territory. But the agreement also presupposes the discovery of Romanian burials in Russia and our appropriate care for them. Moreover, the agreement tactfully avoids the question of who fought against whom, especially since it also provides for the period of the First World War, when our countries were allies.
This funeral topic is clearly indicated on the agenda of the visit and, as it were, symbolizes the burial of an entire era of military-political relations between our countries (both when they were opponents and when they were allies within the framework of the Warsaw Pact). However, there are also problems of today, because Romania has already converted to a new political faith, NATO, and American military bases may appear on its territory. According to Romanian political commentator Cristian Unteanu, Turkey, which during the Cold War era was NATO's and primarily American "eyes and ears" aimed at the Soviet Union, has been replaced by Romania. True, Vremya Novostei’s sources at the Russian embassy in Bucharest assured that this issue would not be raised directly by the chief of Russian diplomacy, especially since it is more likely a matter of Romanian-American relations or, for that matter, Russian-American relations.
By the end of this year, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also visit Bucharest. According to Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, she will sign a framework agreement on the deployment of three American military mobile bases on Romanian territory, near the Black Sea coast. Vyacheslav SAMOSHKIN, Bucharest
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