Romania will continue to help Ukraine – PM Ciolacu

That's according to Bloomberg, Ukrinform reports.

Ciolacu said his government will forge ahead with "multi-dimensional support" for Ukraine even as European allies show signs of war fatigue, particularly with the Israel-Hamas conflict overshadowing Russia’s invasion. The conflict in the Middle East is likely to be resolved sooner than the war next door to Romania, he said.

"Romania will continue to help Ukraine regardless of the political costs. These political costs are less important than the precedent a Russian victory would create," Ciolacu said.

The prime minister pointed to the burst of support across Europe for rightwing and populist forces, many of whom have attacked governments' support for Ukraine and lamented the broken ties with the Kremlin. In Germany, the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany has been fueled in part by pro-Russian sentiment.

"Can you image how many Putin lookalikes we would get among certain populist European politicians?" Ciolacu asked.

A raft of elections next year, including Romania's parliamentary and presidential contests as well as a European Parliament ballot, won't change his commitment, Ciolacu said — pointing to shifts in support for Kyiv seen with elections in Poland and Slovakia.

Ciolacu also cited difficulties in achieving unanimity among EU leaders on the issue considering the pro-Russian views of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico, who returned to his country's premiership last month.

"Let's not forget that next year we have European Parliament elections and should we see more extremist voices in the assembly — that would create a bigger vulnerability inside the EU," Ciolacu said.

Photo: PSD Romania