Romania Mulls Law Allowing Military Intervention to Protect Citizens Abroad

Draft law empowering Romanian military intervention abroad to protect its citizens is seen as primarily concerning Moldova, where at least a million people have Romanian citizenship.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis reviews the honour guard at the Triumphal Arch on Great Union Day, in Bucharest, December 1, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/Robert Ghement

Political analysts believe Moldova may be better protected after Romania’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday said it has put into debate a draft law introducing the concept of military intervention to protect Romanian citizens in danger outside the country.

While pro-government media in Romania and Moldova praised the move, opposition parties and human rights organisations have not reacted so far. Nor have the EU and NATO, key alliances that Romania belongs to. The regulation could impact the geopolitical relations in the region.

According to the draft bill, the new law would allow Romania to intervene outside the country. Such actions are not limited to the military but may also involve other types of interventions to counter hybrid threats.

Such interventions can be initiated on the recommendation of the Romanian President and with the approval of the Supreme National Defence Council, CSAT.

The draft law states: “The President of Romania can order, at the proposal of the Prime Minister, necessary measures to protect Romanian citizens who are in danger outside the national territory.”

The bill also introduces a new definition for “defence” forces, which include both the armed forces and the security forces. The armed forces category comprises the Army, the Gendarmerie, the Romanian Information Service, SRI, the Foreign Information Service, SIE, the Special Telecommunications Service, STS, and the Secret Service of the Ministry of Interior, DGPI.

The protection forces include the Police, the Border Police and the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, IGSU.

A Watchdog Community political expert from Chisinau, Andrei Curararu, told BIRN that the Molova’s interaction with NATO or Romania must be carried out by Moldovan legislation, but “also that we [must] increase capabilities and prevent certain risks of hybrid war against Moldova”.

“Cyber defence in no way violates Moldova’s neutrality, and we must take advantage of Romania’s vast experience fighting the type of attacks that Moldova has faced and continues to face,” said Curararu.

Romania has also provided cyber-defence for Ukraine since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.

The draft law talks about hybrid threats to Romania’s security for the first time. No similar law or regulation on military intervention in a neighbouring country exists in the European region.

“When we talk about military forces or other forces of the Romanian state that could be involved in this effort to protect Romanian citizens in danger, we are also talking about the intelligence services and the Ministry of the Interior … and other categories of armed forces, Curararu said.

He also explained that any effort Romania would make to protect its citizens in danger would be made in collaboration with Romania’s strategic partners.

Over a million Moldovan citizens have Romanian passports, according to the latest data.

In November 2009, the former president of Romania, Traian Basescu, signed a law simplifying the procedures for regaining and granting Romanian citizenship.

In principle, it concerned Romanian citizens who live in Moldova or Ukraine who have regained citizenship based on Article 11 of the Romanian Citizenship Law, which expressly refers to Romanians or their descendants up to the third degree, from the territories annexed by the USSR after 1940, meaning Moldova, northern Bukovina and parts of Ukraine.

This opportunity was used especially by citizens of Moldova to access work and travel facilities in the EU.

Later in June 2014, Moldova signed an Association Agreement with the EU, which allowed the free movement of Moldovan citizens in the EU space. But the trend of Moldovans taking up Romanian citizenship has continued.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu in an interview in March 2024 on TV spoke about one million holders of Romanian IDs in Moldova.

In both countries, many people support the reunification of Moldova and Romania. Moldova was a part of Romania between World Wars 1 and 2, and most people are Romanian speakers. Surveys in Moldova show about 35-40 per cent of the population favour reunification with Romania while some 31 per cent of Romanians also favour reunification, according to a survey in May 2023.

There are about half a million Romanian speakers abroad in Ukraine as well.