On May 18th, New Strategy Center and the Center for American Seapower from Hudson Institute organized, in Washington DC (at 12.00 – local hour), the debate “Emerging tensions in the Black Sea and the region’s importance to the West”. The Romanian speakers were Mr. George Ciamba, state secretary – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ben Oni Ardelean, vice-president of The Committee for Defense – the Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Laurențiu Pachiu, expert Energy Policy Group, and Mr. Cosmin Ioniță, director for research programmes within New Strategy Center. Mr. Seth Cropsey, director of Center for American Seapower, Hudson Institute was the moderator of the event.
The debate provided an assessment of the security environment in the Black Sea area area, given the role of the region for the overall security of Europe. The main topics of the event were the Black Sea militarization, frozen conflicts in the region and energy security. At the same time, the Romanian speakers underlined the importance of the strategic partnership between USA and Romania, as well as Romania’s commitment to enhance its capacity to be a security provider in this sensitive area for NATO.
The theoretical framework of the debate can be found in the joint policy paper “Why the Black Sea Matters” (3rd edition), conducted by the two think tanks, American and Romania.