Former USA ambassadors, positioning alongside Nicuşor Dan

George Simion's positioning as the main exponent in our country of the new sovereignist policy promoted by the Trump Administration seems to no longer correspond to reality in the context of a recent letter, signed by seven former USA ambassadors in Bucharest - both Republicans and Democrats - who sound the alarm regarding Russian influence in Romania and the risk of a pro-Putin orientation at the level of the state leadership. The seven former US ambassadors in our country consider in the document published yesterday by G4Media that Vladimir Putin's regime and its allies represent fatal threats to the security, freedom and prosperity of Romania, Europe and America. The signatories of the letter clearly emphasize that the election of a pro-Putin president in Romania could have serious consequences on the relationship with the United States, including affecting the economic and defensive support provided by Washington to ordinary Romanians.

Alfred Moses (ambassador to our country from 1994 to 1997), James Rosapepe (1998 to 2001), Michael Guest (2001 to 2004), Nicholas Taubman (2005 to 2009), Mark Gitenstein (2009 to 2012), Hans G. Klemm (2015 to 2019) and Adrian Zuckerman (2019 to 2021) - state that they are not speaking in an official capacity, but as American citizens who have dedicated years of their lives to strengthening the Romanian-American relationship.

In the cited document, they indicate that they agree with the statement made on May 8 by former ambassador Zuckerman regarding the fact that "only candidate Nicuşor Dan represents the interests of the Romanian-American alliance."

We note that last Thursday, Adrain Zuckerman, former US ambassador to Romania, during Donald Trump's first presidential term, stated: "There is only one candidate now, Nicuşor Dan, who needs your support to defeat the extremist. He needs all of your unequivocal and undivided support. We must unite behind him. I appreciate those political parties that have already publicly declared their undivided and unequivocal support for Nicuşor Dan. I urge the remaining non-extremist political parties to unequivocally support Nicuşor Dan. I urge all Romanians, especially its political leaders, to examine their consciences and save the future of Romania."

In the document published yesterday, the seven former American diplomats evoke their experiences as direct witnesses of Romania's liberation from the dictatorship imposed by Russia and of our country's path towards freedom, European integration and alliance with the US through NATO. They warn that these achievements are now in danger in the context in which the Russian Federation under the leadership of Vladimir Putin is again on the offensive, and our country could be one of the next targets of the Russian president, after the end of the conflict in Ukraine.

According to them, on May 18, our country has to make a historic choice between Russian domination and a future alongside the US within NATO.

At the end of the letter, the seven former ambassadors make a moving appeal to the Romanian people to reaffirm transatlantic values and reject any rapprochement with the Putin regime. "We cannot vote in the presidential elections in Romania. But you can. God bless Romania!", the seven former American ambassadors convey with hope and trust in the discernment of the Romanian electorate.