Ioana Constantin-Bercean: Turkey's strategic ambiguity is not possible in the case of Romania

Cross-border Talks' Vladimir Mitev discussed with Ioana Constantin-Bercean, a Romanian expert on international relations from the Romanian Academy about Middle Eastern politics in the conditions of war in Ukraine, about Turkey's role of meditor and how Bulgaria and Romania could approach the Russian-Turkish cooperation, which is strong in the energy domain. Ioana believes that Joe Biden's visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia was meant to reassure the countries of the American security guarantees as now the prospects of the revival of the nuclear agreement with Iran are really good. As for the Russian-Iranian relationship, it is complex as both countries are under strong sanctions, but they are also competitors in the energy domain. Turkey's role of mediator between Russia and Ukraine, between the West and "the East" is something, which deserves greater attention, as Turkey's president announced his country will pay for Russian gas in rubles. When asked whether Bulgaria and Romania who have good relations with Turkey could emulate Turkey's strategic ambiguity, Ioana Bercean was skeptical. She reminded that both countries are members of NATO and the EU and that puts constrains on their foreign policy options.