BREAKING Romania closes the Russian Cultural Centre in Bucharest, transformed into a propaganda organ by the Kremlin. The Russian Centre, opened by an agreement signed by Titus Corlățean during the Ponta government

Romania decided on Tuesday to suspend, after ten years, the work of the Russian Cultural Centre in Bucharest, an institution that has become a propaganda organ used by the Kremlin to justify the invasion of Ukraine and to propagate anti-Western discourse.

Russia’s ambassador to Bucharest was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday on the orders of Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu to be notified of the Romanian authorities’ decision to suspend the work of the Russian Centre for Culture and Science in Romania, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Russian Centre for Culture was opened following an agreement signed by former Foreign Minister Titus Corlățean in 2013. His visit to Moscow came at a time when the Ponta government was trying to warm up relations with the Russian Federation after the freeze during the Basescu period.

„The Russian ambassador was reminded of repeated instances in which the Centre deliberately engaged in actions of distorted presentation of reality and historical truth to the Romanian public opinion. These slippages have intensified and taken on new and particularly serious dimensions in recent times, following the outbreak of the war of aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Through its actions, the Centre has irreparably departed from the natural objectives of strengthening cultural ties and has regrettably turned into an instrument of propaganda, disinformation and exoneration of the Russian Federation’s war crimes in Ukraine,” the statement said.

The Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs conveyed the Romanian side’s firm disapproval of the Russian side’s constant attempts at hybrid attacks and disinformation through truncation and premeditated manipulation of reality, and called on the latter to desist from such practices.

The suspension of the Centre’s activities will last until 20 August 2023 at the latest, by which time the administrative procedures involved in this measure must be completed.

The Russian Centre for Culture and Science in Bucharest was established on the basis of the Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Russian Federation on the opening and operating conditions of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Moscow and the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Bucharest. On the basis of the mentioned agreement, the Russian Centre for Culture and Science was inaugurated on 15 May 2015, with its headquarters at 50 Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard in Bucharest.

G4Media has repeatedly written about the anti-Western propaganda actions carried out by the Russian Culture Centre in Bucharest.

Translated article