Neptun, Romania; 2 June 1997 (RFE/RL) -- Romania and Ukraine today signed a treaty expected to settle post-World War II differences over borders and help Romania bolster its prospects for NATO membership.
The friendship treaty was signed by Romanian and Ukrainian Presidents Emil Constantinescu and Leonid Kuchma in the Romanian Black Sea resort of Neptun.
Kuchma said after the signing that the treaty is "the common path toward the European community." He said Ukraine and Romania must both recognize the current borders in order to strengthen regional and European security.
The treaty caps years of efforts by the two neighbours to put behind them issues left over from a pact signed nearly 60 years ago between Nazi Germany and the then Soviet Union, under which Romania lost territories to Moscow.
The pact also recognises the rights of minorities, in line with a Council of Europe recommendation, and the line of the present border between the two states.
The friendship treaty was signed by Romanian and Ukrainian Presidents Emil Constantinescu and Leonid Kuchma in the Romanian Black Sea resort of Neptun.
Kuchma said after the signing that the treaty is "the common path toward the European community." He said Ukraine and Romania must both recognize the current borders in order to strengthen regional and European security.
The treaty caps years of efforts by the two neighbours to put behind them issues left over from a pact signed nearly 60 years ago between Nazi Germany and the then Soviet Union, under which Romania lost territories to Moscow.
The pact also recognises the rights of minorities, in line with a Council of Europe recommendation, and the line of the present border between the two states.