H.E. Ion JINGA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative Council of Europe
This story begins in August
1916 when Romania was insistently requested by France and Great Britain to
enter the WW1 in order to relieve the huge German pressure on the West front.
On 17 August, Romania signed a treaty with the Entente Powers, according to
which France and Britain pledged to launch an offensive in Greece, while Russia
committed to send three divisions to the Danube River, to protect the rear from
a Bulgarian attack. On that occasion, the Russian ambassador in Bucharest
proposed to transfer the Romanian gold to Moscow, with the argument that it
will be better protected, but the Romanian Prime Minister Ion Bratianu
considered „the timing of the measure to
be inopportune”.
Romania intervened in WW1 and crossed the Carpathian Mountains into Transylvania, where its
soldiers were received as liberators. But there was no Allied offensive in
Greece, and…
