On Thursday, December 11, the international forum “Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investments” began in Bucharest on Thursday, December 11. At the opening, Ionel Nitu, president of the New Strategy Center think tank, and Mircea Abrudianu, president of the Romanian Senate, emphasized Romania’s readiness to play a key role in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and to become the main logistics hub for this process.
According to Nitu, the forum aims to create a permanent platform for dialogue focused specifically on the practical aspects of Ukraine’s reconstruction, involving representatives of central government, business, international financial institutions, and local administrations in border regions. As a neighboring country, he emphasized, Romania has a direct understanding of local needs and challenges, which creates additional opportunities for joint investment and cooperation projects in the fields of infrastructure, logistics, and energy.
“As Ukraine’s neighbor, Romania has a practical understanding of what reconstruction means in the context of ongoing aggression. Our goal is to bring the government, business, and local authorities to the table and move the discussion to the level of concrete decisions and contracts,” Nitu said, opening the first panel of the forum.
The head of the New Strategy Center drew attention to the concept of a “strategic transport triangle” involving Romania, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova, which should be based on the port infrastructure of the Black Sea and the Danube, as well as on the rail and road corridors that are already the focus of the European Commission’s efforts to expand the region’s transport capacity. He also stressed the need for a multidimensional approach to reconstruction, combining economic, social, humanitarian, and security dimensions, as well as the need for “direct, honest, and results-oriented dialogue” between all participants in the process.
The first panel of the forum, “The Importance of Romania for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” was opened by the keynote speaker, Mircea Abrudianu, President of the Romanian Senate. He confirmed the political position of official Bucharest on supporting Ukraine in countering Russian aggression and stressed that Romania’s participation in reconstruction is not only an economic priority but also a “political and security imperative for the whole of Europe.”
Abrujan noted the strategic importance of Romania’s geographical location for reconstruction logistics: through the port of Constanta, the Danube ports, and the development of railway and road infrastructure, the country aims to become a central hub for cargo flows related to infrastructure, energy, and industrial projects in Ukraine. “Romania has all the prerequisites to become a logistics center for reconstruction — from ports on the Danube and Black Sea to transport corridors connecting the EU with the Ukrainian economy,” he said during his speech.
Separately, the Senate President emphasized the need for deep reforms in Ukraine in parallel with reconstruction projects, primarily in the areas of energy, infrastructure, public administration, and digitalization. In his opinion, investments in reconstruction should also be seen as a tool for Ukraine’s European integration, taking into account the negotiations on EU accession. “If we are talking about long-term investments, we need a just and lasting peace, and until it is achieved, a predictable security environment, which is ensured, in particular, by military support for Ukraine from its allies,” Abrudyan stressed.
He also recalled that the issues of “just peace” and security guarantees for Ukraine had already been discussed during his recent meeting with Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk in Stockholm, where the parties agreed on joint approaches to future peace negotiations.
The forum “Rebuilding Ukraine: Security, Opportunities, Investments” is being held on December 11-12 in Bucharest under the auspices of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is organized by the New Strategy Center. According to the organizers, more than 30 panel discussions and parallel sessions are planned over two days with the participation of representatives of governments, international organizations, the private sector, financial institutions, and experts from Europe, North America, and Asia. The topics of the panels cover security and defense, infrastructure, financing and investment, green energy, digitalization, human capital, and cross-border cooperation.
