Romania Sees Polish Politics Undivided – INTERVIEW

We sat down with Marius-Gabriel Lazurca, Adviser for National Security to the President of Romania during his visit to Warsaw, which sets the stage for the upcoming Bucharest Nine (B9) meeting in May.

After a day of intense talks with presidential and government officials, Lazurca took a moment to reflect on his long-standing affinity for Poland. It was well past dusk on 10 February when we started the conversation and it took us well into the evening, when our guest had to rush to the airport.

Before we talk about security policy, my guest looks around our office and notices the books on the shelves of the Res Publica Foundation, the publisher of Visegrad Insight, and says, ‘My first visit to Poland was more than 20 years ago – when Romania was invited to be the main guest of the Warsaw International Book Fair.’ He admits having a great interest in Central European cultures and literature with ‘a slight preference for Polish literature’.

The conversation quickly turns to cultural ties, a foundation for deeper political alignment. Lazurca highlights the role of literature in bridging the two nations. ‘I think that it has created a good platform for good people-to-people connections and intellectual cooperation between us’, he notes, referring to the strong tradition of translating Polish authors into Romanian before 1989.