Victor Ponta, independent candidate for the position of President of Romania, has stated that if he becomes the head of state, he will block Ukraine’s grain exports through Romania. Such a stoppage of Ukraine’s grain exports would, obviously, create a new problem for the country, which has been facing a war initiated by Russia for over three years.
Victor Ponta presented his intention regarding Ukraine’s exports in an interview broadcasted by Reuters on April 7, 2025.
“The Romanian presidential candidate, Victor Ponta, stated on Monday that he will stop Ukraine’s grain exports through the country’s ports on the Black Sea, if elected, in order to protect local farmers, but pledged to defend the neighboring country, Moldova, in case of a Russian attack,” the cited source mentions.
In the context of the upcoming presidential elections in Romania in 2025, after the 2024 elections were annulled due to suspicions of Russian interference, “Bucharest’s role in NATO and the EU, as well as its support for neighboring Ukraine, is in the spotlight,” explain the Reuters journalists.
Romania has allowed the export of approximately 29 million tons of grain from Ukraine through the port of Constanta in the three years since the war between Russia and Ukraine began, becoming the main transit route for Ukraine’s goods.
“There has been a policy of favoring Ukrainian grain in terms of access to port facilities in recent years, to the detriment of Romanian grain, and Romanian farmers have been greatly affected by this,” stated Victor Ponta.
He also supported other measures already in place to support Ukraine, including the transit of weapons and the training of Ukrainian pilots in Romania.