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Romania

HAS ENDORSED THE POLITICAL DECLARATION

Romania was not actively involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It participated in the Vienna Conference on the Protection of Civilians in Urban Warfare in 2019, 1 and in the second round of consultations in Geneva in 2020, 2 but did not issue any statements at those events. It was, however, among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022.

Statements and positions

Romania attended the first international follow-up conference on the Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

As a member of the European Union (EU), Romania has signed onto numerous joint statements condemning the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the harms it causes to civilians and civilian objects, as well as calling for greater IHL compliance and welcoming the Political Declaration. This includes at several UN Security Council open debates on the protection of civilians in armed conflict 3, including in 2024 when it expressed deep concern about the use and humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons in populated areas ‘which has significant civilian impact and should thus be restricted and avoided’4 as well as at the 2022 UN Security Council open debate on war in cities where the EU expressed concern over the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including near hospitals, schools, and universities 5 and at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee. 6

Romania also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ as an EU member state in May 2016. This included the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.” 7

  1. ‘States Commit to Take Political Action on Explosive Weapons at Vienna conference’. Reaching Critical Will. October 2019.  https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/14061-states-commit-to-take-political-action-on-explosive-weapons-at-vienna-conference.

  2. ‘More than 70 States Engage in Discussions on Political Declaration’. INEW. February 2020. https://www.inew.org/more-than-70-states-engage-in-discussions-on-political-declaration/.

  3. EU Statement - UN Security Council: Protection of Civilians’, 21 May 2024. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/eu-statement-%E2%80%93-un-security-council-protection-civilians_en?s=63; ‘EU Statement during the May 2011 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 10 May 2011.  http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/eu_poc_11may2011_0.pdf; ‘EU Statement during the June 2012 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 25 June 2012. http://www.peacewomen.org/security-council/security-council-open-debate-protection-civilians-armed-conflict-june-2012/; ‘EU Statement during the August 2013 UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 19 August 2013. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/european_union_poc_august_2013_debate_0.pdf.

  4. ‘EU Statement - UN Security Council: Protection of Civilians’, 21 May 2024. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/eu-statement-%E2%80%93-un-security-council-protection-civilians_en?s=63.

  5. Acheson, R. 2022. ‘UN Security Council Debates War in Cities and the Protection of Civilians.’ Reaching Critical Will, 28 January 2022. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/16009-un-security-council-debates-war-in-cities-and-the-protection-of-civilians.

  6. ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 80th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 23 October 2025. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com25/statements/23Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 78th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 23 October 2023. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/23Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 77th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 20 October 2022. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/20Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 76th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 4 October 2021.
    https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com21/statements/4Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 75th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 9 October 2020.
    https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com20/statements/9Oct_EU.pdf. 

  7. Agenda for Humanity. ‘Romania’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholders/commitments/248.html. 

Other State Positions