Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed that Romania is "not a nation" in an expletive-filled rant rejecting a call for Moscow to return the country's confiscated gold.
Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, blasted the "nonentities" and "weaklings" running Europe while dismissing any possibility of returning the gold in a social media post on Friday.
On Thursday, the European Parliament voted in favor of a non-binding resolution calling for Russia to return national treasures to Romania that Moscow has kept since World War I, including an assortment of jewels and 91.5 metric tons of gold.
While some of the items were returned to Romania by the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1950s, Medvedev argued in a post to Russian social media site VK that the gold remained in Russian hands because Romania had been punished for "bad behavior."
The former Russian president claimed that Romania is not a sovereign nation before unleashing a foul-mouthed tirade against the "impudence" of the European Union (EU) members who passed the resolution.
"Romanians, as you know, are not a nation, but a way of life," Medvedev wrote. "European leaders are a**holes, weaklings, nonentities ... They want the gold returned to Romania ... The various a**holes from the European Parliament have worked up an appetite again."
"I don't even know how to respond to such impudence," he continued. "The EU stole $300 billion in assets from Russia and is asking for the return of Romania's gold ... There is nothing to say except f*** off."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the EU via email on Friday night.
Russian presidential envoy for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy told state-run news agency TASS on Thursday that Russia does not consider Romania's claim to the gold "to be legitimate," while calling the resolution a "provocation."
"Mutual settlements with Romania are a thing of the past," Shvydkoy said. "Such resolutions, to my mind, are nothing but a senseless provocation, geared to whip up hostile attitudes toward Russia in Europe. This is an unfair and absolutely shortsighted move by European lawmakers."
While Russia and Romania have long had strained relations, the relationship has been particularly tense since the beginning of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Romania, a member of both the EU and NATO, was one of many countries to impose sanctions on Russia over the war.
Medvedev's remarks on Romania are in line with the hyperbolic and hyper-nationalistic statements for which he has become known since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In a different social media post on Thursday, Medvedev suggested a "formula for peace" in the war that includes a demand for "the international community" to recognize the "Nazi" nature of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
