Correpondence from Strasbourg President Traian Basescu delivered a speech on Wednesday, at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. His main topics were protection of ethnic minorities in Romania, the Black Sea European region, and Romania’s accession to the EU.

Basescu praised Romania’s laws on the protection of minorities stating they could stand as an example for Europe. "

The Romanian model for minorities’ protection is well praised in Europe. Unfortunately, the European standards we apply to protecting minorities in Romania are not enforced in the neighboring countries like Serbia, Ukraine or Hungary, to protect the large Romanian minorities there," said Basescu. "It is hard for me to accept that anyone might think Romania has problems in protecting minorities," added he.

Basescu also championed the case of the Republic of Moldova, showing that one of Romania’s priorities was to help Moldova strengthen its links to Europe. "We took it upon ourselves to support Moldova’s efforts to reach European standards of democracy and to contribute to the regional security," said Basescu. He also pointed out the problems Moldova now faces, explaining they stemmed from the yet unsolved conflict with the breakaway territory of Transnistria, on the Moldova-Ukrainian border.

Basescu portrayed Transnistria as "an enclave where crime and the will of an oligarchy rule" presenting as a case in point its disregard for the ruling the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Ilie Ilascu and his comrades, a group of Moldavians imprisoned by the self-appointed authorities in Transnistria for fighting against them.

Basescu pointed out Ilascu’s comrades still imprisoned in Transnistria should go home free, stating that was "the only solution for the Romanian citizens Andrei Ivantoc and Tudor Petrov-Popa."

In spite of the case