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Grigore Gafencu: Patriot and European
by Vasile Soare, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the Russian Federation
Grigore Gafencu, Romanian politician, diplomat and journalist
A prominent personality of Romanian politics, Grigore Gafencu was, at the same time, one of Romania’s great diplomats and - we can afford to say - of post-war Europe.
His excellent journalist qualities were gracefully intertwined with a profound analytical ability, not only in press articles printed
in publications such as
“Revista Vremii”, “Argus” or “Timpul”, but also in his valuable works, such as the Préliminaires de la guerre
à l’Est, devoted to the Soviet-German relations between 1939-1941, and Derniers jours de l'Europe: Un voyage diplomatique
en 1939, dedicated to the international situation on the eve of the Second World War.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs
- a position that he held in one of the most difficult periods in Romania’s history (February 1939 - July 1940), Grigore Gafencu tried to offer our country the best options to defend its independence and sovereignty, at a time when
the continent was threatened by the great German power. A true democrat, Grigore Gafencu saw in the alliance with France and the UK the only chance to
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PHOTO: AGERPRES