Putin's attendance of the Bucharest summit depends greatly on the agreement that Georgia and Ukraine should proceed to accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. Otherwise Putin would have no reasons to show up in Bucharest next Friday, as one day before the Alliance would have expressed the intention to enlarge to the ex Soviet Union territory. Putin is organically linked to the Soviet Union: his grandfather was the cook of Leni and Stalin and his father was part of a special NKVD battalion. The Russian President's KGB career seems a logical continuation of this family tradition. Putin takes himself for an acts as a protector of Moscow's influence over the ex USSR territories, together with his whole team now in power. Putin can't possibly come to Bucharest just to give some applause to Ukraine and George for setting out for NATO. Who is opposing the invitation for Ukraine? First of all there is Germany and then there come France, Italy, Luxembourg and Norway. Germany and Italy are connected to Moscow by gas pipes, the norther and southern ones. But the arguments raised by Berlin diplomants can neither be left aside: Ukraine can't be said to be the most reliable and democratic state in Eastern Europe. Due to President Nicolas Sarkozy, France is now in full offensive to regain influence over the NATO as much as possible. As far as this particular issue is concerned, Romania's approach has been strange once again. This time Bucharest is standing by Washington and therefore supporting the invitation for Ukraine to NATO. It is so despite the great number of difficulties harming bilateral relations for a long time now: the Bastroe canal, the separation of the economic territories in the Black Sea, the situation of the Romanian minority in northern Bucovina and southern Basarabia. In the late 2004, since the orange victory, the new Presidents in Kiev and Bucharest promised rapid solutions to the entire set of problems. There followed visits, speeches, committees, but the problems are still unsettled. The Hague trial on the exclusive economic areas in the Black Sea is going on, Ukrainian authorities are working on the Bastroe canal and Romanian schools are being closed down one by one. The approach of Romanian diplomacy doesn't seem to be the appropriate one. If there is some Bucharest official to think that Ukraine's accession to NATO would contribute in a certain way to solutions to the Basarabia issue and the security at Romania's eastern border, that someone is certainly wrong. Transdniestria will turn into a second Kaliningrad enclave for good. Putin's trip to Bucharest, unless NATO invites Ukraine and Georgia in, will be meant for a warm handshake with President Sarkozy and a hug with President Merkel. The true encouter will be the one in Soci, where Putin is to welcome Bush to settle the disputes. Since Russia's foreign minister has overtly admitted having sabbotaged Romania's Black Sea initiatives, a dialogue between President Putin and President Basescu is practically impossible. The czar of all Russias wouldn't argue with a voivode, even if one from a country at the mouth of the Danube. The dispute over the US anti missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland and the US bases by the Black Sea will take place in Soci. Putin would not risk being humiliated in the capital of a state the Red Army penetrated triumphantly. There were Russian officials to change the flight destination and go back when the outcome of talks wasn't convenient to them. What all the attendants of the Bucharest summit will criticize most will be cyber crimes. In other words, everyone will agree it isn't nice to empty the bank accounts of honest people by Internet means.

George DAMIAN