Rumanian Friction

Nikolai Krestinsky, Soviet plenipotentiary, met Langa Rascanul, head of a Rumanian diplomatic mission, at Vienna, to discuss a general Russo-Rumanian settlement. The parley almost immediately struck the Bessarabian question and went on the rocks shortly after.

Before the War Bessarabia was a part of Russia. In the early days of the Russian revolution, Rumanian troops seized the province, which lies to the east of Rumania and is washed by the mouths of the Danube. This seizure had no justification in international law, as the Rumanians were not at war with the Soviets. But it was upheld by Great Britain and France in the recently ratified Paris pact of October, 1920. Red Russia never recognized that Rumania had any claim on the territory.

At the conference, Rumanian Rascanul insisted that Russia recognize the Bessarabian frontiers, as defined by Rumania, before discussing any other points. Russian Krestinsky proposed a plebiscite in the territory to determine whether or not the population upholds the Rumanian regime. This referendum proposal was referred to Bucharest and promptly refused by the Bratiano Cabinet. The Vienna Conference came to an abrupt end.

The Soviet press reported heavy concentrations of Rumanian troops in Bessarabia. The Soviet Envoy predicted that the Bessarabians might take matters into their own hands. The war-cloud deepened.