Vladimir Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev has claimed Romania is “not a nation” as he unleashed an expletive-laden rant dismissing calls for Moscow to hand back almost 100 tonnes of the country’s confiscated gold.
Former Russian president Medvedev, a staunch ally of Putin and his deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, took aim at the “nonentities” and “weaklings” leading Europe as he ruled out returning the national treasures in a firey social media post.
It comes after the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on Thursday calling for Russia to return national treasures to Bucharest that Moscow has kept since World War 1.
The trove includes 91.5 metric tons of gold and various jewels sent to Russia between 1916 and 1917 for safekeeping as war engulfed the continent, but it was never fully returned.
The Soviet Union gave back some of the times in the 1930s and 1950s, but in his post on Russian social media site VK, Medvedev said the gold remained in Russia as a punishment for Romania’s “bad behavior,” as he blasted the “impudence” of EU members who backed the moves.
READ MORE: Emmanuel Macron refuses to rule out sending troops to Ukraine – again
“Romanians, as you know, are not a nation, but a way of life,” the former President wrote, as per Newsweek. “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.”
He continued: “I don’t even know how to respond to such impudence. 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.”
Daily Express US has approached the European Parliament for comment via email.
The European Parliament passed the resolution proposed by Romanian lawmaker Eugen Tomac, with the backing of the National Bank of Romania, stipulating that Moscow should return the gold.
Tomac hailed it as a “historic vote” and “a matter of national dignity” in a post on Facebook. “Romania cannot and must not accept anything less than the return of 91.5 tons of gold and the entire Cultural Treasure,” he said.
Though there is little chance Romania will see the return of the gold, Tomac said it was “important not to give up.”
DON’T MISS
Vladimir Putin has own territory bombed to target rebel Russians helping Ukraine [REPORT]
Russia’s control of Black Sea is ‘gateway to projecting influence over Europe’ [INSIGHT]
Putin builds ‘menu of manipulation’ to guarantee win in Russian election [LATEST]
Russia’s presidential envoy for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy said on Thursday that Russia sees Bucherest’s claims on the gold as illegitimate.
“Mutual settlements with Romania are a thing of the past,” Shvydkoy told state-run news agency TASS. “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.”
Romania and Russia’s already strained relations were further exacerbated by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Romania, which is a member of EU and NATO, was among mutiple nations that imposed tough economic sanctions on Moscow in response to the February 2022 attack.
Medvedev, who was Russia’s President between 2008 and 2012, has made several inflammatory remarks towards Ukraine’s allies during Russia-Ukraine conflict, including threats of unleashing nuclear war.
