CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former Charlotte Congressman Robert Pittenger recently returned from a trip to a Ukrainian refugee camp in Romania.
"We went to the Romania-Ukraine border, and spent several days there, saw that how the refugees, you know, obviously, mostly women and children, were being processed," Pittenger said.
Pittenger was in Bucharest planning a summer conference for the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum, which he currently serves as chairman. While there, Romanian officials took him to several refugee camps.
"Let me just commend the multiple nonprofit groups, thank the NGOs that have gone there in earnest to help these people. The coordination has been outstanding. The government has done a remarkable job in Romania," he said.
Pittenger has witnessed refugee camps in past. Years ago, he visited the camp in Jordan during the Syrian war.
"This is totally different," he said.
Pittenger said he was impressed by the organizational effort to keep refugees moving through the camps, and into temporary homes around Romania.
"What we saw was a very orderly way for bringing these folks into the country, having them registered. Identifying your needs and assessing their immediate concerns.
The former congressman distanced himself from some in the republican party who took a more sympathetic approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Anybody who's naïve to believe that this man is anything less than Stalin is not looking with clear eyes. He is a brutal individual," he said.
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