The relocation of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization from Iraqi has been a problematic issue from the very start phase. Although the process started near a year ago it has been rather slowly and it has faced 
different frustrations whether by the group leaders or by the host countries. Leaders of the MKO seek to relocate the group as a whole body in order to prevent the collapse of the cult-like structure of the group while third countries hesitate to accept a crowd of 3000 militants with a dark background of violent acts and cult-like attitudes.
Albania was the first country in the Southeast Europe that accepted to receive 210 residents of Camp Liberty. The United States welcomed the Government of Albania’s "generous offer". However, the move has not been accomplished yet. [1]
Germany was another European country to accept members of the MKO but it did not agree to accept more than 97 individuals. German authorities ordered to relocate 77 of these people in Koln but the decision was disputed by the officials of the city, according to German newspaper, Kolner Stadt –Anzeiger. [2]
The United States is now planning to move 3000 members of the MKO from Iraq to Romania — again in Balkan region. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry employees the U.S. State Secretary and the Romanian Foreign Minister discussed the issue of militants’ migration during the meeting in Brussels in early December. This time the US seems to seek to compactly resettle the group members near the city of Craiova. [3]
Ilya Kharlamov of the Voice of Russia believes that by such mass relocation "Washington may turn Romania into a hotbed of tension, which will prove quite a headache both to Romania proper and the neighboring countries." The VOR’s correspondent suggests that the action on the US plan is fraught with danger quoting an expert with the Moscow-based Institute for Strategic Studies and Analysis, Sergei Demidenko: "A transfer of a large group of people, drilled ideologically and militarily, to an unstable European area will clearly add no quiet to the area."[4]
Besides, another Russian expert in Oriental Studies Boris Dolgov considers the US plan as inappropriate. He told VOR," If the Romanian leaders have certain doubts, and they will certainly question the correctness of the decision, then they should stiffly oppose the move." Pointing to terrorist history of the MKO he added, ”The US plan is at variance with the recent trend towards improving relations between Washington and Tehran.” [5]
The author of the VOR article puts the responsibility on the Romanian Government that is free to accept or refuse to persecute the US plan and warns on the risk of the presence of "well-trained fighters" of the MKO in the unstable situation of the neighboring Ukrain.
Anna MIKHAILENKO’s piece on the new US plan to move "the Cult of Rajavi” to Balkan was translated from Russian by the ORIENTAL REVIEW. She also criticized the US for delisting the MKO in 2012 and "trying to move militants from this group out of Iraq and closer to sites that are being readied for future armed hostilities."[6]
"It is obvious that the Mojahedin-e-Khalq is not a peaceful organization" she writes. "In fact, it would be better compared to the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, or Jubhat al-Nusrah, other groups which also enjoyed the tacit support of the United States until they became too unruly." [7]
MIKHAILENKO warns on the threat of "this army of 3,000 militants" at the door of an tensed region. "Harboring so many fighters so close to Ukraine, a country that has been afflicted with EuroMaidan fever for the past month and a half, could pave the way for any number of coercive scenarios for regime change", she suggests. [8]
Is it really worth to maintain the supremacy of a cult like terrorist group by risking the peace in an already-tensioned area? Will Romania buy the danger of receiving "Saddam’s Private Army" the MKO to the cost of appeasing the US?
By: Mazda Parsi
References:
[1] Psaki, Jen, Thirty MEK Camp Hurriya Residents Depart Iraq for Relocation to Albania, US Press Statement, June 3, 2013
[2]https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/5423
[3]Martov, Delyan, U.S. to move 3000 MKO terrorists to Romania, Sofia, December25,2013
[4] Voice of Russia, US to flood Romania with terrorists, January 10, 2014
[5]ibid
[6]MIKHAILENKO , Anna , Is the US preparing to stash 3,000 terrorists near the Ukrainian border? ,Orientalreview, January 11,2014
[7]ibid
[8]ibid