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The Minister of National Defense, Vasile Dincu, said on Friday in western Timisoara that the announcement made by the US and France, which showed their willingness to strengthen their military presence in Romania, is "good news", as requests of this kind have existed for a long time from some countries on NATO's Eastern Flank.
"It is good news for us, because it is a request that does not only depend on this event (the crisis at the Russian-Ukrainian border, ed.n.), but is older, of the President of Romania, which he expressed at all meetings and of the Foreign Minister. Many countries on the Eastern Flank have expressed this request to fortify us in this area. It is about doing exercises together, but here it is also about joint action with forces from important NATO countries," Vasile Dincu said.
Minister of National Defence stressed that the addition of the NATO military presence in our country has, first of all, the significance of rejecting some requests of the Russian Federation regarding the renunciation of the military presence of Alliance in Central and Eastern Europe, Agerpres.ro informs.
"This contradicts by deeds this request to withdraw. Through this, NATO's countries have shown that they are not withdrawing, but are intensifying their presence there," Dincu said.
He said that this additional NATO military forces on the Eastern Flank also has a symbolic meaning, because Russia would have tried, through its propaganda, to show that "there is a dissension between NATO and the European Union, that these countries do not understand each other and that in fact NATO is not a very good defender of the EU".
According to Minister Dincu, it is also a strong signal sent to the countries of the Eastern Flank, that the Alliance is concerned about the security of each member, this being also "a response against the propaganda that tried to accredit the idea that NATO will not have the operational capacity if the countries need it".
Dincu also said that the addition to the NATO military presence in the area is also a response to the concern of public opinion on the Eastern Flank, "showing that we are in solidarity and NATO stands in solidarity and all countries act, when needed, in consensus, for the security of each member".
