Commander of Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu: Romanians and Bulgarians should feel safer as of today

Commander of Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu: Romanians and Bulgarians should feel safer as of today

Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob, commander of the Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu, said on Monday that both Romanians and Bulgarians should feel safer as of today, since this NATO structure has became operational.

"I strongly believe that through the deployment of the Headquarters Multinational Corps South-East to Sibiu, this place has become safer and not only safer from the point of view of security itself, but also from the fact that, through the relationship we have with the local authorities, with the community of Sibiu, we will try to be part of the community as much as we can (...) You will see us more present in the life of Sibiu. (...) I believe that the residents of Sibiu should feel safer and not only they should feel safer, I believe that all Romanians and Bulgarians should feel safer having this command and control structure, which as of today has the responsibility to ensure deterrence and, if necessary, the defence of Romania and Bulgaria," Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob told a press conference.

According to the commander of the Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu, the military present here "are ready to carry out their missions as set out in the founding documents of the Multinational Corps".

Because of the war in Ukraine, the NATO structure in Sibiu was inaugurated a year earlier.

"Due to the international situation and the fact that we have an ongoing war on our borders, both Romanian and allied authorities have agreed on the need to accelerate the process of obtaining the operational capability of the Headquarters Multinational Corps South-East. As you have heard, we were supposed to be ready within a year, but because of the situation generated and because of the fact that at this time the deterrence and defence posture of the Alliance has intensified both on the eastern flank and beyond, (...) it was even considered appropriate that this structure, this corps-level command and control capability should make every human effort to be ready sooner. For this reason, we have started, so to speak, since last March, an accelerated preparation process," said Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob.

He underlined the role of the NATO military in Sibiu to lead the ground operation in Romania and Bulgaria in case of war.

"We are ready to fulfil the missions for which we were designed. (...) we are designed to lead the ground operation on the territory of Romania and Bulgaria, leading up to five allied divisions belonging to the NATO force structure," said Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob.

The Commander of the Multinational Corps South-East said that the establishment of this NATO structure in Sibiu has brought about a change for the Romanian Army, namely "a better coherence of the act of command and control".

In the event of a war, the soldiers of the Multinational Corps South-East will defend both Romania and Bulgaria, and the current role of the NATO structure in Sibiu is to deter any danger.

"Our main mission is deterrence. And the fact that we are now in the NATO chain of command on the territory of Romania and Bulgaria means, among other things, that we are leading the forces that are now in Romania and Bulgaria deployed for deterrence and for joint training with the forces of the Romanian and Bulgarian armies. (...) this is the purpose of this Corps, to command, to lead the ground operation. Obviously, based on the plans I mentioned earlier, if the situation requires it, we are prepared to defend the territory of Romania and Bulgaria with a weapon in hand. There is no doubt, this is the mission. We hope that we will never have the opportunity to do it, but if we have to, you must be convinced that this structure that I command, together with the other allied and national forces, will do what we have to do, we will defend this country and Bulgaria," said Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob.

According to the cited source, the NATO structure in Sibiu has a budget of 350 million euros and is expected to include troops from 17 allied countries, including Romania.

Major-General Dragos-Dumitru IACOB took command of the Multinational Corps South-East on 1 March 2022.

AGERPRES