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National Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca and Chief of Romania's Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu participated today in the Distinguished Visitors Day organized at the Sangiorgiu de Mures shooting range on the occasion of the JUNCTION STRIKE 2021 special operations forces exercise.
"This special forces certification exercise is a testament to our determination to build capabilities in line with NATO commitments, at allied standards. The fact that 10 partner states participated in this exercise is proof that Romania's special operations forces have gained relevance in this complex security environment," said the Defense Minister, as cited in a release.
According to the Minister, Romania's special operations forces are important not just for our country, but also as NATO capabilities.
"We learned from this exercise that we need to set the standards for the joint special operations forces capabilities and also in different areas. Together we succeeded in presenting the main objectives for building special operations capabilities. It all has to do with Romania's main goal of playing an important role in the region, given all the challenges and threats in the Black Sea region. Today, we have once again proven our determination to put in efforts to strengthen NATO's eastern flank. This is, in fact, the most important message we wanted to convey," said Nicolae Ciuca.
The Chief of Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, stressed that "special operations force structures are an important arm of the Romanian Army, capable of rapid strategic reaction."
"Joint training events with similar allied structures help them increase both their own action capacity and interoperability. Through the efforts of the troops involved in the JUNCTION STRIKE exercise, the Romanian Army has certified two NATO capability targets: a Special Operations Marine Group and the Special Operations Component Command. Congratulations to the Special Operations Forces Command for the entire planning, organization and conduct of training, as well as for the exemplary commitment to achieving its own objectives which are, in fact, goals achieved by the Romanian Army," he said.
Attending the Distinguished Visitors Day, alongside the leadership of the Defense Ministry, were commanders of the special operations forces from allied and partner countries - Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Northern Macedonia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Poland, the Republic of Moldova and Hungary.
The JUNCTION STRIKE multinational exercise takes place every year with special operations force (SOF) structures of European allied and partner countries that practice the synchronization of multi-domain SOF operations and test their capacity to take tactical and operational action based on a crisis scenario.
JUNCTION STRIKE 2021 takes place between November 1 and 12 at training facilities of the Romanian Army and in areas near Reghin, Bradet, Miercurea Ciuc, Mihail Kogalniceanu and Sangiorgiu de Mures, with the participation of over 800 Romanian troops and about 100 land, air and naval hardware means, along with about 150 troops from allied or partner countries - Georgia, Greece, the UK, Moldova, Poland, Portugal and the U.S.
