Romania's Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu on Thursday told a news conference that "the defence strategy at NATO level is something that continuously adapts to new realities" and "we are in continuous talks with all the allies, both American and European, we have a very, very good cooperation with both the United States, as well as with France", after the announcement of a partial withdrawal of American troops from Romania.
Asked if he is discussing the arrival of European military forces, instead of American soldiers who will leave Romania, Mosteanu replied: "The defence strategy at NATO level is something that continuously adapts to new realities. These rotational troops that came from the U.S., from American partners, with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, in Europe, were extraordinarily welcome. By now, three and a half years have passed since then, the American partners have seen that Europe has understood that it must invest in the army of each European country, in the acquisitions of each European country, and that it is now much more prepared to defend itself. (...) That is part of a global strategy that the U.S. has decided to focus more on military efforts towards the Indo-Pacific, noting that Europe is better on its feet militarily. From here on we are in continuous talks with all the allies, both the Americans and Europeans, we have a very, very good cooperation with both the U.S. and France, which, as the minister said, is a framework nation and behold, it constantly has over 1,300 soldiers in Romania, and now even as we speak there are over 3,000 French soldiers."
On Thursday, Mosteanu met in Sibiu with France's Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans of France Catherine Vautrin.
The American troops remain unchanged at the Deveselu and Campia Turzii bases, the only change being at the Mihail Kogalniceanu base, where a rotational brigade will no longer be deployed, Mosteanu had announced on Wednesday.
The U.S. will withdraw part of the troops deployed on NATO's eastern flank, while around 1,000 soldiers will remain at three bases in Romania.
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