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Romania's Chief of the Defence Staff (SMA), General Nicolae Ciuca, stated on Tuesday, during the third conference with the topic "Security challenges in the Balkans", that Romania had some initiatives with own funding that contributed to balancing the eastern flank of NATO and that the development of early warning systems, which would allow the correct approach to an ordered war, remains a challenge for military leaders.
"I would like to emphasize that all the decisions made by the Romanian Armed Forces, at our cost, the Multinational Brigade, the Southeast Multinational Division, the Southeast Multinational Command, all these things are done at our cost. I believe these initiatives are right to balance things on the eastern flank, because in this way we are showing that there is a coherent approach among the countries of NATO's eastern flank. I would like to invite all NATO allies to participate in these initiatives and having them together with us it would be easier for them to understand the geostrategic context of the region and to see which are the threats we are facing following Russia's incisive approach in the region," General Ciuca stated.
Romania's Chief of the Defence Staff emphasized that we do not have an "enthusiastic approach" when we are analyzing how we could face an ordered war, because we do not have the necessary mentality and culture to teach military leaders to develop their instruments that could allow us to correctly approach an ordered war. "It's one of the challenges that the new leaders in the military area will face. They will have to find the correct, adequate instruments, which are not only military, but instruments that imply the coordination of all power centers," General Ciuca added.
He emphasized the involvement of the Romanian armed forces in the KFOR and EUFOR Althea missions, who had a substantial contribution in both missions, but especially in KFOR, even if Romania does not recognize the independence of Kosovo, "we believe that there should be a political compromise solution between Serbia and Kosovo. We support the continuity of military presence in the province and, at the same time, we respect our commitment in Bosnia-Herzegovina."
In other topics, the Chief of General Defence Staff pointed out that there is frequent talk about the countries riparian to the Black Sea that are NATO members, among which the approach is a coherent one and that the target is for "the other NATO member countries to focus on this region of the Black Sea taking into account all the challenges with which we are faced in the Black Sea extended region, in the Balkan region."
He emphasized that all that is necessary must be accomplished so that this region does not become a sore spot of the EU or NATO and mentioned the fact that the Romanian army benefits from the 2 pct share of the GDP, which may be spent on military capabilities that would allow us to face these challenges and threats.
"I believe that we must focus at the NATO level on what the presence in the Black Sea means, on the decisions to reinforce defence systems and especially on military deterrence measures. There were talks about the necessity for neighboring countries to bring to the table what they believe to be measures capable of responding to these threats," General Ciuca added.
The head of the Army's General Staff also noted that there is talk regarding a "belt of frozen conflicts around the Black Sea", which must be linked with the conflicts in the Western Balkans and "together we must think how these two areas of frozen conflicts can influence the situation."
The event, which is attended by over 300 guests from Romania and abroad, among them servicemen, ambassadors, members of the academia, diplomats, is organized by the West University of Timisoara.
