Geoana: The Americans need their allies just as we need the Americans to protect our security
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Saturday in Ploiesti that the US needs its allies in Europe and in the rest of the world, and if Donald Trump returns to the US presidency, there will probably be "different accents" in the US-NATO relationship.
"We work with what the NATO nations give us: if people choose someone or someone else, that is not our problem. It is a sovereign, democratic decision of those nations. I can tell you that as far as the relationship with President Trump in his previous term is concerned, that had a rather blunt start, but as he discovered the added value of the alliance to America and as the allies began to invest more in their own defence - because what not just President Trump was saying, but also President Obama, President Bush, all American presidents, is that many of America's European allies are not investing in defence, and America has to pay for the security of the allies, while they take care of the economy and get cheap gas from the Russians," said Geoana.
He mentioned that in the last state of the nation speech almost four years ago, Trump praised NATO.
"America needs all its allies in Europe and the rest of the world because competition with China, with Russia, with Iran, with North Korea, will be fierce. Just as we need Americans to protect our security , the Americans need their allies in Europe and the rest of the world. I'm sure there will probably be different accents, but I don't see any kind of risk in such an aggressive and bleak zone as pictured in the media."
About Romania's preparedness for a possible war, Geoana mentioned the importance of military exercises in deterring a potential adversary.
"When you hear about the exercises, don't get concerned. It's good that we do them because the best defence is deterring a potential adversary. What I hope for Romania (...) is that from this larger investment (... ) we will be able to witness a renaissance of the defence and dual-use industry in Romania. It's a shame not to try to create jobs, not to create an innovation ecosystem around the defence area."
At the same time, Geoana mentioned the geopolitical role of Romania in the future.
"What I would like to happen, and we are working on it, is to be able to have the Moldovans, the Ukrainians, and the Georgians across the Black Sea and all our neighbours from the Balkans with us in the EU or in NATO, depending on what they want, because to Romania, if it happens, and it will happen, it will be a historic change. For the first time in Romania's history, we will no longer be the eastern border of the West, we will, in fact, move further into the centre of Europe. Geographically - and hopefully also politically - we will play a bigger part in the EU and in other institutions. You should know that there will be many years of investment to bridge the gap facing the Romanian armed forces and many other armies. The German army is currently at a stage of massive investment, because they thought that life was quiet, calm and beautiful, but it is not."
Geoana released his book "Batalia pentru viitorul Romaniei. Gandurile unui roman la varful NATO" (Battle for the Future of Romania. Thoughts of a Romanian at the Top of NATO" in Ploiesti.
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