President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday, after his visit to the headquarters of the South-East Multinational Brigade in southern city of Craiova, that the decisions of the U.S. and France regarding the military presence in Romania represent a "firm signal of coherence and consistency of Euro-Atlantic solidarity" and invited other allied countries to consider contributions with national forces to multinational structures located on Romanian territory.
"The recent decisions made by the United States of America and France, which are our strong allies and strategic partners, to ensure a concrete military presence in Romania represent a firm signal of coherence and consistency of Euro-Atlantic solidarity. I also want to welcome Poland's solid and substantial commitment to our country since the establishment of this multinational structure. The Polish troops currently in our country, together with the Romanian troops in Poland, represent the concrete expression of the extremely valuable strategic partnership between Bucharest and Warsaw," the president said.
He thanked the military for their effort and for the professionalism they prove in the training process, as well as in the multinational missions in which they participate, but also for the allies from the North Atlantic Alliance who contribute to the multinational structures located on the territory of Romania. In this context, he also invited other Allied states to consider national contributions to these structures.
"I also invite other allied states to consider contributions with national forces to these structures," president Iohannis said.
According to the president, Romania will further modernize its military capabilities and develop its force structure, paying special attention to the better training of its armed forces, including through military exercises carried out in an Allied framework.
President Iohannis also pointed out that the commitment to allocate at least 2 pct of GDP to Defense in the coming period remains unchanged, which will lead to a continuous increase in the defense capacity of our country.
"Both through our own efforts at the military level, as well as through the participation of our allies in the multinational structures established in recent years on the territory of our country, we give consistency to Romania's profile of a pillar of stability and security at regional level and we adapt to the constantly evolving situations. At the same time, we are preoccupied to strengthen the responsiveness and resilience of public institutions, but also at the level of the entire society, amid the intensification of security challenges of all types and in all environments, especially those of hybrid type," Iohannis said.
In this context, the president said that a complementary cooperation between NATO and the European Union in the field of security is particularly important.
"The conjugation of the efforts of the two organizations certainly brings added value to the security of our country and to the European one, of course, by avoiding any duplication and starting from the priority role of the Alliance in the field of defense," he added.
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