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The consolidation of the Eastern Flank can be achieved by the positioning of armed forces, with the associated modern equipment, President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday, adding that "not many things can be won these days with a truck and a tank."
"The consolidation of the Eastern Flank is achieved by positioning armed forces. It's as simple as possible - armed forces, obviously with the associated equipment. If we look at the war in Ukraine we see that there is need for very modern weaponry, we certainly need missile defence and other similar systems. Things are not as simple anymore, with a truck or a tank you cannot win many things these days. There is need for modern, sophisticated armament which, obviously, is also rather expensive," said the head of state, before the extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels, informs Agerpres.
He was asked if he will raise the issue of a permanent US and NATO presence on Romania's territory.
"Consolidating the Eastern Flank obviously means a permanent presence, that's why we insisted on the battle group, which is a permanent presence, but, of course, compared to this permanent presence, it also helps a lot to have a rotational presence ensuring that there is always a fairly large number of US forces in Romania and we are happy about that," the head of state replied.
President Iohannis mentioned that he will continue to insist on the need to better consolidate NATO's Eastern Flank, stating that the North Atlantic Alliance has already approved the battle group that will be positioned in Romania.
