In a message conveyed on Tuesday on the 18th anniversary of the submission of the documents for Romania's joining the North Atlantic Alliance, President Klaus Iohannis points out that the status of NATO member is all the more so important in the current special security context created by the Russian Federation's "illegal" military aggression against Ukraine.
"18 years ago, on March 29, 2004, Romania submitted the instruments for the ratification of the North Atlantic Treaty to the U.S. Department of State. Our country thus took the decisive step in order to become a member of the most successful and powerful political and military alliance of all times. The crucial and historical importance of NATO membership is all the more so evident in the current special security context of the Russian Federation's illegal military aggression against Ukraine. This aggression has once again revealed the capacity of the Alliance to adapt quickly and to act promptly and efficiently, based on the member states' cohesion and decision-making unity," the President said, as cited by the Presidential Administration.
According to Iohannis, Romania has been and is deeply involved in NATO's adaptation process, both through its "substantial" national contributions to the allied reflection process and through its ongoing efforts at national level, Agerpres.ro informs.
The President reaffirms Romania's commitment to strengthening its defense capacity, including by increasing defense budget expenditures from 2 to 2.5 percent of GDP, by modernizing its force structure, by adapting the security and defense legislative framework and other appropriate measures.
"Romania will continue to promote the NATO - EU partnership, a very important institutional framework for optimizing the European and Euro-Atlantic security and defense efforts, which must increase in relevance. Romania will remain a strong ally, a security provider at the Black Sea and beyond that, a determined supporter of a strengthened transatlantic relationship, dedicated to NATO's fundamental values. Many happy returns, Romania, within NATO!," the head of the state wrote in the end of his message.
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