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The presence of military sailors in the theatres of operations demonstrates the high capacity of the Romanian Army to provide security in the extended Black Sea region, within the specific missions led by both the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union and the UN Security Council, the Minister of National Defense, Vasile Dincu, said on Sunday, in the military port of Constanta, on the occasion of the arrival in the country of the mine layer 274 Vice-Admiral Constantin Balescu.
The ship has returned from a EU-led mission in the Mediterranean Sea.
"Your sacrifice is important, because we, for the first time in Romania's history, have a security umbrella, we actively participate in a political-military alliance, an alliance that for the first time strategically assures us of our security. We participate in the actions of NATO or those of the European Union and through this we ensure the present and future security of Romania. I want to tell you that your sacrifice is not only a special effort that you make, we are very glad that through your professionalism we manage to be proud in the North Atlantic Alliance and to accomplish all the obligations we have assumed," Vasile Dincu highlighted.
He expressed the hope that new investments will be made for the endowment of the Romanian Army, so that the military will benefit from developed countries' level of endowment.
The mine and net layer 274 Vice-Admiral Constantin Balescu returned from the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday to the military port of Constanta, after participating in the European Union Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI.
According to the Naval Forces General Staff (SMFN), between October 1 and December 31, the Romanian military ship was integrated into the permanent EU naval grouping in the Mediterranean. It has carried out missions to ensure compliance with the arms embargo imposed on Libya by the United Nations and to combat illicit trafficking in petroleum products, drugs and human beings by monitoring maritime trafficking and carrying out inspections of suspicious ships in the Mediterranean Sea. It traveled 10,000 nautical miles in 1,200 hours of march, interrogated over 230 merchant ships, executed 25 IMINT (Imagery Intelligence) actions, and ten of them were visited to promote the values of the European Union and to understand the importance of regional maritime security, agerpres.ro informs.
This is the second military vessel of our country to participate in an EU-mandated operation, the first participation being recorded ten years ago, in 2012, through the participation of the King Ferdinand frigate in the EU Atalanta Operation to fight against naval piracy in the Indian Ocean (Aden Bay and Somali Basin).
Headed by captain-commander Daniel Mihai Gheorma, the Romanian military ship fulfilled, for the second year in a row, a mission of major interest for the Romanian Naval Forces. Between January and June 2020, the mine layer 274 Vice-Admiral Constantin Balescu provided the command of the permanent NATO naval group to fight against the SNMCMG-2 mines (Standing NATO Maritime Counter Measures Group Two), with which he executed specific missions in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, being the longest fighter mission executed by a Romanian military ship in a theater of naval operations.
