Romania will make all efforts for the allied and U.S. military presence to be enhanced and consolidated, to guarantee the citizens' security, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca says, in the context of celebrating NATO Day in Romania.
"The illegal military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and NATO's response to this unjustified invasion have proven the essential role of the Alliance, which acted swiftly and at a fact pace to consolidate the security of the Eastern Flank and Romania. Romania is an important NATO member and the allied measures adopted recently in the context of the Russian invasion in Ukraine place us under the umbrella of the strongest political-military alliance in history. We are the first allied country where NATO has activated its Rapid Response Force as a first," the Prime Minister's message reads.
He mentions that over 3,000 troops from NATO countries, out of whom approximately 2,000 are Americans, are deployed on Romanian soil, and over 20 allied aircraft ensure air policing missions on Romania's skies together with the Romanian Air Force.
"Equally, NATO decided at its extraordinary Summit of March 24 to set-up a battlegroup on Romania's territory, headed by our ally France. All these are immediate and short-term measures. On long-term, we are preparing the widest transformation of NATO's defence concept, as well as that of the Romanian Army alongside the one of the alliance. To guarantee the security of all our citizens we'll make all efforts for the allied and US military presence to be enhanced and consolidated," Ciuca pointed out.
He hailed the results of the most recent NATO poll, published within the Secretary General's annual activity report, that places Romania among the first allied nations whose citizens show the highest confidence level in the NATO affiliation.
According to Nicolae Ciuca, the accession to NATO on March 29, 2004, was preceded by a de facto affiliation to the Euro-Atlantic family in the previous years, when Romania joined the US and the Alliance in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Legally and politically, we became NATO members 18 years ago. Nonetheless Romania's Army acted as an allied military force years before, smoothing the path of our accession, which we are always grateful for to our soldiers and their sacrifices on the battle field. Today, when our allies are by our side, in their turn, guaranteeing Romania's security, we know 'Defence starts at home.' We are determined, especially in the context of the current war at Romania's and NATO's borders, to transform the allied defence posture on the Eastern Flank and develop Romania's Army defensive capabilities to strengthen our role of security provider in the region," Ciuca pointed out.
He brought to mind, as announced by President Iohannis, that the defence budget would increase 25%, from 2% of the GDP, to 2.5% of the GDP.
NATO Day is marked in Romania each year on the first Sunday of April. This year Romania marks 18 years of NATO membership, and NATO celebrates 73 years of existence on April 4.
Comentează