Romania-NATO relations

Romania was one of the countries to host Defender-Europe 21 multinational exercise

Roxana Vasile, 14.06.2021, 14:00

The Romanian Army is capable to a large extent to carry out defensive
operations at national and NATO level should Article 5 in the NATO Treaty were
activated, chief of general staff, Daniel Petrescu said on Sunday on the
sidelines of the DEFENDER-Europe 21 multinational exercise hosted by Romania, the
biggest NATO exercise in the last 25 years. The multinational exercise was planned
and carried out by the US Army Europe and Africa Command, and was aimed at boosting
the response capacity and interoperability of US Forces with NATO and partner
states. This year, the exercise was due to deploy 28,000 military from 26
countries, which will be training in 30 grounds in over 12 states, including in
Romania.

On this occasion, Daniel Petrescu highlighted that Romania is an
important actor in the Black Sea region and NATO’s eastern flank, providing
security and stability and contributing to the security and stability at
regional, European and Euro-Atlantic levels. All this is possible due to the
two fundamental elements of national security and defense – Romania’s NATO
membership and its Strategic Partnership with the United States. According to Romanian
authorities, Romania is actively and significantly contributing to NATO
missions and operations, gets involved in shaping NATO policies and decisions
and acts to boost cooperation with NATO partners. Also worth mentioning is that
Bucharest has been allotting 2% of its GDP to defense spending for years.

Last
year, Romania’s Parliament passed a resolution on the foundation of the NATO
Headquarters Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu, with a temporary stationing
of the Center in Bucharest. On Sunday, on the sidelines of DEFENDER-Europe 21, chief
of general staff Daniel Petrescu said the Command has reached the necessary
level to allow it to function as a NATO department. The Romanian official said
this structure will continue to develop progressively until it reaches its
final operational capacity in 2024. The South-East Command is aimed at
consolidating NATO’s deterrence and defense posture on its eastern flank and
ensure the chain of command and control at regional level. (VP)