The current security developments in our “direct neighborhood” prove, once again, that the measures taken by NATO are necessary, and Romania, in turn, is determined to fulfill its commitments, according to the decisions taken within the Alliance, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, declared on Thursday, during a visit to the South-East Multinational Brigade, from Craiova.
“From this perspective, the role of the South-East Multinational Brigade is the more important in providing security of the Black Sea region. The latest decisions taken by the United States of America and by France, which are our strong strategic partners and allies, to ensure a concrete military presence in Romania, represent a resolute signal of coherence and consistency of the Euro-Atlantic solidarity“, the Romanian head of state added.
Klaus Iohannis also said that Romania will further modernize its military capabilities and develop the force structure, paying special attention to better training of its armed forces, including through military exercises conducted in an allied framework.
“The commitment to allocate at least 2% of GDP for Defense in the next period remains unchanged, which will lead to the continuous increase of our country’s defense capacity. Both through our own military efforts and through the participation of our allies in the multinational structures set up in recent years on the territory of our country, we give consistency to Romania’s profile as a pillar of stability and security at regional level and adapt to constantly evolving situations,” said the President of Romania.
He argued that a complementary cooperation NATO-EU on security is very important in this regard.
“Combining the efforts of the two organizations certainly brings added value to the security of our country and Europe, of course, by avoiding any duplication and starting from the priority role of the Alliance in the field of defense,” said President Iohannis.
He pointed out that after Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimea, “we have started a broad and complex process of NATO’s political and military adaptation to a security environment marked by new challenges and Russia’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the region.”
“And Romania has been deeply committed to these endeavors . Thus, the Multinational Brigade Command South-East from Craiova, is a measure to strengthen the defense on the Eastern Flank of NATO by establishing an adapted advanced allied presence”, the head of state also said.