Russia Slams Military Expansion at Mihail Kogalniceanu base

"NATO's enforcement in Eastern Europe is challenging", Kremlin says.

By Romania Journal Last updated Mar 28, 2024

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NATO activities in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region are aimed at preparing allies for a potential clash with Russia, stated the Russian Foreign Ministry to RIA Novosti, citing plans to upgrade the Mihail Kogălniceanu base in Romania.

The Russians say NATO’s military buildup in Romania, Poland and the Baltic states “is provocative, exacerbates military tension along the perimeter of Russia’s borders and creates threats to the country’s security.”

“The expansion of the Romanian air base is further evidence that the North Atlantic bloc continues its unlimited militarization of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region,” said the ministry, led by Sergei Lavrov, to the Russian news agency.

The Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, one of the main military bases of the Romanian Army and also the location of the largest American military presence in Romania, will be modernized in a comprehensive program totaling nearly 2.5 billion lei by 2030.

The base in Constanța County will continue to be modernized, and approximately 2.5 billion lei will be invested by 2030 in the development of operational, social, and infrastructure facilities.

On the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base are stationed the foreign detachments of fighter planes that help the missions of the Reinforced Air Police. Most recently, on Monday, six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) landed at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base 57, according to MApN.

The British detachment, made up of approximately 200 military personnel (pilots and technical personnel) and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, will perform, together with the Romanian Air Force, Enhanced Air Policing missions under NATO command, in the next four months. This is the fifth rotation at Mihail Kogălniceanu of the Royal British Air Force, after those carried out in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

At Kogălniceanu, the Romanian forces operate helicopter units, and MiG-21 Lancer aircraft also operated from there in the past.

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