Unpredictable developments, shorter deadlines, higher exigencies ahead of Defence ministry in 2016

Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc presented the Defence ministry activity report on 2015 and the main goals for this year on Thursday in a meeting also attended by President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and Chief of General Staff Nicolae Ciucă.

The minister of National Defence said that people have high expectations from the Army and NATO, and that 2016 will be a “difficult” and even “more intense” year than the previous one.

“We have undoubtedly a difficult year ahead of us, even more intense than 2015. We have a number of major international commitments to honor and developments on the international level are becoming increasingly less predictable. Deadlines are short and exigencies high. The higher the uncertainties of the international environment and the steeper the decline of our predictive capacity in a time projection, the more our armed forces need to be easily adaptable. Today, the intelligent use of information can bring strategic advantages in defence, even higher than a tank division. Therefore, we must seriously and courageously reflect on our priorities and programs for the future,” said Motoc.

He also called the political leaders to endorse the Ministry’s projects.

“We won’t succeed without the steadfast support of the state’s political leadership and of the Government, we won’t succeed unless we cooperate with our colleagues from the defence, public order and national security institutions, and of course nothing is possible without the same dedication, selflessness, endurance and resilience the staff of the National Defence Ministry has fully shown in 2015. (…) Please count on the Army to carry through all its missions and tasks,” the minister pointe out.

According to the ministry’s balance sheet, 96 procurement programmes and 400 national and multi-national military exercises were conducted last year.

For this year, the Defence Ministry has four strategic priorities: aligning the army’s structure and human resources management to the best NATO’s practices and to the consequences generated by the new security environment, enhancing the NATO presence in Romania by ensuring the optimum performance of the allied command and control structures on national territory, purchasing new army equipment and improving the quality of life for the Romanian army staff.

In his turn, president Iohannis said that the main stake of 2016 on defence is the extension of the actions started last year in terms of the defence strategy and enhancement of the partnerships with the allies, particularly the one with the USA, but also concerning the enhancement of NATO presence in Romania.

Iohannis on Thursday unveiled that he plans to generate, together with other institutions, a strong and ambitious mandate for Romania at the NATO Summit that will take place in Warsaw in July, showing that the Black Sea region’s strategic valences for the Alliance must be reaffirmed, by moving to establish a multinational naval group.

“In terms of foreign policy and security, one of the most important events this year is Romania’s attending the NATO Summit in Warsaw. (…) In my capacity as President, my intention is that, together with all the institutions in charge, mainly the the National Defence Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, we generate a strong, ambitious mandate for Romania at this summit, one that matches its status of responsible and credible ally,” the President noted, adding that the strategic role of the Black Sea region for NATO will need to be reaffirmed and enforced by initiating steps to establish a multinational naval group.

Klaus Iohannis expressed his full confidence in the Romanian Army, underlining it is a benchmark institution.

PM Cioloș said that the Romanian Army contributes to the fundamental piers of the foreign policy through the strategic partnership with NATO, NATO and EU membership, adding that Romania is highly praised within NATO as a predictable, reliable ally.