Defence ministry marks NATO Day by military technique display

NATO day and Open Gates Day have been marked at the Romanian Defence Ministry’s HQs on Sunday through a military ceremony and an exhibition of weapons and modern military technique used in different theaters of operations. Fragments of a Hercules C-13 aircraft, damaged in Afghanistan and Romanian army’s regimentals were displayed among others. Aerial platform trucks were also on display, as well as telescopic handlers, metal and mining detectors, X-ray scanning portable devices.

Several hundreds persons have visited the exhibition in the ministry’s courtyard, with children being especially attracted by the military tecnique display.

Attending the celebrations, Romanian Defence minister Mircea Dusa said that Romania’s NATO membership “is the most important security measure of our country, considering the security situation has changed a lot in the region.”

Dusa also pointed out that Romanian military “have won respect of their companions-in-arms, with the arm in their hands, as well as the appraisal of political and military leaders of the ally countries”, adding he received numberless congratulations for the impeccable performances of the Romanian military in the theaters of operations abroad.

Romanian Foreign Ministry also conveyed a message on NATO Day in Romania, reading that “Romania will unfailingly watch the reinforcement the Alliance’s solidarity in 2015”, also stating that “the international security situation, and especially those at the Alliance’s eastern and southern neighborhood, compels NATO to focus on the development of its originary task, the one of collective defence.”

“MAE hails the NATO Day celebration in Romania on April 5 (….) Through its contributions, Romania took part in the Allied missions and operations and brought added value to the elaborations of NATO policies, at the same time defining a particular profile within the Alliance,” reads the Foreign Ministry press release.

According to MAE, “the North Atlantic Alliance stays the main security guarantor of Romania, and our country’s main target is represented by the reinforcement of NATO relevance and efficiency, as the fundamental pier of the Euro-Atlantic security”.

NATO Day in Romania has been celebrated in the first Sunday of April since 2005.