President Iohannis at Saber Guardian in Cincu: It was a very successful exercise

President Klaus Iohannis attended Saber Guardian 2017 multi-national military exercise at Cincu shooting range, at the Combat Training Centre for the “Getica” Land Forces.

The exercise at Cincu, carried out with real ammunition, was attended by 1,700 servicemen of the land forces belonging to the 2nd “Getica” Infantry Division, 282nd “Unirea Principatelor” Mechanised Infantry Brigade, and 8th “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Larom Brigade, next to 3,300 servicemen of Armenia, Croatia, the US, and Ukraine.

The combat shooting exercises and the armoured vehicles exercises are supported by Romanian Air Forces and USAREUR military aircraft. In addition, military intelligence, psychological operations (PSYOP) and Topography — Geodesy structures also conducted activities.

President Iohannis stated that the exercise was a special one.

“It was a very special exercise, both through its dimension and through the number of participants, and also because Romanian, US servicemen were participating alongside guests from several states, which made this exercise an international exercise, very successful in my opinion,” Iohannis said.

According to the head of state, exercise’s goal was to test if several military units can work together, if the troops are compatible.

“The first response we can give now is: yes, they are compatible, they have worked very well together and everyone witnessed the living proof that our soldiers are capable of fighting together,” the head of state said.

Asked if these servicemen could deter Russia, Iohannis replied: “Of course they can, and I believe they are doing it.”

He congratulated the commanders who led the units attending the exercise, saying they proved ‘a high level of training and professionalism.’

“This thing hasn’t been done in our country before. It is a first. The final assessment will be done by the military in the hours and days to come, but a first evaluation that can be done at this moment is that it was a very successful exercise. I congratulate everyone who has prepared, led this exercise and everyone who participated, regardless of their rank,” Iohannis said.

Iohannis about Patriot missile: We are not preparing to attack anyone

President Iohannis also referred to the Patriot missile that Romania is to purchase, mentioning they aren’t meant to attack anyone.

Questioned if the purchase of Patriot air defence system can create tensions with the Russian Federation, Iohannis answered: “We aren’t preparing to attack anyone. We are preparing to be better equipped, so that our army can benefit of modern, efficient endowment. This endowment isn’t designed to attack anyone. It is designed to defend ourselves, to guarantee the security of Romanians in Romania,” Iohannis pointed out.