Romania, a strategic role in the Eastern Flank

Romania reiterates its commitments to the North-Atlantic Alliance

Bogdan Matei, 20.03.2026, 14:00

In a world facing multiple crises and torn by conflicts, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, calls Romania a ‘steadfast ally’ in the alliance it joined two decades ago and praised its strategic role in the Eastern Flank. Upon the talks in Brussels on Thursday with Romanian President Nicuşor Dan, Rutte hailed the fact that Romania, which he considers a staunch supporter of Ukraine, a country invaded by Russia,  allotted 2.5% of its GDP to defence. “We are vigilant and ready to defend every centimeter of allied territory, we count on Romania and Romania can always count on NATO,” Rutte said recalling that after the launch of the Eastern Sentry programme, the number of allied troops deployed to the region was on the rise from Estonia to Bulgaria.

Quoted by Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels, President Dan says in turn that Romania has never been in a better position in terms of security. He told Rutte that Romania also has plans in terms of developing its national defence industry. According to a previous communique released by the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, the Rutte-Dan talks agenda has also revised the measures of strengthening the collective defence as well as of increasing Romania’s security by means and with NATO support. According to the same source, Romania meets its commitments assumed at the NATO Summit in the Hague concerning increased defence expenses and it grants multidimensional assistance to Ukraine.

At the same time, Bucharest underlines the need for strengthening NATO support for the partner states, mainly the neigbouring ex-Soviet, Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, a country, which has seen a series of hybrid actions mounted by Moscow. Not only a NATO ally, but also connected to the United States through a Strategic Partnership, Romania had clearly stated its position regarding the importance of the Transatlantic relation by hosting US defensive elements – the President said in Brussels. “We are allied when our partner needs us. And this is what it means to be allies”, the Romanian President said at the news conference with NATO Secretary General. The political and military analysts in Bucharest told Radio Romania that President Dan’s visit to NATO was a success and that Rutte, as its incumbent Secretary General, really likes Romania – which was not the case during the time when he was serving as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and he had constantly blocked its access to the border-free area of Schengen. He said that at this moment, the country’s main vulnerability is not in terms of security or of a geo-political nature, but rather of a domestic nature, against the background of political uncertainties, social tensions and an economic crisis, which becomes more and more plausible.

(bill)