Supreme Defence Council discusses security situation

Romania's Supreme Defence Council looked at the security situation at the Black Sea and on NATO's eastern flank

Corina Cristea, 27.01.2022, 13:50

As a member of the
strongest political and military alliance in history, Romania benefits from all
the security guarantees, president Klaus Iohannis pointed out at the end of the
meeting of the Supreme Defence Council, which looked at the security situation
at the Black Sea and on NATO’s eastern flank and at measures to develop the
country’s response capacity to new security challenges.

The current crisis
created by Russia is not only about Ukraine, not only about regional security
at the Black Sea and not even about European security alone, but rather about
the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic area, Klaus Iohannis said. He emphasised
that the escalation of tensions and Russia’s massive military build-up around
Ukraine and in the Black Sea region affect security and stability at
international level, making unity and solidarity within NATO and the EU all the
more important.

We have run a comprehensive
analysis of the situation, including the military, economic and energy
implications, as well as implications in terms of uncontrolled migration, the
president explained. He mentioned that Romania’s border with Ukraine is over
600 km long and the country must make sure it is prepared for any scenario-including
the situation where Moscow refuses further diplomatic dialogue, which plays a
critical role in defusing the crisis, Klaus Iohannis also said.

He reiterated that NATO’s
steps to strengthen its military presence on the eastern flank are a strictly defensive
response to the growing security risks, threats and challenges in the region:

Klaus Iohannis: Consolidating the Allied presence on NATO’s
eastern flank, including in Romania, is very important to regional stability
and to the security of the Alliance as a whole and of the citizens of the
Allied states. Regardless of the current developments in the region, NATO must
keep its defence and deterrence capacity at a high level, enabling it to
efficiently meet the strictly defensive-and I repeat, strictly defensive-goals for
which the Alliance was created in the first place.

The Supreme Defence
Council agreed on a number of important measures for the current security
crisis, such as carrying on the efforts to enhance the NATO and US presence in
Romania and the management of prospective refugee inflows. (A.M.P.)