Romania celebrates 21 years of NATO membership
In 2004, Romania officially joined NATO, the biggest military alliance in history. NATO membership was an enormous advantage, with Romania now benefitting from the strongest security guarantees.
Mihai Pelin, 31.03.2025, 14:00
Romania will continue to contribute to promoting global security and the democratic values, said interim president Ilie Bolojan on the 21st anniversary of the country’s NATO membership. That moment was very important, consolidating Romania’s security and stability. This was the result especially of the support given by the United States, the Alliance’s strongest force, Ilie Bolojan also said. He recalled that in 2025, Romania and the United States, which he described as “a reliable friend”, will celebrate 145 years of diplomatic ties. The relations between the two countries were raised to the level of a strategic partnership in 1997.
On 29th March 2004, Romania officially joined NATO by submitting the ratification instruments to the State Department of the US, the depositary of the North Atlantic Alliance Treaty. The invitation to join was first received at the NATO summit in Prague in 2002 and was the result of major political consensus at national level, consolidated by military involvement in theatres of operations.
After the accession, the Romanian army embarked on a process of modernisation. The famous Russian-make MIG aircraft were replaced by the much more high performing American F 16 planes. Moreover, Bucharest will also purchase F35 planes. Romania, the US and NATO have invested hundreds of millions of euros in the modernisation of Romanian military bases. Runways, hangars, infrastructure, supply centres and many other facilities were built and renovated.
In April 2008, Romania hosted the NATO summit in Bucharest. This was the biggest foreign policy event to be staged by Romania, as well as the biggest summit in the history of NATO. After the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea by Russia, in 2014, the support for Romania has become more consistent. In 2016, the United States placed elements of its missile defence shield in Deveselu, in the south of Romania, to be later integrated with the NATO defence system.
NATO membership on the eastern border of this military alliance made Romania into an important ally for the other members. NATO chose Romania to host four of its important structures, including three command structures. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 immediately led to NATO’s creation in Romania of a battle group made up of military from a number of allied armies.
At the moment, the US started a major project to modernise the military base in Mihail Kogălniceanu, in the south-east. This will become the biggest NATO base in Europe. Many Romanians, either civilians or military, have held important positions within NATO. The most telling example is that of the former Romanian foreign minister Mircea Geoană who served as NATO deputy secretary general between 2019 and 2024.
NATO was established in 1949, and Sweden is its newest member, joining in 2024. There are to date 32 member states.
