Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank

Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has suggested organizing an EU Foreign Minister meeting in Kiev

Roxana Vasile, 25.01.2022, 14:00

Romania’s president, Klaus Ioahnnis, has summoned the
country’s Supreme Defense Council on Wednesday. The security of the extended
Black Sea region and NATO’s eastern flank, as well as measures to develop the
capacity of response to the new security challenges rank high on Wednesday’s
agenda. Romania has northern and southeastern borders with Ukraine and hosts
elements of NATO’s anti-ballistic missile shield in Deveselu. Moscow has called
on NATO to deny Ukraine access to the Alliance. Although it denies any plan to
invade Ukraine, the Russian Federation has rallied some 100 thousand troops and
military technology on the Ukrainian border. In response, NATO says every
country is free to make its own decisions as it sees fit, without any external
interference. Russia further called on NATO to withdraw its military technology
from states that joined NATO after 1997, which includes Romania.

Although it
was given repeated assurances, including recently in Bucharest as well as the
NATO headquarters in Brussels, regarding the strictly defensive purpose of the
shield in Deveselu, Moscow remains adamant. In this context, Foreign Minister,
Bogdan Aurescu, has reiterated at the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers held in
Brussels that the EU should closely consult with the US so as to accelerate the
preparation of sectorial and individual sanctions against Russia. The sanctions
serve both as deterrence and in order to prepare an adequate response in case
of a further escalation of tensions. The Romanian official has called for organizing
a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Ministers in Kiev, as an expression of solidarity
with Ukraine. Bogdan Aurescu expressed gratitude to president Joe Biden for his
announcement regarding the increase of America’s military presence on NATO’s
eastern flank, including in Romania, as the security context continues to
deteriorate. The process of consolidating NATO’s posture on its eastern flank
needs to take place as soon as possible, serving as an important deterrent,
Minister Aurescu pointed out.

NATO published a release announcing that member
states have deployed troops on standby and have dispatched warships and fighter
jets to strengthen collective defense in Eastern Europe in the face of Russia’s
military maneuvers on the Ukrainian border. The Kremlin has referred to what it
has called the exacerbation of tensions with hysteria and lies. The alliance
has recalled that, since the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014,
NATO has consolidated its presence on the eastern flank of the Alliance, in
particular with four multinational tactical groups in Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania and Poland. These units are combat-ready, NATO warning that an
attack on any ally will be considered an attack on the Alliance as a whole.
(VP)