The summit is taking place against the background of recent changes in
\nthe security context in the area. In an interview with Radio Romania,
\nambassador Sorin Ducaru, NATO Assistant Secretary General, presented the
\nsituation and talked about possible risks:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Sorin Ducaru: The situation is rather
\ndynamic, and not in a good sense. The illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia
\nwas followed by several other actions related to a tendency of militarising the
\npeninsula, and I’m not only talking about the military presence and the number
\nof soldiers. There is also a tendency to install several pieces of equipment,
\nmissile systems, air and naval systems.
\nA matter of concern is also Russia’s rhetoric on the possibility to
\nplace nuclear armament in Crimea. This rhetoric alone, even though we speak
\nonly of rhetoric in this case, can generate destabilizing effects. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania is now at his highest security level since it
\njoined NATO, particularly against the backdrop of NATO’s recent decisions to
\nstrengthen its eastern flank, the Director General for Strategic Affairs with
\nthe Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu has said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Dan Neculaescu: I’d dare say that most
\nlikely than not Romania now enjoys the best protection level in its recent
\nhistory. After the Ukrainian crisis of March 2014 when Russia illegally annexed
\nthe peninsula, measures were taken at several levels to secure the allies,
\nincluding Romania. The first level was the security measures that practically consisted
\nof exercises, including surveillance flights, as well as of a rotating military
\npresence on the territory of the eastern allies. The second level was that of
\nthe allies that had a special relation with Romania, especially the US, and
\nthat had a consolidated and strengthened presence on Romania’s territory. But
\nnot only the US. It was also Canada and Portugal. Last year we had a contingent
\nof Canadian aircraft, this year we have a contingent of Portuguese planes.
\nWhat’s next? We mean to consolidate NATO’s presence in Romania. To this end,
\nthe upcoming summit in Poland in 2016 is quite important.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
NATO’s policy of eastern flank
\nconsolidation includes the new command center in Romania, which became
\noperational this month, along with five others, in Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia,
\nLatvia and Lithuania. Their mission is to facilitate deployment for NATO’s
\nnewly created Very High Readiness Joint Task Force and to coordinate exercises.
\nAround 40 officers will man each of the centers, which will be fully operational
\nby the time the NATO summit starts. While attending the ceremony to begin
\noperations at the center in Lithuania, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
\nsaid: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Jens Stoltenberg: Each headquarters will have
\na key role in planning NATO forces. And, if need be, in assisting potential
\nreinforcements. They will ensure that, should our forces need to move, they can
\nmove quickly and effectively. And they send a clear message: No NATO ally
\nstands alone. NATO is here and NATO is ready. Ready to defend all allies
\nagainst any threat. Solidarity is the essence of our alliance. Our commitment
\nto this fundamental principle – that an attack on one is an attack on all, is
\nunwavering.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The creation of
\nnew command and control units is aimed at improving the Alliance’s capability
\nof providing a concrete and decisive response to any hostile action against
\nNATO members as colonel Catalin Ticulescu explains. Ticulescu is commander of a
\nNATO integration unit with the armed forces in Bucharest and was wounded during
\na patrol mission in Afghanistan. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Catalin Ticulescu: The establishment of the
\ncommand centre I am honoured to lead and later of the Multinational Division
\nSouth-East, as well as the significant increase in the number of national and
\nmultinational exercises carried out this year, represent Romania’s firm
\nresponse, solid commitment and consistent contribution to the efforts of the
\nNorth Atlantic Alliance in demonstrating that it possesses the necessary
\ncapabilities to respond to any possible security threat against its members.
\nThis command centre is not a military base. It will not conduct military
\nactions as such. Its role is to facilitate the rapid deployment of allied
\nforces in the region, support collective defence and assist in the coordination
\nof exercises and training carried out jointly with our allies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The center’s staff consists of 42 military, 27 of whom are from Romania
\nas host country. The NATO Force Integration Unit in Bucharest will be
\ncoordinated, alongside the unit in Sofia, by the NATO Multinational Division
\nSouth-East whose headquarters are in Bucharest. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation since 2004 and of the European Union since 2007, Romania is preparing to play host, in the month of November, to a regional summit on strengthening the eastern border of the two organisations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":63326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43939],"tags":[44482,29812,13794],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-155255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-future-starts-today","tag-command-centers","tag-jens-stoltenberg","tag-nato"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n