For over a year
\nnow, the security challenges faced by NATO’s eastern flank have been intensely
\ndiscussed internationally. The European Union’s sanctions on Moscow, although
\ncausing a lot of trouble for the Russian economy, have done little to change
\nVladimir Putin’s attitude. Vocally criticised for the annexation of Crimea and
\naccused of providing Ukrainian separatists in the east with military and
\nweaponry, the Kremlin leader this week made public his plans to boost Russia’s
\nnuclear arsenal. Putin wants to add 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles
\nto its nuclear stockpile this year in response to US manoeuvres and intentions
\nin Eastern Europe, including Romania. Besides, in an attempt to showcase
\nRussia’s military prowess, Moscow has intensified its large-scale military
\nexercises, something NATO has also done. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Wednesday,
\nwhile an exercise was taking place in Brasov County, central Romania, that
\ninvolved 1,000 military from 25 NATO states, two structures of the Allied Joint
\nForce Command in Naples have been relocated to Romania. The Command and Control
\nCentre of the NATO Response Force (NRF) has also been transferred to a
\ntemporary location. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the
\nParliament in Bucharest is preparing to debate and vote on the country’s
\nNational Defence Strategy for 2015-2019, following a positive opinion from the
\nSupreme Defence Council and the defence committees in the Senate and the
\nChamber of Deputies. The authorities say an effective strategy must be based on
\nconsolidating democratic and security processes and must observe Romania’s
\nstrategic commitments as part of NATO and the European Union. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Compared with
\nthe previous strategy adopted in 2010, one of the new concepts introduced by
\nthe new strategy is that of extended security. This entails well-functioning of
\nthe justice system and the rule of law, the efficiency of the national systems
\nof crisis prevention and management and consolidating the security of energy,
\ntransport and cybernetic infrastructures. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The strategy
\nalso refers to ensuring a high-performing economic environment, the state’s
\nbudgetary and financial stability, as well as to developing the country’s
\npublic healthcare, education and social security systems.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nIn foreign policy terms, Romania wants to
\nconsolidate its position within NATO and the European Union and its Strategic
\nPartnership with the United States. Another priority for Romania is security in
\nthe Black Sea region and boosting cooperation with neighbours and other states
\non NATO’s eastern flank. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As part of a large-scale NATO military exercise, structures of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples have been relocated to Romania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":64401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[13794,116464],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-64400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-nato","tag-romania-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n