The US army is currently faced with five challenges:
\nRussia’s aggression in Europe, China’s position in the Asia Pacific region,
\nNorth Korea, Iran and the actions of the Islamic State terrorist organisation.
\nIn other words, the current world security background has changed dramatically
\ncompared with 25 years ago, and it requires a totally different approach, as
\nthe US Secretary of Defence, Ashton Carter, has recently stated. To reflect
\nthis change, the US may allocate 582.7 billion dollars for defence next year.
\nUnder the European Reassurance Initiative, the US may also allocate four times
\nmore money, up to 3.4 billion dollars, to Central and Eastern Europe, Estonia
\nand Romania in particular. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The fact that NATO and the US are paying close
\nattention to Russia’s actions in the Middle East does not diminish the
\nattention paid to Ukraine. The annexation, two years ago, of the Crimean
\nPeninsula and Russia’s support for the pro-Russian rebels in the east of
\nUkraine have already boosted the US and NATO presence in Eastern Europe. It is
\nenvisaged that the Pentagon will deploy an additional 3,000 to 5,000 troops in
\nthe area. The US Army newspaper Stars and Stripes reads, quoting a US defence
\nofficial, that heavy armament and vehicles will also be stationed in Europe. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In Bucharest, the Romanian Government has hailed the
\nUS’s intention to earmark additional funds for its presence in Europe. The
\nRomanian Foreign Ministry believes that increasing the defence budget four
\ntimes is evidence of the US’s strong commitment to discouraging risk factors in
\nthe area and of a robust American military presence in Europe. The US’s
\ndecision has been hailed by the head of the Presidential Office, Dan Mihalache,
\nwho, alongside the Romanian Ambassador to the US, George Cristian Maior, had
\ntalks in Washington with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence James Townsend
\nand the Senior Director for European Affairs at the US National Security
\nCouncil Charles Kupchan. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The excellent relations between Romania and the US
\nand their importance with regard to regional stability were demonstrated by the
\nactivation, last year in Bucharest, of the NATO Multinational Division
\nSoutheast. Also, the antimissile defence shield in Deveselu, in southern
\nRomania, was rendered technically operational in December 2015. According to
\npresidential advisor Dan Mihalache, Bucharest expects this year’s NATO summit
\nin Warsaw to send a strong signal regarding NATO’s interest in the central and
\neast-European area, and also in the Black Sea. The US’s decision to increase
\nthe defence budget for Europe is already considerable proof of this interest. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The USs budget for Central and Eastern Europe may increase four times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":67188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[31659,38331,116464],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-67187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-defence-budget","tag-eastern-europe","tag-romania-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n