Romania. The Eastern Flank

The rotation of French soldiers in the NATO Battle Group in Romania

România Internațional, 08.11.2023, 14:00

A new detachment of French soldiers has arrived in Romania, replacing the one that for 4 months has carried out missions on our country’s territory alongside the allied partners and the Romanian forces.

Attending the authority transfer ceremony held on Friday, November 3, at the National Combined Training Center in Cincu, the deputy commander of the Multinational Division Southeast Command, Brigadier General Loic Girard, thanked everyone for their efforts and stated that his presence at the ceremony is meant to “highlight once again the level of operationalization of the NATO battle group. It is a multinational battle group made up of military from Belgium, France and Luxembourg. I appreciate the very good and special relationship that we have with the Romanian citizens and especially with the Romanian military with whom we meet in all phases of training and mutual support”.

One of the objectives this year was to strengthen the artillery and engineer capabilities of the battle group. At the same time, under the coordination of the Multinational Division Southeast Command, ties with the allied forces deployed in Romania were strengthened through a consistent program of missions and exercises.

At the end of the mandate of the fifth rotation, Colonel Philippe le Duc stated that he had achieved all his objectives, the biggest challenge being “the mountain range and the passes of the Carpathians which are a very important tactical point. Of course, we had to train and highlight the interoperability between the two armed forces of the NATO alliance”.

Set up in May 2022 by transforming the allied multinational elements within the NATO Response Force deployed in our country, the NATO Battle Group is currently sized at the level of a battalion, but is designed to expand, if necessary, at the level of brigade. Established as a NATO allied defense and deterrence military force, deployed to protect and ensure security in the states closest to Russia, this formation deployed at the National Combined Training Center in Cincu has approximately 1,500 soldiers. The number of deployed forces will increase by 230 Spanish soldiers, their presence being announced by the Spanish Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the defense ministers of the European Union member states.

France is the framework nation that leads the battle group on the territory of Romania as it contributes to the greatest extent both troops and in terms of technical equipment, the spearhead of this structure being the 13 Leclerc tanks as well as the M270 multiple launch missile system.

An exercise with multinational participation that has taken place these days at the National Combined Training Center is Black Scorpions, which involved more than 450 soldiers from the 20th Infantry Battalion “Black Scorpions” as well as allied soldiers from North Macedonia, Poland and Portugal, with over 60 technical combat equipment. The training was aimed at increasing the cohesion of the training structures through field training exercises and tactical exercises with combat firing.

In the context of the centennial anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, the Institute for Political Studies of Defense and Military History together with the “Fatih” Institute of Military History in Istanbul organized a symposium at the Palace of the National Military Circle. One of the states contributing personnel to the forces of NATOs Multinational Division Southeast Command in Sibiu is Turkey, its presence also being noted at sea during the exercises, the last exercise being the one carried out together with the frigate Queen Marie, dedicated to the National Day of Turkey.

We remain in the Black Sea area to announce the visit, to the Fleet Command, of the commander of the South-East Europe Brigade, Brigadier General Bilbil Bitri, the work agenda including topics related to the security situation in the Black Sea region. (Teodora Mazere, tr. LS)