Romania celebrates NATO Day
As a member of NATO, which it joined 14 years ago, Romania enjoys its strongest security guarantee, said president Klaus Iohannis on the celebration of NATO Day in Romania.
Leyla Cheamil, 02.04.2018, 13:21
It’s been 14 years since Romania became part of the most important military structure in the world, thus benefiting from a solid security guarantee. On the 29th of March 2004, Romania joined NATO officially by depositing the instruments of accession to the US State Department, the depository of the North-Atlantic Alliance Treaty. NATO Day has since been celebrated every year in Romania on the first Sunday in April. This year, the celebration was marked by all army garrisons in Romania and in theatres of operation. President Klaus Iohannis sent a public message saying that as a member of NATO, Romania enjoys its strongest security guarantee.
He also said NATO Day is a double celebration for Romania, marking both the 68th anniversary of the signing, on 4th April 1949, of the Washington Treaty, which laid the foundation of the North-Atlantic Alliance, and the 14th anniversary of Romania’s joining the strongest political and military alliance in history. Bucharest’s pro-western vocation received unequivocal confirmation at that point, the president also said. The country’s defence minister Mihai Fifor said the Romanian Army is a loyal and trusted partner and a genuine asset for its allies.
Fifor, who travelled to Arad, in the west, to attend the Romanian and NATO flag raising ceremony, added: “I wanted to be today with the Arad Battalion to celebrate 14 years since Romania became a partner of the North-Atlantic Alliance, an extremely important date, because that’s when Romania in effect became a member of the most important military alliance in the world, adhering to an extremely important principle, that of maintaining peace in the world at any cost. For the last 14 years, Romania has been building an extraordinary image, that of a modern army, a dedicated army, an army that contributes more than 700 military to the theatres of operation.”
“Wherever they go, the Romanian military are perhaps their country’s most important ambassadors. This is also why we have a profound respect for the Romanian military, for the Romanian Army”, the defence minister also said. This is the second year when Romania has allocated 2% of its GDP to defence spending. The minister also said that by suitably funding the army’s equipment and technology acquisition programmes, Romania is fulfilling its obligations as a NATO member.
