NATO and New Threats

Romania might enhance the US military presence on its territory, according to the NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana

Bogdan Matei, 23.06.2020, 01:50

Romania is
already hosting US military bases and some elements of the anti-missile shield
but the US military presence on its territory might increase, if the country wishes
so. It is the assessment of the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, the Romanian
Mircea Geoana, motivated by the fact that Russia continues to substantially strengthen
its military capabilities in the Black Sea area. Romania, Mr. Geoana has
stated, has a very complex geographical position and therefore it has arguments
in favour of demanding a greater Allied or American presence in the area.

Mircea Geoana: I
think we need to come up with a set of arguments, which are quite obvious. On the
one hand, we are witnessing an aggressive presence and the presence of an offensive
military reinforcement, which the Russian Federation has in the Black Sea and from
the Black Sea; and on the other, here, the base in Kogalniceanu is ideally
placed geographically and strategically for these expeditionary elements. I am
convinced that our leaders, our military, our diplomats know very well these
arguments and are convinced that now, or in the coming period, they will use
their influence and sophistication to advance our interests as a country.

A former
ambassador to Washington and foreign minister in the early 2000s, when Romania
joined NATO, Mircea Geoana has given a diagnosis identical to that of the
Romanian diplomacy. On June 12th, which is the day of the Russian
Federation, the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu ordered that the
Russian ambassador to Bucharest, Valery Kuzmin, be summoned to the ministry’s
headquarters, where he was informed that mentioning Moscow as a security threat
in Romania’s new National Defense Strategy should not come up as a surprise.

This is the
effect of the ‘known behavior’ of the Russian side in the region, ‘behaviour
assessed as destabilizing, including in the common stands adopted at the level of
NATO and the European Union.

On the
other hand, Mircea Geoana has stated that, although President Donald Trump has
recently decided to reduce the number of American soldiers in Germany, it does
not mean that the US’s presence in Europe will decrease, but only that it will be
adapted to new strategic realities. As for China, the NATO Deputy Secretary General
has explained that the Alliance is considering Beijing’s obvious rise. He has
mentioned the risk of distorting competition at global level, when a state buys
ideas, skilled people and companies, which are current practices for China. The
Covid-19 pandemic has not eliminated, but amplified the already existing security
risks, and lowering the guard at such a time would be a serious mistake, the
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana has also stated.