A member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation since 2004 and of the European Union since 2007, Romania is preparing to play host, in the month of November, to a regional summit on strengthening the eastern border of the two organisations
The summit is taking place against the background of recent changes in the security context in the area. In an interview with Radio Romania, ambassador Sorin Ducaru, NATO Assistant Secretary General, presented the situation and talked about possible risks:
Sorin Ducaru: "The situation is rather dynamic, and not in a good sense. The illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia was followed by several other actions related to a tendency of militarising the peninsula, and I'm not only talking about the military presence and the number of soldiers. There is also a tendency to install several pieces of equipment, missile systems, air and naval systems. A matter of concern is also Russia's rhetoric on the possibility to place nuclear armament in Crimea. This rhetoric alone, even though we speak only of rhetoric in this case, can generate destabilizing effects."
Romania is now at his highest security level since it joined NATO, particularly against the backdrop of NATO's recent decisions to strengthen its eastern flank, the Director General for Strategic Affairs with the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu has said.
Dan Neculaescu: "I'd dare say that most likely than not Romania now enjoys the best protection level in its recent history. After the Ukrainian crisis of March 2014 when Russia illegally annexed the peninsula, measures were taken at several levels to secure the allies, including Romania. The first level was the security measures that practically consisted of exercises, including surveillance flights, as well as of a rotating military presence on the territory of the eastern allies. The second level was that of the allies that had a special relation with Romania, especially the US, and that had a consolidated and strengthened presence on Romania's territory. But not only the US. It was also Canada and Portugal. Last year we had a contingent of Canadian aircraft, this year we have a contingent of Portuguese planes. What's next? We mean to consolidate NATO's presence in Romania. To this end, the upcoming summit in Poland in 2016 is quite important."
NATO's policy of eastern flank consolidation includes the new command center in Romania, which became operational this month, along with five others, in Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Their mission is to facilitate deployment for NATO's newly created Very High Readiness Joint Task Force and to coordinate exercises. Around 40 officers will man each of the centers, which will be fully operational by the time the NATO summit starts. While attending the ceremony to begin operations at the center in Lithuania, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said:
Jens Stoltenberg: Each headquarters will have a key role in planning NATO forces. And, if need be, in assisting potential reinforcements. They will ensure that, should our forces need to move, they can move quickly and effectively. And they send a clear message: No NATO ally stands alone. NATO is here and NATO is ready. Ready to defend all allies against any threat. Solidarity is the essence of our alliance. Our commitment to this fundamental principle - that an attack on one is an attack on all, is unwavering."
The creation of new command and control units is aimed at improving the Alliance's capability of providing a concrete and decisive response to any hostile action against NATO members as colonel Catalin Ticulescu explains. Ticulescu is commander of a NATO integration unit with the armed forces in Bucharest and was wounded during a patrol mission in Afghanistan.
Catalin Ticulescu: "The establishment of the command centre I am honoured to lead and later of the Multinational Division South-East, as well as the significant increase in the number of national and multinational exercises carried out this year, represent Romania's firm response, solid commitment and consistent contribution to the efforts of the North Atlantic Alliance in demonstrating that it possesses the necessary capabilities to respond to any possible security threat against its members. This command centre is not a military base. It will not conduct military actions as such. Its role is to facilitate the rapid deployment of allied forces in the region, support collective defence and assist in the coordination of exercises and training carried out jointly with our allies."
The center's staff consists of 42 military, 27 of whom are from Romania as host country. The NATO Force Integration Unit in Bucharest will be coordinated, alongside the unit in Sofia, by the NATO Multinational Division South-East whose headquarters are in Bucharest.
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