The first 100 US military arrive in Romania

The first US soldiers from a new contingent to be deployed here have arrived in Romania. They were repositioned from Germany and will be preparing the arrival of the rest of the contingent of 1,000 US troops Washington is planning to deploy to Romania. The move comes amid the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and is aimed at consolidating NATO's eastern flank. Romanian defence minister Vasile Dîncu explains:

"100 soldiers have already arrived; they are specialists who will be preparing the barracking of the rest of the troops. They arrived in Romania, as well as in other countries, from what I understand, also in Poland. In Romania, they will be concerning themselves, alongside our logistics experts, with precisely this thing. Naturally, this means it won't take long until the rest of the troops arrives, but we will keep you updated on the details and even the places where they will be barracked with the transparency that characterises us. For the time being there isn't one particular location or an exact date for their arrival."

The defence minister also said that Romania is prepared to host the American troops. He emphasised that from a military point of view, one cannot speak of imminent war. The US military already in Romania as part of previous deployments are stationed at three main bases: Deveselu (in the south), Mihail Kogălniceanu (in the south-east) and Câmpia Turzii (in the north-west). The latter location is considered a strategic location for the operations of the US air forces and an important support base ensuring the so-called "strategic depth": it is here that possible reinforcements and military support for the allied troops would arrive in the event of a hypothetical conflict with an aggressor attacking Romania. The US also announced plans to invest over 150 million dollars in modernising the infrastructure of the air base in Câmpia Turzii.

A week ago, the US announced the deployment of around 3,000 US military to countries on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance. Apart from those arriving in the coming days in Romania, some 2,000 will be flown to Poland and Germany. The Pentagon said these are temporary missions to consolidate the defence of European allies in the context of tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The situation remains tense, after Moscow massed over 100,000 soldiers and considerable combat equipment on the border with its former Soviet republic. The West is fearing an invasion, but Moscow denies it and made a series of demands, such as blocking Ukraine's access to NATO and downsizing activities in ex-communist states, including Romania. Russia's demands were rejected by the allies and efforts to find a diplomatic solution continue.  (CM)