Radio România Internațional

Tag: modernizing the military

  • Navy Day and Modernizing the Military

    Navy Day and Modernizing the Military

    The Romanian Navy Day was celebrated in ports on the Romanian Black Seacoast and in cities across the country. The main event was staged in the port of Constanta, where 10,000 people witnessed a spectacular navy show, with 30 warships and vessels, 12 aircraft and over 3,000 military parading. Attending the festivities President Klaus Iohannis was impressed with the high number of people coming to celebrate Navy Day every year, saying that such moments show just how strong the symbols uniting us are.



    The president hoped the centenary of the Great Unification to be celebrated next year would stir a matching public interest. On the other hand, the president insisted on the country having a modern army, capable of dealing with current challenges. Klaus Iohannis went on to say that the political agreement on allotting 2% of GDP to defense spending, as well as adopting the national plan on modernizing the army, are sending a clear message of responsibility to our foreign partners. Klaus Iohannis:



    “We are showing our partners that Romania is a reliable, predictable state, ready to contribute to ensuring collective defense, together with its allies. Observing this commitment on the long term will allow us to purchase state-of-the-art military technology for our army. Additionally, consolidating maritime security and defense remains at the core of our interests”.



    Attending the event in Constanta was also Defense Minister Adrian Tutuianu, who said that the latest developments in the Black Sea concern not only the region itself, but also the broader Euro-Atlantic security. Adrian Tutuianu:



    “As part of the Black Sea Region, Romania wants and continues to be a pillar of stability, democracy and security. It is our duty to combine our efforts and display wisdom, strength and political ability to make Romania a powerful regional player”.



    Navy Day was first introduced in our country’s official calendar 115 years ago, when a religious service was first held onboard the Elisabeta warship in the port of Constanta. Also on August 15 the Christian community in Romania celebrated the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, seen as the patron saint of sailors. Special services were held on this occasion in monasteries and churches across the country. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • Army-equipping measures

    Army-equipping measures

    The security challenges in Romania’s proximity call for a new approach to national defence strategies. Early this week, when the 2016 activity report of the Romanian Defence Ministry was made public, the line minister, Gabriel Les, expressed Bucharest’s readiness to face and overcome the complex security developments in the region. Les underlined that after years of under-financing, the Defence Ministry’s budget stands at 2% of the GDP, as of 2017, which allows the experts in the field to reconfigure and modernise the military system, two measures that are much needed given the volatile security situation around the country.



    Attending the same event, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said, in turn, that increasing defence spending to 2% of the GDP creates solid grounds for stepping up the process of modernising the Romanian Army. He only requested that the national defence industry be involved in the army equipment programs, given that the Government is determined to maintain defence spending at the same level in the 2018-2020 period, too.



    In turn, state secretary for defence policy and planning with the Defence Ministry, Mircea Dusa, himself a former defence minister, considers that 2017 will be a crucial year for equipping the Romanian Army, considering that it is for the first time in many years that the army’s budget stands at 2% of the GDP. A guest on the “Euroatlantica” show on Radio Romania’s News and Current Affairs Channel, Dusa announced that on Thursday Bucharest hosted a meeting of the Defence Planning Committee, which set the objectives of the Romanian Army’s equipment and modernisation program, on short and medium term, up to 2026. According to him, there are eight major programs which refer, among others, to equipping Romania’s ground, air and naval forces. As regards the ground forces, the Romanian Defence Ministry wants to purchase 8×8 combat vehicles, trucks, multi-role platforms and anti-tank missiles.



    As regards the air forces, Dusa says, the fleet of F-16 fighters should be completed and rendered operational this year, new radars should be purchased for the surveillance of Romania’s airspace, and ground-air missiles should also be bought. Dusa also said the equipment program this year also provides for purchasing corvettes for the Romanian Naval Forces, but the government decree issued last year, which provided for purchasing Dutch ships, will be repealed. He added that a new memorandum is currently being drafted to request Parliament’s approval. The state secretary with the Defence Ministry explained that all investment objectives and purchases of new equipment whose value exceeds 100 million Euros should be approved by Parliament. Mircea Dusa also said four corvettes will be purchased, but he added that it is too early to say who the manufacturer of these warships will be. (Translated by D. Vijeu)