The new headquarters of the NATO
Multinational Corps South-East was opened in Sibiu. The structure is tasked
with coordinating NATO land operations in the region and with defending Romania
and Bulgaria in times of crisis or war. President Klaus Iohannis hailed the
opening of the new command center, describing it as a major achievement for
Romania, which reflects the political, diplomatic and military efforts and
contributions of Romania and its allies.
Romania will continue to contribute to improving regional and
Euro-Atlantic security, including as a pillar of stability in the Black Sea,
Klaus Iohannis said. At the 2018 NATO summit in Brussels, Romania announced its
intention of developing NATO’s command structures on its territory by means of
a land corps, allowing it to consolidate the planning and operation of NATO
forces and structures in Romania – NATO’s Force Integration Unit (NFIU), the
Headquarters of the Multinational Division South-East (MNDSEHQ) and the
Multinational Brigade South-East (MNBDE). The long-term consolidation of NATO’s
deterrence and defense posture in the Black Sea remains a key priority,
underlying the historic decisions of the summit in Madrid and the resolutions
of this year’s summit in Vilnius, president Iohannis also pointed out. The two
summits laid out a clear direction for accelerated NATO adjustment through measures
that will strengthen forward defense, anti-air defense and operational scouting
on NATO’s Eastern Flank, in order to boost the Alliance’s capacity to respond
to security challenges in the area. This is the 10th NATO
multinational corps set up in Europe, which is expected to be rendered
operational one year before schedule, due to the security climate in the
region, says Romania’s Chief of Defense Staff, General Daniel Petrescu:
Starting today, we have a new
command structure in the south-east area, which can contribute to deterring
hostile intentions targeting NATO and which can ensure the command and control
of Allied land operations. The Multinational Corps South-East Headquarters can
take command and control of up to five divisions of NATO forces and allied
national contributions.
In turn, the head of the
Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu, Major-General Dragoș-Dumitru
Iacob, said that the main
mission of this structure is to defend the territories of Romania and Bulgaria.
In turn, Romania’s Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr believes the new structure will be
useful in the current international context. (VP)