Radio România Internațional

Tag: NATO membership

  • Special Parliament sitting devoted to NATO

    Special Parliament sitting devoted to NATO

    Marking 20 years since Romania joined NATO and 75 years since the creation of the Alliance, the Romanian Parliament convened in a joint sitting on Tuesday. Romanian MPs adopted a resolution highlighting Romania’s NATO membership as safeguarding citizens’ security, democracy and individual liberties. The resolution was passed with 247 votes in favor and 1 against. Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciucă, a retired general, said that in the 20 years since it joined NATO, Romania has become a key member of the Alliance.

     

     

    “Romania is deeply transformed today. We have the strongest security guarantees in our country’s history. We are not just beneficiaries of NATO security, but one of the pillars for ensuring security on NATO’s eastern flank”.

     

     

    In the last couple of decades, Romania proved to be a loyal and valuable NATO member, interim Chamber of Deputies Speaker Alfred Simonis said in turn.

     

     

    “Romanian servicemen have been deployed to every battlefield that required their presence. Civilian institutions have supported Romania’s active and honorable activity at NATO level. Romania joined a community of values, which has had a transformational and positive impact on our society”.

     

     

    From the opposition, USR leader Cătălin Drulă said Romania must fulfill its commitments at NATO level, particularly in terms of earmarking 2.5% of the GDP to defense spending.

     

     

    “We can become a leader in Eastern and Central Europe, but for that we must build a modern Romania that values democracy and honors its promises to its allies”.

     

     

    Romania’s obligations at NATO level were also mentioned by AUR deputy Mircea Chelaru, a retired general himself.

     

     

    “This Alliance comes with benefits and obligations, which we ourselves enjoy and are committed to observe, namely loyalty, predictability and responsibility”.

     

     

    Over 80% of Romanians believe NATO accession to be a good thing, and that Romania’s allies will defend the country in case of an attack, a survey conducted by the Romanian Institute for Analysis and Strategy reveals. Nearly a quarter of participants agree Romania should invest more to modernize its military. 60% of Romanians say the presence of NATO troops on Romania’s territory enhances the country’s security, given that some 40% of respondents expressed concern regarding Romania being possibly dragged in a military conflict over the next years. (VP)

  • Romanian – US dialogue

    Romanian – US dialogue

    Romania has made significant headway in observing the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland said in Bucharest where she held talks with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis and other high-ranking officials. Victoria Nuland said that more and more companies are interested in investing in Romania, particularly in IT, infrastructure and energy, but that depends on the countrys staying on its strong track of economic growth, rule of law, predictability and stability in improving corporate governance for state-owned enterprises and tax-rates more stable.



    During a meeting with the Romanian president, Mrs. Nuland said that the US is generally impressed by the activity of the National Anti-corruption Directorate. According to Victoria Nuland, in any democratic society it is very important to have a balance between security and protecting private life. Weve seen increased strength of the independence of the judiciary, more and more cases being made.



    Victoria Nuland said that the US sees Romania as a country with big potential as an energy-transit site that can play a vital role as a transit country to other parts of Central Europe that are more dependant on outside sources of energy. The US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs saluted Bucharests strong commitment to growing defense budget, procuring next generation equipment and supporting counter-ISIL efforts.



    In turn president Klaus Iohannis has underlined Romanias determination to meet its commitments as a NATO member, particularly against the background of the latest security challenges. During the meeting, the participants have highlighted the privileged character of the Romanian-American relations, reiterating the readiness of strengthening the US-Romanian Strategic Partnership on all dimensions.



    On the other hand Victoria Nuland said that Washington and Bucharest are working together in support of a democratic European Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet state with a Romanian-speaking majority. The officials have also tackled the continuation of the European progress of the former soviet state as well as the refugee crisis and situation in the Western Balkans.


  • Romania – ten years of NATO membership

    Romania – ten years of NATO membership

    Faced with the developments in Ukraine that saw Crimea break up with Ukraine and join Russia, NATO had to adjust its strategies to be able to cope with current and future challenges. At a conference held by Bucharest to celebrate its 10th anniversary of NATO membership, Romania’s prime minister Victor Ponta said the decision making process within the North Atlantic Alliance should be based on two main lines of action: the creation of a common NATO economic area and the expansion of military security to the countries that wish to join the European Union. Victor Ponta:



    “I believe that NATO, including Romania as a member country, must hold a realistic talk at the upcoming summit in September about NATO’s strategy with regard to the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. These countries need more than promises and recommendations.”



    Romania’s former president Emil Constantinescu too said that NATO’s profile should be adjusted to a constantly changing society:



    “It is important to build our defence capacities, even though military development sometimes seems to be an excessive measure. Finding ourselves at a crossroads in this globalised world, what’s important is not choosing one road or another, but the ability to predict where these road may take us or to identify alternative pathways in this century of unexpected transformations when the threats and the players are changing so fast.”



    In its ten years of NATO membership, Romania has taken part in the theatres of operation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Western Balkans and Northern Africa, contributing around 40,000 troops to these regions. 26 Romanian soldiers were killed in mission, most of them in Afghanistan, and 145 wounded. In the last ten years, Romania has also signed a number of strategic partnerships and has streamlined and modernised its army to meet NATO standards. NATO membership has also provided Romania with the guarantee that its borders are secure, says historian Dorin Matei. Asked about its position within the North Atlantic Alliance, he said:



    “I believe Romania’s voice has been quite well heard in the North-Atlantic Alliance lately. Romania has always insisted on the need to focus on this region. There was an entire discussion about how important the Mediterranean was, because this is where terrorism finds its easiest gateway into Europe. But Romania insisted, and history has proved it right, that this east-European region, and especially the Black Sea region with so many frozen conflicts, is one that must be given full attention. I should also add, speaking about the redistribution of NATO forces and attention, that in the early 1990s there were agreements between NATO and Russia, with NATO undertaking not to deploy forces above a certain threshold into the new territories integrated in the Alliance. But with Russia’s move into Crimea, NATO’s hands are no longer tied. Unlike the Russians, the West has always complied with its commitments. But now they are no longer under an obligation to respect these agreements, and in the forthcoming NATO summit we will see a change in the discourse about the redistribution of NATO troops and equipment.”



    According to the presidential adviser for strategic affairs, security and foreign policy Iulian Chifu, Romania’s insistence on the importance of the Black Sea region to NATO and to regional security has been notable ever since the summit in Riga, when this element was included in the final declaration, and particularly at the 2008 summit in Bucharest. In an interview to Radio Romania, Iulian Chifu also said:



    “We must emphasise the special relationship we have with the United States, our strategic Partnership with his country. We’ve seen how much this strategic partnership means, how much it brings, not only in military, political or security terms, but also in economic and development terms.”



    In fact, Chifu explained, this strategic partnership proved its viability in this latest crisis as well, when we could see how quickly NATO military forces from the US came to support those countries that felt certain pressures or threats to their security.