Radio România Internațional

Tag: NATO’s eastern flank

  • 2.5% for defense

    2.5% for defense

    The deterioration of
    the security context in Eastern Europe following the Russian invasion in
    Ukraine has prompted several countries to reexamine their defense capabilities.
    Romania too wants to increase its GDP contribution to defense spending to 2.5%.
    The measure could be submitted to Parliament for debate this week. Senate
    Speaker, Florin Cîțu, wrote on social media that this will ensure all coming
    governments will observe this budget. The increase of the defense budget was
    announced by president Klaus Iohannis following a meeting of the country’s
    Supreme Defense Council. He pointed out that, in the current security context,
    Romania needs to take concerted action in two directions: increasing the
    defense capabilities of the Romanian state and securing the country’s energy
    independence, in particular by developing sustainable and civilian nuclear
    energy sources.

    It is key to ensure better conditions for equipping our armed
    forces, so they should train better and increase the operational response
    capacity of the Romanian Army, helping it react to current and prospective
    security threats , the president point out. Defense Minister Vasile Dîncu in
    turn argues that increasing Romania’s defense capabilities is a complex
    objective in the medium- and long-term. The army has a strategic document, an
    ambitious equipping program aimed at procuring state-of-the-art military
    technologies and providing superior training to our human resources, the
    preparation of our territory and of the population for the defense of our
    homeland. 2.5% of the GDP will help achieve this target sooner than planned,
    before 2040, Dîncu pointed out. The
    Romanian defense minister said Romania is defending part of NATO’s eastern
    flank and is thus part of NATO’s plans to modernize its collective defense.
    Those who argue against defense, saying we should become military neutral, are
    mistaken, and the best evidence of that is the tragedy in Ukraine right now,
    Minister Dîncu pointed out.

    This week
    Parliament is expected to receive a law package on national security, which is
    expected to be adopted as a top priority. The director of the Romanian
    Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig, underlined the need to swiftly adopt
    these laws in order to create and streamline clear mechanisms required to
    manage prospective crises. Finally, MPs are also examining the Offshore Law
    aimed at greenlighting a number of important energy projects. (VP)

  • Frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region

    Frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region

    The
    Black Sea region links Europe to the Caspian area, the Middle East and Central
    Asia and is NATO’s southeastern flank. As such, it is a key region for NATO.
    The situation here is complex, given that the Black Sea region is facing security
    and stability challenges. One of the most important conflicts with significant
    impact on the entire region is the one pitting Russia against Ukraine. The conflict
    broke out in 2014, with the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the
    Russian Federation.



    On the other hand, the situation in Transnistria, a
    Russian-speaking breakaway region east of the Moldova, remains tense. Moldova lost control of Transnistria in the
    wake of a civil war where the Russian Army backed the separatists. Georgia, in
    turn, lost control of Abkhazia. The separatist region proclaimed its independence
    in 1992, also after a civil war, with support from the Russian military.
    Another territory in Georgia, South Ossetia, in turn proclaimed its
    independence in 2008, after the Russian army intervened on the side of the
    separatists. On a visit to Washington to consolidate security cooperation with
    the United States,



    Romania’s Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, expressed
    Romania’s position with respect to the Black Sea region. The Romanian official
    warned, during a public talk at NATO, against frozen conflicts, saying Romania
    has been arguing in favor of consolidating NATO security on the Black Sea for
    the last two decades. All that happens in the Black Sea does not remain in the
    Black Sea, it has a major impact on transatlantic relations in general, Bogdan
    Aurescu argues. The Minister pointed out that, historically, the region has always
    been at the crossroads of several interests intertwining – imperial aspirations,
    conflicting ideologies, competing trade interests, being a bridge between Asia
    and Europe. In the last three decades, the Black Sea has been an area of
    conflict, and this trend remains, unfortunately, if we look at what
    happened this year, for example, in April, when we witnessed the massive
    deployment of Russian forces, perhaps the largest such deployment since the
    Cold War, in the region, with a lot of equipment left there, the Romanian
    official said. Bogdan Aurescu said this is a factor of concern which requires
    everyone’s attention, not just countries in the region.



    The Romanian Minister
    for Foreign Affairs believes that the US military presence in the region, in
    terms of both numbers and equipment, must be increased not just in Romania, but
    on the southern part of NATO’s eastern flank, where the military presence is
    more fragile compared to the north. (VP)