Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian army

  • End of mission in Afghanistan

    End of mission in Afghanistan

    US troops intervened in Afghanistan almost 20 years ago, shortly after the terrorist attacks on the New York twin towers and the Pentagon. Accused of providing refuge for Osama bin Laden and the jihadist network Al Qaeda, responsible for the attacks, the Taliban were removed from power by Americans. Almost two decades followed in which NATO forces acted in the region through various missions, marked by numerous attacks resulting in loss of human lives.

    But then, in April this year, the US president Joe Biden said that with the terror threat now in many places, keeping thousands of troops grounded and concentrated in just one country at a cost of billions each year makes little sense to me and to our leaders. (…) It is time to end America’s longest war. It is time for American troops to come home.

    The United States will work with its NATO allies for a coordinated withdrawal from the Asian country, according to the principle established from the beginning: we enter together, we adapt together, and we leave together. Subsequently, the North Atlantic Alliance announced that the necessary conditions for the completion of its Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan had been met and it was no longer necessary to maintain the 9,600 soldiers from 36 countries.

    Romania is part of the coalition against terrorism, the first Romanian military being deployed in Afghanistan shortly after the attacks, and since then it has been constantly among the main contributors to the NATO mission. In agreement with its partners in the Alliance, Romania decided to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in coordination with the other members starting with May 1, 2021, a decision which was made by the country’s Supreme Defense Council.

    The mission in Afghanistan will end for the Ministry of Defence only when all Romanian soldiers have returned home safe, Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca said:

    As one of the most important contributors to the Resolute Support Mission, with over 600 soldiers deployed in the theatre of operations, Romania will act in accordance with the allied decisions regarding the withdrawal schedule. Romania took the decision, two decades ago, to be part of the counter-terrorism coalition and to join its strategic allies, in an international bid to fight an enemy that threatens the peace and security of its citizens. For almost 20 years, tens of thousands of Romanian soldiers have fulfilled missions in the Afghan theatre of operations, contributing significantly to the change for the better of the security situation in the area.

    We are talking here about two missions. The first was the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), followed in 2015 by Resolute Support, which aimed to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces. Invited to Radio Romania, Nicolae Ciucă, commander of the first Romanian battalion in Afghanistan, drew a picture of the situation from Romania’s perspective:

    For the Romanian Army, the year 2002 meant hope and efforts towards being invited to join the alliance in the autumn of that year, which happened. Two years on, the Romanian Army kept fulfilling its missions in Afghanistan, but also in Iraq and became a full member of the North Atlantic Alliance based on the decision made at the NATO summit. Therefore, all these elements of analysis can be described first of all by the will, enthusiasm and the spirit to prove that we were able and had the availability, the human resources and, why not, the spirit of sacrifice necessary to become members of the North Atlantic Alliance. After that, we have proven we are a credible member of this alliance. And because I mentioned sacrifice, I want to recall and express our gratitude for the 27 Romanian soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan and the over 200 people who got wounded there. This is the effort that the Romanian army have made in these 20 years.

    What does Afghanistan look like now and to what extent have the problems been resolved? Afghanistan is still not a perfect country, but it does not compare to the Afghanistan of beheadings and torture two decades ago. Afghanistan now has dozens of diplomatic missions around the world, a Constitution, a legally elected president and government, an elected parliament and local councils in which women are represented as well. Parties, NGOs and civil society organisations have been re-established. Most Afghans have access to basic health care, and millions of children are vaccinated against epidemic diseases. However, huge challenges remain related to government, drugs, poverty and corruption. The future is still uncertain.

    Here is Liviu Mureşan, president of the EURISC Foundation:

    After two decades, this operation that has cost so many human lives, huge amounts of money and has left the problem unresolved, is coming to an end. We do not know how things will develop in the coming period. It is very important that we, who have been involved in this operation in Afghanistan from the very beginning, have all our soldiers back home, along with all the related equipment, if possible. Afghanistan will remain a lesson in how infrastructure determines the fate, life and proper functioning of a mission. A country that has no access to the sea is a country that cannot be conquered, controlled and truly transformed, especially with the geography that Afghanistan has.

    The Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, Mir Rahman Rahmani, has warned that the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country in the current context will lead to civil war. (MI)

  • Romanian Soldiers Wounded in Afghanistan

    Romanian Soldiers Wounded in Afghanistan

    The 1st of May holiday in Romania was overshadowed by the news coming in from Afghanistan. On Monday, eight military from the 30th Carpathian Eagle Force Protection Battalion based in Campulung-Muscel (south) were wounded in a suicide attack, during a mission carried out in their area of responsibility. After 24 hours in the care of the medical staff at the Kandahar base, 7 of them were released from hospital and returned to their base. The 8th military was flown to Germany for additional medical evaluation. He suffered injuries on his right arm, but his general condition is good.



    The Romanian convoy was in a village near the airport in Kandahar when a suicide attacker blew himself up in a car. Many children were in the area at the time, and 11 of them were killed in the attack. According to the local police, the explosion occurred when the Romanian military were outside the armoured vehicle they used for patrolling. The Presidents office, the Government and Parliament sent messages of support to the Romanian soldiers wounded in the attack and to their families. The US ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, also sent the eight soldiers his and his countrys appreciation for their service as part of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. He said the brave Romanian soldiers took part in many missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo to bring freedom and democracy to areas affected by war.



    The Romanian military from Campulung Muscel are on a mission from February to August this year. Their responsibilities generally include the protection of the force at the army air base in Kandahar and the training, counselling and assistance of the Afghan National Forces. The army unit in Campulung Muscel also carried out missions in Kosovo, in 2005 and 2007, and in Afghanistan, in 2008. Romania contributes 625 staff to the NATO mission in Afghanistan. 300 others are deployed in operations under the EU, UN and OSCE command in other regions. 29 Romanian military have been killed in foreign missions so far, and 185 others have been wounded.



    The security situation in Afghanistan continues to be unstable, with most incidents taking place in the provinces in the east and south of the country. The NATO forces ensuring the security of the military bases and the most important centres in the country are permanent targets for possible attacks by insurgents. (translated by Cristina Mateescu)

  • The paratroopers of the Romanian Army

    The paratroopers of the Romanian Army

    Set up in 1941, the Romanian paratrooper unit has a winding history. In 1944, at the request of the Allied Control Commission controlled by the Soviets, the Romanian paratrooper unit was dismantled. It was re-established in 1950 and then expanded in 1980 during Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime. During the anti-communist revolution of December 1989, the paratroopers from the Boteni regiment, 160 km northwest of Bucharest, sacrificed their lives for the cause of the revolution.



    The firing squad who executed the Ceausescu couple was formed by three paratroopers from Boteni, a commissioned and two non-commissioned officers. After Romania’s accession to NATO, the paratrooper forces were reduced and resized in keeping with NATO standards.



    In 1997, Radio Romania’s Oral History Centre had the chance to interview Gheorghe Angelescu, one of the first young men to enter the paratrooper unit. He remembers how he became part of the future elite troops of the Romanian Army: “Like any young man, I was attracted to the idea, except that it was a long road from wishful thinking to reality, because I wasn’t of the right age yet. We had a neighbour who was a private secretary at the Ministry of War and I went to him behind my parents’ back and told him my mother asked him to help me. He told me to bring him my birth certificate and a written application for an age dispensation. Around the 1st of November, I was announced my request had been approved. I went to the train station, got on the train and went to the aerostation, which was the first stop after Pantelimon, to the east. The aerostation, in fact a unit for air balloons that were no longer in use and were no longer even there, was in the middle of the forest. All you found there were a few elderly guards.”



    Gheorghe Angelescu began a strict instruction and training programme. Like any school, the paratrooper school combined physical training with academic classes: “Apart from customary military training, lessons about weapons and how to handle them, there was a lot of emphasis on sports. We used to practise a lot of sports to become fit and stay fit. There was also a series of special courses involving a lot of nighttime activities to get used to moving about in darkness. I even started to believe I could see better at night than during daytime, we did so much night orienteering. They would wake us up while we were sound asleep, whether in winter or summer. I began in November, so I did a lot of my training in winter. We would be marching for 15 to 20 km every night, carrying all our weapons. I used to carry a machine gun, a Beretta pistol and a knife. We’d be trained for hours on end on how to handle and throw a knife, and how to be able to use the handle, not just the blade. We wore special boots with three layers of rubber soles, leather puttees and proper socks and not foot- wraps like soldiers from other armies.”



    One of the most important components in a paratrooper’s training was naturally the parachute jump. Gheorghe Angelescu recalls: “We started skydiving training in the summer of 1944. After three jumps you would be made a sergeant and receive your skydiving licence. Our instructors were our colleagues who finished the training course before us and they gave us a hard time. We hated them at the time, but looking back I think they did well. By the 23rd of August I had already jumped eight times from the Junkers aircraft we used for training. There was only one parachute available for training. We trained for months, learning how to fold back the parachute and take it with us, for we couldn’t just leave it to the enemy. Preparing for the jump was really hard work. We used to dig a hole and fill it with sand, which we then covered with wood planks and to which we added some windows, which were supposed to represent the plane’s trap door. We would train by jumping in the sand pit. I even jumped from a height of 5 metres. In 1944 or 1945 I went to visit my grandparents and they asked me to fix something about the house. I climbed on a ladder and jumped from there. People were shocked, but for me it was the easiest thing in the world.”



    When Romania came under Soviet occupation, the requisitioning began. The paratrooper unit was dismantled and its assets considered spoils of war. Gheorghe Angelescu: “They told us we had to get rid of our Junkers plane because it was made in Germany and was therefore considered spoils of war. We also handed over our parachutes, which were taken by the Russian Army. We handed over parachutes, German machine guns, everything that was made in Germany and was thus considered spoils of war. I don’t know what they did with the plane, it was a piece of junk anyway, but I suppose it was fine for the war, it had been useful to us and could be useful to others.”



    Romanian paratroopers had some notable achievements, and their ranks also included parachuting and aviation pioneer Smaranda Braescu, a world record holder. (Translated by C. Mateescu, edited by D. Vijeu)

  • Modern equipment for the Romanian army

    Modern equipment for the Romanian army

    The Romanian Army is undergoing an ample modernization process. The bill on the purchase of ground-to-air missiles from the United States is under Parliament debate as of Monday. It will be first discussed by the Senate, to then reach the Chamber of Deputies. The document provides for the purchase of seven missile defence systems, of which four will equip the Romanian Air Force and three will go to the Romanian Land Forces. The contract is worth 3.9 billion dollars. The first system, which costs 764 million US dollars, is to be purchased by the end of this year, and the Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor hopes it will be rendered operational in 2019.



    Mihai Fifor: “The bill is to be debated by the Standing Bureau of the Senate and it will be discussed under an emergency procedure in the Senate. We hope that the Senate will have endorsed it within two weeks, and it will then go to the Chamber of Deputies. We are prepared and the minute the Romanian Parliament approves the bill, we will be ready to pay for the first Patriot system, which will most likely become operational in 2019”.



    Previously debated by the Government, the bill also stipulates that ensuring a proper ground-based air defence capability is a matter of national interest, because it contributes to ensuring national and regional security and it helps strengthen the Strategic Partnership with the United States. As regards missile defence, the Romanian army is currently counting on US and Soviet missiles, which date back to the Vietnam war. In terms of military ground and air equipment, the 3+ hardware and software configuration of the Patriot missiles that are to be purchased from the US is first class.



    The Patriot system has been manufactured for 40 years now, and it has been continuously upgraded and developed. It is equipped with last generation missiles, built in particular to ensure protection against ballistic missiles. Each of them weighs 350 kg, can reach a speed of 5,000 km/h, has a range of 20 km and can go as high as 24,000 meters. The system is also equipped with complex radar which can detect in record time a missile shot by an enemy and is capable of reacting to threats within mere seconds.



    Romania will thus join a small group of countries whose armies are equipped with Patriot systems, namely the US, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Together, all the partner countries are continuously investing in upgrades and tests, in order to stay one step ahead of any security threats.

  • Activity report and commitments of the Romanian army

    Activity report and commitments of the Romanian army

    2016 was a year of transition for the Romanian Army, both in terms of the implementation of the decisions taken by NATO at the summits in Wales and Poland and in terms of its budget, which has reached 2% of the GDP this year. On Tuesday, the defence ministry presented its activity report for last year, an event attended by president Klaus Iohannis, prime minister Sorin Grindeanu and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea. In the opinion of the defence minister Gabriel Les, Romania is ready to face the existing security challenges, including the threats on its eastern border, as well as the cyber threats. He said the Romanian Army must maintain a high level of reaction for the purpose of national defence. President Klaus Iohannis said the Army’s priorities remain the strategic partnership with the United States and the consolidation of its position with the North Atlantic Alliance.



    The Romanian military fully deserve to be appreciated, said the President: “The army is a fundamental institution of the Romanian state, one that our citizens view with trust and pride. This level of appreciation is the result of the professionalism of the military and civilian staff who carry out their missions with patriotism and dedication.”



    The President highlighted the importance of the army within a complex international context with geopolitical and security developments that have complicated the international environment in recent years: the protraction of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the war in Syria, Islamic fundamentalist terrorism and the migration crisis generated by the instability in the Middle East. Prime minister Sorin Grindeanu said the local defence industry should be involved in the programmes to modernise the army and that his government is determined to keep its commitments in respect of the army budget.



    Sorin Grindeanu: “In keeping with the commitments made, the defence budget should benefit from 2% of the GDP. We aim to maintain this level in the 2018-2020 period. This budget ensures solid ground for accelerating the modernisation of the Romanian Army.”



    The prime minister also reiterated his cabinet’s firm commitment to carry out its defence policy objectives and to achieve the modernisation and consolidation of the army. The Romanian military are an example of determination, promptitude and professionalism, said the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and president of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea. He added that the 2% allocated to the army starting this year is a minimum level that should be maintained in the next 10 years.


    (Translated by Cristina Mateescu)

  • The Russians in Romania, during WW1

    The Russians in Romania, during WW1

    Based on the treaty of August 1916, between Romania and the Entente, the Russian army committed itself to backing the front, south and east of the Carpathians. During the campaign of 1916, the commanders of the Russian army failed to keep their promise and the war was a disaster. A Russian army corps, led by general Andrei Medardovici Zaioncikovski came to the support of the Romanian army in the battle aimed to defend Bucharest, on November 30, 1916. In the absence of a combative spirit, they could not help the Romanians halt the central Powers’ offensive and the ensuing occupation of the capital city. Another Russian army corps in Dobrogea was dispatched too late and it could not ward off the German-Bulgarian attacks, coming from the south.



    Following the support provided by the French army in 1917, the Romanian army was able to recover and prevent the Germans’ advance. The Eastern ally’s military presence in Moldova, where the Romanian authorities had taken refuge, was enhanced. If 50,000 military were deployed in Romania in 1916, in 1917 the Russians sent one million troops to join the approximately 400,000 Romanian soldiers. With a consistent support provided by the Russians, who covered some 80% of the frontline, the Central Powers’ offensive was stopped.



    The Russian military presence in Romania, which finally produced positive results, turned out to be difficult to manage. It turned, after the victory of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, into one of the main causes that led to the collapse of the whole eastern front. Also, it was the most dangerous source of instability for Romania. The Russians’ image in Romania was already a negative one, dating back to the war of 1877-1878. The presence of the Russian troops in the 1916-1918 period did nothing but confirmed what the Romanians already knew from their grandparents’ stories.



    Constantin Moiceanu was 5 years old in 1917. Interviewed in 2000 by the Oral History Centre of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, he remembered the conduct of the Russian troops when they arrived in his native village: ”The Russian troops arrived at some point. They were famous for getting drunk quickly and sparking scandals. My parents were well-off people; they had a cellar full of wine and plum brandy barrels. And I remember that one day, my parents, together with other people took all the wine barrels in the courtyard and spilled their content as there were rumours about the Russians’ arrival. They spilled the content because there was no place where they could hide them. They did the same with the plum brandy. And when the Russians came they searched the cellar but they could not find anything.”



    However, the year 1917 would bring the disaster. The Bolshevik Revolution had also got hold of the Russian army and everything risked turning into chaos. Ioan Odochian’s father had been a private in the Austro-Hungarian army. Because of his nationalist convictions, he refused further be part of that army.



    In an interview dated 2001, Odochian told us about his father’s recollections of the Russian troops turning Bolshevik: ”When the Russian revolution spread and its front was set up in Galicia, my father was a deserter from the Austro-Hungarian army. He was on one side, the Russians on the other. So my father told me that one morning, some sort of gathering was organised. The army gathered in a field where one of the officers brought a table and climbed on it to deliver a speech in Russian. The Russians had been Orthodox believers before that, they had brought their prayer books with them on whose front page there was a photo of the Tsar. Right after the officer ended his speech, all Russian soldiers tore the picture of the Tsar. My father told me that’s exactly what he witnessed. That’s why he kept telling us that Russians were Godless people, which held nothing sacred.”



    In 1996, professor Pan Vizirescu talked about the Russian soldiers stationed in Romania who were fully convinced of the rightfulness of the Bolshevik ideas: ”We saw deserters wandering the streets, drunkards and brawlers. That is the truth. I even talked to the poet Buzdugan, a poet from Bessarabia. He knew Russian very well and told me that one night while he was in a pub in Nicolina, a neighbourhood in the city of Iasi, he overheard a group of Russian soldiers planning to kill Romania’s King Ferdinand. They were drawing up their plan right there as crime had crept into their souls. So Buzdugan went to see one of the country’s officials, Nicola Iorga, and told him what he had heard. Iorga took the story further to the Palace, telling it to the King, and measures were taken to prevent the murder. Somewhere else, in Bacau or Piatra Neamt, the Russian soldiers killed one of their generals. They did their best to Bolshevise the Romanian army as well, but that was impossible. Our army was devoted to the country. “



    The Russian presence in Romania during World War One was rather controversial. It had positive effects since it contributed to a crucial military victory, yet it was no less negative, since it jeopardized what had been gained with great sacrifice.






  • Romanian Army Upgrades Air Forces

    Romanian Army Upgrades Air Forces

    The Romanian Air Forces have just been strengthened, with the purchase of 12 multirole F-16 Fighting Falcon planes from Portugal, under a 628 million-euro contract. A first squadron of 6 aircraft marked with Romanias national colours landed in the country last week, after having been officially taken over in a ceremony held at the Portuguese air base in Monte Real. Three more fighter jets are scheduled to arrive in December, and the last 3 next year.



    The aircraft will be based in Fetesti, south-eastern Romania, and in Campia Turzii, in the centre, with the two air bases revamped specifically in order to receive the jets. Produced between 1981 and 1983, the F-16s have undergone successive upgrade programmes to reach the current stage, termed F-16 Mid-Life Update M52. The remaining service time is on average 4.500 flight hours, that is, more than half of the airplane lifespan. At a rate of about 200 flight hours per year, the planes are expected to be operational for the next 20 years.



    So far 80 Romanian troops have completed an F-16 training programme at the Monte Real air base. They are thrilled with the performance of the aircraft, which they describe as “the most successful in the world in its category, and able to accomplish any mission.



    In turn, the Romanian Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc says the purchase of these fighter jets means that Romania has joined the “F-16 club and that this may be a new beginning for the Romanian pilot school, one of the oldest in the world, to contribute once again to the training of elite pilots. The 12 multirole fighters in the Romanian-Portuguese contract are also a first step in building a robust air capacity in the region.



    At present, Romanias air space is protected by Soviet-made MiG-21 LanceR supersonic aircraft, modernised in a partnership with an Israeli company since 1995. The third-generation MiGs, whose lifespan ends in 2017, will be replaced with the fourth-generation F-16s. The Romanian Air Forces are also equipped with domestically-built IAR-99 Soim and Iak-52 subsonic training aircraft, with C-27J Spartan transport aircraft of Italian production and American C-130 Hercules planes.



    The Romanian Army also uses IAR-316 Alouette helicopters and IAR-330 Puma helicopters, with their modernised version, IAR-330 Puma SOCAT. All of them are produced domestically under French license. The Romanian Air Forces equipment also includes AN-30 planes, produced in the former USSR, and used for aerial photography and cartography.


    (Translated by A.M. Popescu)

  • Radio Donau

    Radio Donau

    War propaganda was one of the most efficient ways of boosting the morale of the army and the civilian population. It also was a means to justify the course of action and decisions of a particular political regime. Democratic as well as totalitarian regimes have used radio propaganda, which allowed strictly controlled information to reach the public quickly and efficiently.



    Radio Donau was set up in order to broadcast information from the German-speaking world to central and south-east Europe. Its head offices were in Vienna, while the transmitters were located in the mountains of Bohemia. From Vienna in June 1940, Radio Donau began its broadcast in Romanian, with the staff made up of several translators. After August 23, 1944, when Romania switched its alliance from the Axis to the Allies, a far-right government in exile was formed in Vienna, headed by Horia Sima. That governments messages to Romanians were broadcast by Radio Donaus Romanian service, which was disbanded in May 1945.



    In 1942, Iustin Liuba from Timisoara, in western Romania, travelled to Dresden, in Germany, for his university studies. In 1944 Iustin Liuba relocated to Vienna. In an interview that he gave to Radio Romanias Oral History Centre in 1998, he recalled that Romanians studying in Vienna used to work for Radio Donau:



    Iustin Liuba: There was a small team made up of three Romanians working for Radio Donau, who translated 2 to 3-minute long commentaries from German into Romanian. Most of their work consisted in the translation of news bulletins. The news bulletins came from the German High Command, reporting, for instance, ‘our submarines sank 50 thousand tonnes in the North Atlantic. This meant that they had sunk merchant vessels, allied cargos. Similar special announcements would be made every three hours or so. The news was translated into several languages, broadcast languages also included Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian, plus Japanese, Italian, the languages of the Axis powers.



    Brief, fifteen-minute programmes were aired, mostly news bulletins. Here is Iustin Liuba once again, with details on the Radio Donau programmes and how people there used to work:



    Iustin Liuba: “Recordings were made, which afterwards were rerun several times. Airtime was limited. Some of the programmes came live, while other materials were recorded, not on tape, because there was no such thing back then, but on vinyl discs, just as gramophone discs. The problem with it was that, if you made a mistake, the disc was useless, you had to get a new one. If you made just one mistake, the disk was thrown away and you had to start all over again. So it was complicated. The news came from German sources. The German intelligence services fed Radio Donau with the latest news, but they didnt say that. They would quote ‘reliable sources. Usually it was the Deutsche Nachrichten Agentur, the German News Agency, who provided the news. The station also used a team of Germans from Romania, Saxons or Swabians, who spoke Romanian and of course German, which was their mother tongue. They were monitoring the broadcasts, making sure there were no changes in the written text and the texts were read correctly.



    The so-called “national government set up after August 23, 1944 was made up of Iron Guard leaders. Shortly afterwards, however, tensions emerged between Horia Simas government in exile and the other Romanians in Vienna. Radio Donau was the channel used by the Sima government to reach Romanians. Iustin Liuba told us more about those rivalries:



    Iustin Liuba: “A ‘national government was set up in Vienna. Back then, there was a well-known rivalry between the Iron Guard commander, Horia Sima, and general Ion Gheorghe, who had been Antonescus ambassador to Berlin and who was not a member of that far-right organisation. General Ion Gheorghe was an iconic figure of the Romanian army, a symbol of the Romanian peoples anti-communist tradition, whereas Horia Sima was representing the Iron Guard extremist organisation. General Ion Gheorghe was a professor at the War School, the military academy in Bucharest, and a renowned expert on tanks. He used to say: ‘We are at war with the Soviets, but we dont want to be led by the Iron Guard. The Romanian people, through its army, stood up against this organisation, which had rebelled against the state order. This dispute between general Ion Gheorghe and Horia Sima took place in Vienna, and the Germans didnt know who was the best person to head the new government and to organise the resistance against the Soviet army.



    Iustin Liuba also spoke about the tense meeting between Horia Sima and the Romanian students in Vienna, designed to set up a so-called ‘national liberation army.



    Iustin Liuba: “We were discontent about the governments extremist leaning, because the Germans eventually decided to choose Horia Sima as head of government. They removed general Ion Gheorghe, who had our support, and who represented the Romanian anti-communist army. The Germans favoured Horia Sima and asked him to go and speak to the students, recruit them, convince them to join the ranks of the national army. It was a failure, nobody volunteered, two or three girls from the Medical School said, ‘We are female doctors, we can work in hospital, so they signed the papers, but the rest of the students didnt. Horia Sima got angry, he said, ‘I am ashamed of you, you dont realise what you are doing! We apologised, Horia Sima slammed the door shut behind him, and that was our meeting.



    The Romanian armys last mission during WW II was to destroy the transmitters of Radio Donau. This mission, successfully accomplished, put an end to Romanias participation in WW II.

  • Sovietization and the Purging of the Romanian Army

    Sovietization and the Purging of the Romanian Army

    Sovietization started in Romania with the installation of the government led by Petru Groza, and the first targeted institution was the army. Under the pretext of turning the army back from Fascist leanings, the Allied Commission, under Soviet control, purged the army of tens of thousands of military personnel believed to have German sympathies. The term purge was also meant to induce guilt in the people who were kicked out.



    Mircea Carp was one of the people removed from the Romanian Royal Army. He had fought in the USSR, getting wounded and earning a decoration. He was interviewed in 1997 by the Oral History Center of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation.



    Carp remembers the situation he was in, when he was laid off: “In 1946, before August 9, I was in the Romanian army as a sub-lieutenant. I had fought on both the eastern and the western fronts, I had been wounded and been decorated. I was doing my job at the cavalry instruction center in Sibiu. The morale among military people at the time was very low, particularly among officers and NCOs, because a year before the law-makers had passed a law for laying off a large number of active duty military people, but no one knew when this was going to happen. However, we all knew that this was going to happen on political grounds, meaning that officers and NCOs who were getting fired were going to be those who were not sympathizers of the pro-communist regime, of the Petru Groza government.



    Similarly with the great Stalinist purges of the 1930s, some of the best Romanian officers were forced out. Fascism was replaced by communism within the ranks.



    Mircea Carp again: “On August 9, 1946, they issued lists of the over 9,000 active officers who were to be dismissed. I remember that the law was issued when units of the center for cavalry training and an artillery regiment from Sibiu were up in the mountains, putting out forest wildfires. When we came back from that operation, the ordinance came one morning. I was reading the newspaper, it was called ‘Army Voice, and it listed all the names, mine included. The first purge, in fact, of a fairly large number of Romanian officers, mostly generals and colonels, had come in 1945, in August. An order issued by the Allied Commission, in fact the Soviet Control Commission, led by General Susaikov, ordered the Ministry of Defense to remove from the army about 200 Romanian generals and colonels. The official reason was that they had German sympathies. Of course, it was not that those generals and colonels had German sympathies, but that they had done their duty well on the eastern front. They were kept in the army until the war ended, because their qualities were needed on the eastern front.



    Romanian history was entering a new stage. It was also a new stage in the life of Mircea Carp and of the tens of thousands of officers and NCOs forced to live on the margins of society: “The law removed from active duty about 9,000 officers. Shortly after, more purges followed, removing a further 5,500 NCOs, on political grounds. If the purge in 1945 involved the officers that the Soviets believed had a clear anti-Soviet attitude, the 1946 purges involved the officers who did not show that they were inclined to accept the new regime. In other words, if youre not with us, you are against us. We were kept for a year under what they called an ‘availability framework, meaning that we were available to the government to be used in any capacity, whenever they needed us, for a year. During that year we got paid the regular army wages, as if we were active duty officers, and we enjoyed the same privileges as the active duty officers. However, we were not allowed to set foot into any army unit. I remember that I was in Sibiu on August 9th, I went to the barracks at 8 in the morning, and they told me I was not allowed in. The following day I was supposed to go and meet the base commander along with a number of other officers in the same situation, and we were told that we were no longer allowed to enter the base, and we were kicked out of the army. Of course, it was a very difficult departure, because the officers who had not been fired felt embarrassed that they were not fired, while their comrades, sharing their beliefs, were kicked out of the armed forces. Of course, that did not last long, in the end they were relegated to the army reserve, too.



    The Sovietization of the armed forces by purging some of its best officers and NCOs was typical of what the Soviets believed was the building of a better society. The resulting army was one whose purpose was repression of dissenters.

  • The Week in Review, January 4-10

    The Week in Review, January 4-10

    Romanian PM on a visit to Berlin


    The head of the Romanian government Dacian Cioloş and Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed in Berlin on Thursday the Romanian-German relations as well as the prospects of Romanias Schengen accession. The two officials also noted the progress Romania has made in terms of fighting corruption, which in their opinion should reflect in the forthcoming report of the European Commission regarding the Romanian judicial system. Angela Merkel appreciated Romanias importance, among other things, as an economic partner, but warned that some conditions must be created in order for relations in this field to be strengthened. These include, according to the German Chancellor, the improvement of the Romanian judicial system and curbing corruption. As regards Romanias Schengen accession, Dacian Cioloş once again said that Bucharest meets the technical prerequisites for accession, and highlighted that Romania already acts as a Schengen member state in terms of border security. The visit of the Romanian PM ended with a meeting with representatives of the Romanian community in Germany, held at the Romanian Embassy.



    National Bank Governor on the state of the Romanian economy


    A salary raise is inevitable in Romania, in the context of the countrys European integration, but its overlapping with fiscal relaxation measures should have been avoided, the National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu said. He added that caution should be exercised in raising incomes, so as to make sure that subsequent cutbacks would not be needed. In his opinion, during this election year authorities must be particularly cautious as regards macro-stability, so that economic growth should not be subsequently affected by interest increases, inflation or exchange rate falls. According to Isarescu, last year the national currency, leu, was stable because the macroeconomic context of 2015 was stable and there was no need for large-scale interventions by the National Bank. At present, the international context is more uncertain than it was last year, and higher volatility or larger capital movements may generate temporary imbalances in the market, Mugur Isarescu warned.



    World Bank improves forecast on Romanias economic growth in 2016


    In its latest report on global economic prospects, the World Bank upgrades its forecast on Romanias economic growth rate this year, from 3.2% to 3.9%, and for next year from 3.5% to 4.1&. The institution also improved its estimate regarding the annual GDP increase in Romania for last year, from 3 to 3.6%.


    As regards the region comprising Europe and Central Asia, which includes Romania, but not the Eurozone, the financial institution estimates a 3% growth rate in 2016, and 3.5% in 2017 and 2018. The National Bank of Romania has stated that boosting economic growth in the third quarter of last year was supported by the expansion of private consumption, against the background of higher incomes for the population, improved lending, lower direct taxes and a growing trust in the economy. The institution has decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 1.75% per year, and to reduce the rate of required minimum reserves for the banks foreign currency liabilities.



    Romania under winters assault


    Romania has recently been faced with the first serious snow fall this winter, but, unlike the previous years, the phenomenon has not wreaked havoc with the country road, rail or air traffic. However, several people died because of the extremely low temperatures, which went below minus 20 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country. The bad weather engulfed almost the entire country, and weather specialists issued many warnings and codes for heavy snow, rain, heavy wind and blizzard. Speed restrictions were enforced on railroads, and many trains were delayed. Road and air traffic were faced with some weather problems too, so several flights were delayed and one plane skidded off runway upon landing in Cluj, in central Romania, because, apparently, the runway was full of snow. In the Romanian Black Sea ports, the activity was temporarily suspended because of the heavy wind. Although the layer of snow in Bucharest was not higher than 10 cm, traffic was hampered, because people in charge with removing the snow did not do their job in due time.



    Budget priorities for Romanian Army


    The Romanian Defense Minister, Mihnea Motoc, has announced that the number of exercises in which the Romanian soldiers will participate in 2016 will increase to over 400. Of them, more than 100 will be multinational. Also, the armys operational capacity will be strengthened, as the funds earmarked from the budget for 2016 have been increased. In 2017, the budget of the Army should account for 2% of the GDP, and the rate is to be maintained for at least 10 years, according to the authorities. A member of NATO since 2004, Romania has consolidated its position within the alliance, in particular due to last years activation of two command units: the Multinational Division South-East and the NATO Force Integration Unit. Also, the first elements of the missile defense shield in Deveselu, in southern Romania, were rendered operational.

  • Priorities for the Romanian Army

    Priorities for the Romanian Army

    Romania is undergoing a period where multiple risks, threats and vulnerabilities intertwine or overlap, generating unpredictable effects, both at national and at global level. Based on these changes at global level, the current status quo and assessing the threats, risks and vulnerabilities, this year Bucharest will continue to implement the National Defense Strategy 2015-2019.



    The document is grounded on an extended national security concept, which does not concern defense capabilities alone. Romania is now part of the European Union and NATO, and this membership comes with both benefits and obligations. Into the second half of 2015, two NATO commands were activated in Bucharest: the Multinational Southeast Division, and the NATO Force Integration Unit.



    Additionally, the anti-ballistic defense shield set up in Deveselu, southern Romania, achieved operational status. For 2016, Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc announced Romanian military would take part in no less than 400 military exercises, of which 100 with international participation. At the same time the Armys operational capability will be increased, against the backdrop of additional funds made available to the defense budget. Here is Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc:



    Mihnea Motoc: “The defense budget has slight increased, particularly with a view to boosting Romanias defense capacity and the armys training and combat capabilities, as well as to continuing major procurement projects started in 2015 and kicking off equally important projects in 2016. Our goal is for every division of our army to have cutting-edge technologies.



    Last year, for the first time in 25 years, president Klaus Iohannis invited all parties to consultations regarding the increase of the national defense budget. All parties agreed that by 2017 the defense budget should account for 2% of the GDP, a figure to be maintained for the next 10 years.



    Beyond aspects pertaining to national defense, public order or the activity of intelligence and counter-intelligence agencies, Romanias security strategy draws on a competitive economy, financial and budget stability, functional and change-oriented healthcare, pension and education systems, on its ability to safeguard key infrastructures and to respond to climate-related issues. 2016 has many challenges in store, not only for the Romanian military.

  • August 19, 2015

    August 19, 2015

    The Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ponta, was heard this morning at the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, in a case involving fraud in the Rovinari–Turceni power complex. He is charged with forgery of private documents, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering. On June 15, Ponta was subpoenaed for hearings, after ten days before the Directorate had announced that Ponta, a lawyer at the time of the events, was prosecuted for his involvement in the case. Ponta was unable to appear at the time, because he was undergoing knee surgery in Turkey. Also charged in the same case is the Social Democratic Senator and former transport minister Dan Sova.



    PM Victor Ponta announced that for the time being the budget only allows for an increase of salaries in the public healthcare system. He mentioned that last year an agreement was also signed with the teaching staff, regarding an increase of their salaries. These explanations came after the Government announced that salaries in the healthcare sector will be raised by 25%, starting on October 1, an announcement criticised by the Opposition and followed by similar demands from other categories of public sector employees. We’ll have more on this after the news.



    In Romania, farming works will have to be suspended because of the rainfalls forecast for the coming days. According to the National Meteorology Agency forecast for August 19th to 25th, heavy rainfalls, thunderstorms and strong wind are expected across the country. These follow the longest drought of the past 50 years, which has destroyed crops on hundreds of thousands of hectares in Romania. According to farmers, losses exceed 2 billion euros.



    Romania exported in the first 6 months of the year goods and services in the amount of 27 billion euro, according to the statistics office of the European Union — EUROSTAT. During the same period, Romania’s imports exceeded 30 billion euro, taking the country’s trade balance for the first half of the year to a negative 3 billion euro. Romania’s foreign trade is relatively balanced as regards the partners from outside the EU, with a 100 million euro surplus, whereas its intra-EU trade balance is negative, reaching a deficit of nearly 3.5 billion euro.



    Romania and three other NATO member countries—Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria—are hosting for 4 weeks the largest allied airborne training session since the end of the Cold War, the American armed forces announced. “Swift Response 15” is designed to help allied “high-readiness forces” act as one and “demonstrate the alliances capacity to rapidly deploy and operate in support of maintaining a strong and secure Europe,” the aforementioned source said. Taking part in the drills are nearly 5,000 troops from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, UK and the USA. According to the US Army, it is for the first time that the US 82nd Airborne Division operates in Europe since the NATO support operations in Kosovo in 1999.



    The rotation of the Romanian troops has begun in Afghanistan, where the Romanians are in charge with the security of the Kandahar airport in the south, the largest base of the international coalition in that country. The Transylvanian Dragons of the Dej Battalion are taking over the responsibilities of the Posada Battalion, who conducted patrol missions for nearly six months. They will work together with the American partners and the Afghan national army, which is to gradually take over full responsibility for the security of their country. The International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan officially concluded its mission last year, after 13 years of fighting in a country that remains affected by a violent Islamist insurgence. Since 2001, ISAF has lost nearly 3,500 troops here. As of January this year, only 12,500 international military are left in the country to assist the Afghan troops in their fight against the Taliban.