NATO Day in Romania

NATO Day has been celebrated in Romania since 2005, on the first Sunday in April.

This year, President Klaus Iohannis and PM Victor Ponta have sent messages commenting on the country’s relationship with NATO, which it joined in 2004.

In a Facebook post, President Iohannis said that NATO membership remains a guarantee of Romania’s security, as well as a reference point in the country’s foreign policy.

In turn, PM Victor Ponta stated, also on Facebook, that Romania’s NATO accession was one of the major achievements of the post-1989 period, and added that Romanian authorities will continue to do their best to fulfil their commitments to the North-Atlantic Alliance.

In January, the President of Romania announced having secured the political consensus required for an increase in the defence budget to 2% of the GDP starting in 2017.

The topic of military training has been approached in the context of the developments in Ukraine, which are a concern for both NATO and the EU.

Recently, the supreme allied commander for Europe, General Philip Breedlove, has said in Bucharest that a decision on whether Romania would host heavy military equipment will be announced soon.

Moscow responded to this announcement, saying that the deployment of NATO armoured vehicles, fighter aircraft and artillery in Romania is an unprecedented, dangerous step that comes against all agreements, including the Russia-NATO founding act.

If the Government of Romania considers the strengthening of the NATO presence on its territory, including through this powerful “armed fist,” then Bucharest must also be aware of its responsibility for this step and the consequences for the stability of the region, Alexandr Lukashevic, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Minister, told Radio Romania.

On the other hand, after the signature of the framework-agreement on the Iranian nuclear file, the Russian media close to the Kremlin tried once again to prove that, with the threat of a nuclear attack from Iran out of the way, the American missile defence project, including its components in Romania, is no longer justified. NATO said however that the implementation of the project would continue as scheduled.

The NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu, commented that the Alliance will not give up the missile shield project, and once again stressed that it does not target Russia.