Romania, Ten-Year NATO Membership

In a special joint session of the two Chambers of Parliament, devoted to the 10th anniversary of Romania’s NATO accession, high-profile politicians stressed the importance of the decision made by Bucharest 10 years ago.

PM Victor Ponta said that joining NATO and the EU were the most important goals reached by Romania in the past 25 years.

He added that, thanks to its NATO membership, Romania is today in a “privileged situation in terms of security and of an efficient, coherent and credible response to any threat to its national security.”

He emphasized that the recent developments in Ukraine prove that security must always be strengthened, and that Romania has an essential duty to the region, first and foremost in ensuring the integrity and security of the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine.

Ponta thanked the European and NATO partners for their confidence in Romania as a “capable” and “reliable” member of the organisation, and to the Romanian military who have proved their loyalty, professionalism and courage.

During the same session, the President of Romania, Traian Basescu, said it was an obligation for all stakeholders to work together for the nation’s good, including for strengthening its defence capacity, and called on the Government and Parliament to identify the best means to upgrade the Romanian Army and improve its operational capabilities.

According to the statement read in the plenary meeting by Gabriel Vlase, head of Romania’s parliamentary delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the NATO accession restored the place and role of Romania in the international security architecture.

“In this context, over the past few years Romania has taken part in the development of the European component of the American anti-missile system, which will be an important contribution to the NATO ballistic missile defence programme” Gabriel Vlase said.

During its ten-year NATO membership, Romania sent 40,000 troops on peacekeeping missions in the Western Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and northern Africa.

The Romania Army lost 26 military in all theatres of operations, and over 140 were wounded.

As for the budget earmarked for defence, Bucharest hopes in the coming years it will reach 2% of the country’s GDP.