National Defence Minister Angel Tilvar participated on Tuesday at the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in the certification ceremony of the UK Royal Air Force detachment deployed to Romania for carrying out enhanced air policing missions together with the Romanian Air Force.

„This year we celebrate 75 years since NATO’s creation and 20 years since Romania became a member of the Allied family. Unity and solidarity are the fundamental principles the North Atlantic Alliance was built on. Since the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia, in 2014, the reinforced air policing missions in Romania were essential for the deterrence and regional defense posture of the allies. The importance of the deployment of allied combat aircraft, on a rotational basis, intended to complement Romania’s own air policing capabilities, was reconfirmed after February 24, 2022,” said the National Defence minister as cited in a release of the Defence Ministry.

Minister Tilvar welcomed the return to Romania of our country’s strategic partner, Great Britain, and its prestigious Royal Air Force, and thanked both the British and Romanian troops for the way they accomplish their missions „to secure the Romanian and, implicitly, NATO skies.” The DefMin voiced his opinion that the presence in Romania of the British and Spanish partners „is proof of NATO’s 360-degree approach to defending the Allied skies, from West to East, and from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.”

The ceremony took place in the presence of the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Gheorghita Vlad, of the ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Bucharest, representatives of NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre Torrejón, the British Royal Air Force, and the Romanian Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff.

The British detachment of approximately 220 personnel (pilots and technical personnel) and six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft are on a four-month mission to Romania, performing together with Romanian Air Force personnel enhanced air policing missions under NATO command.

This is the RAF’s fifth eAP rotation at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, after the iterations completed in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

AGERPRES