The US presence on NATO’s eastern flank is very important to us, President Nicusor Dan declared on Monday, as he advocated the increase in the GDP allocation for Defense.

The Romanian head of state took on Monday his first foreign trip since taking office on May 26, participating in the Lithuanian capital in the NATO Eastern Flank (B9) and Nordic Summit, after which he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen delivered a joint press conference hosted by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

„First of all, the US presence on NATO’s eastern flank is very important to us. As I said before, we need to strengthen the transatlantic connection and in this context our commitment of 3.5% [of GDP] for Defense and a further 1.5% for broader security-related spending is highly important, and I hope we will make this decision in The Hague,” the president said.

Nicusor Dan told the Financial Times at the end of May that Romania is willing to increase its defense allocation to reach NATO’s target of 3.5% of GDP, with an additional 1.5 percent for infrastructure and cybersecurity.

AGERPRES