Romania’s Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said on Tuesday that the significant US military presence in Romania proves the determination of the United States to strengthen security in his country’s region.

According to a press release issued by the Defence Ministry (MApN), Tilvar participated, together with US ambassador to Romania Kathleen Kavalec, in a change of command ceremony of the Navy Support Facility (NSF) in Deveselu.

Captain Bruce Golden took the helm as commanding officer from Captain Elizabeth Clifton, commanding officer of NSF Deveselu from February 2023 to April 2024.

In his speech to the ceremony, Tilvar thanked Captain Clifton for her successful leadership, saying that through her sustained work, she contributed substantially to achieving common strategic objectives and strengthening the partnership between Romania and the US.

At the same time, Tilvar wished success to the new NSF commanding officer.

He added that he is convinced that together with his team and with the support of the Romanian partners, he will keep up and even raise the performance standards recorded by his predecessors at the command of this elite structure. Commitment and professional competence are guarantees of success in accomplishing missions, he said.

Tilvar underscored the important role in the NATO defence architecture of the US Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System hosted by Romania at Deveselu.

The Deveselu facility, he said, is one of NATO’s most important missile defence capabilities in Europe and a mark of essential US commitment to our region, adding that measures to strengthen NATO’s defence and deterrence posture against any aggression taken by NATO in the region are gaining an increasingly important role in the current security context.

In tandem with strengthened defence, including the missile defence dimension, strengthening the defence and deterrence posture creates the premises for increasing security, an essential aspect in this border area of NATO and the European Union, where Russia has brought back the war through unjustified and illegal aggression against Ukraine, said Tilvar.

Tilvar concluded his speech by voicing his appreciation for the efforts made by ambassador Kavalec at the head of the team of the US Embassy in Bucharest to strengthen the Romanian-American strategic partnership, especially in the area of defence and security.

He went on to say that Romania is and will continue to act as a responsible partner and ally of the US in the process of strengthening regional security in the Black Sea area, in order to identify the best political, diplomatic and military solutions in support of NATO decisions regarding the strategic importance of the Black Sea.

The Deveselu Naval Support Facility (NSF) is located inside the 99th Deveselu Military Base, providing essential support for the US Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System (AAMDS) in Romania.

The Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Deveselu is a joint contribution of the US and Romania to NATO and facilitates defence against threats to NATO from outside the Euro-Atlantic area.

AGERPRES