The allocation of 2.5pct of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) allows the strengthening of the national structure of forces in the Defence area, National Defence Minister Angel Tilvar stated, at the activity report of the Defence General Staff for last year, according to Agerpres.

„The Romanian servicemen know what they have to do and they achieve their priorities with tenacity and adaptability. It is obviously necessary to continue the steps to adapt the legislative support in the area of defense to the new realities and I will support, in this sense, the adoption of the package with the normative projects that will facilitate the functioning more efficient of the defense institution,” Minister Tilvar stated, according to a National Defence Ministry (MApN) press release.

The Chief of the Defense Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, mentioned that 2023 will unfold under the sign of the recruitment of new personnel and the training of the existing ones.

„We will have to find more effective methods for both attracting and retaining personnel in the Army. (…) Saber Guardian exercise, an important sequence in the Defender Europe 23 series, conducted by the US Land Forces in Europe and Africa, will take place in our country. At the same time, an important objective of the Romanian Army for 2023 is the achievement of the final operational capacity of the Multinational Corps South-East Command, an essential command structure in the allied security architecture in the southern area of the Eastern Flank,” General Petrescu stated.

The chief of Defence underscored that, at national level, important steps were taken last year in terms of upgrading the Army. The major endowment and inventory assurance programmes registered progress. The projects started previously were continued, the contract for the purchase of 32 F-16 aircraft was signed, equipment related to HIMARS systems, PIRANHA 5 derivatives were received, the contract for coastal missiles was awarded and the framework agreement for the supply of UAS systems, the MApN mentions.

The quoted source also mentioned that procedures were started for other important programmes, such as light armored tactical vehicles. The military capabilities that were strengthened or initiated during the past year are significant in relation to the forces in the Black Sea, with an important deterrent effect. Providing servicemen with personal protective equipment was another goal achieved. The training was adjusted according to the operational requirements of the spectrum of risks and threats in Central and Eastern Europe, the release also states.

In terms of collective defence, in 2022, an important role was given to the strengthening of NATO’s presence on the national territory. The allied defensive device on the Eastern Flank and, implicitly, in the Black Sea region has been strengthened and balanced, the MApN indicates.

NATO’s Battle Group deployed in Cincu, increasing the US forces and capabilities at the Mihail Kogalniceanu base, mainly, but also in other places, as well as the augmentation with new allied troops of the Multinational Brigade South-East „are examples of European and transatlantic solidarity in Romania.”

Agerpres