The idea of joint procurement by Romania and other European countries of defence equipment is an idea that deserves all our attention and we have to look at ways to enter this project, Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae said on Thursday, according to Agerpres.

He was asked to comment on Romania’s intention to jointly procure air defence systems with other NATO or partner states, and whether being part of a European defence system is more effective.

„There has been a whole series of decisions that aimed at joint actions at the European level. We are discussing what happened during the pandemic and we saw that it was a procedure that worked. At the moment, we are discussing the joint procurement of natural gas; it is a procedure that leaders support, and the technical procedure of application will be found. As such, taking into account the capacity of the defence industry, this idea of joint procurement of defence equipment – discussed and approved at the European level – I think it’s an idea that deserves all our attention and we need to see the ways to enter this project,” Ciuca told a news conference at the end of a visit to the Dacia Mioveni Industrial Platform in Arges County.

Asked about Romania’s contribution, if it will be equal to that of the other countries, he said that the provision and distribution of equipment by percentages must be done „according to the size of each armed force, of each individual state.”

„And, of course, the level of development of the equipment on the weapon and the specific specialty of each army,” Ciuca said

Fourteen NATO allies on Thursday signed a letter of intent for the joint procurement of air defence systems in the category of systems such as Arrow 3 and Patriot, according to the Reuters news agency.

The signing ceremony of the European Skyshield Initiative (ESSI) took place at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.

The participating countries are Germany, UK, Slovakia, Norway, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovenia.

Agerpres