President informs Parliament on Swedish equipment sent to Ukraine transit through Romania

 President Klaus Iohannis informed Parliament in a plenary meeting on Tuesday that he approved the transit through the national territory of some assault boats donated to Ukraine by Sweden and the training, upon request, of the Ukrainian personnel who will take them over.Deputies and senators were also briefed by the head of state on the approval of training and exercises with the US partner, including the pre-positioning of an American contingent of naval forces for special operations for up to two years."Following Ukraine's requests for military assistance, Sweden has shown its support by donating, during the month of August 2024, assault vessels. In this context, Sweden has requested Romania's support in establishing a location and stationing the assault boats, to be put into service by Swedish personnel, consisting of 35 people. The Swedish personnel entered Romania in the second half of August and requested access to the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base and the Mangalia Military Port," reads the first information from President Iohannis.The Swedish side requested, at the same time, the provision of the necessary logistical support for the Ukrainian personnel who will participate in the training activities (transportation, food, accommodation, fuel for the operation of the boats and other possible logistical support elements during the training activities), the document says."Romania's participation in the training activities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces sends a strong message regarding the support and conduct on Romanian territory of actions aimed at the collective defence effort," the information reads, mentioning that the president approved the request of the Swedish side, at the proposal of the prime minister and after consulting the Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT).Also, the second briefing of the head of state points out that the Special Operations Forces of the Romanian Army and those of the United States of America carry out joint training activities with a high frequency, aimed at developing capabilities and ensuring interoperability for the execution of cooperative missions."The Commander of the US Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) has informed the Chief of the Defence Staff of the firm intention to increase the number of military personnel deployed in Romania, concomitant with the pre-positioning of military products, equipment and materials from the United States Naval Special Warfare (US NSW), aimed at joint training and increasing the capacity to ensure an adequate response to possible security challenges in the Black Sea region," the document reads, mentioning that the president approved the training activities and exercises with the American partner, at the proposal of the prime minister and after consulting the CSAT.The presence of the US contingent will contribute to strengthening Romania's position within the Strategic Partnership with the United States of America, as a vector of stability on NATO's Eastern Flank, and will allow the harmonisation of training procedures and the identification of concrete ways of cooperation on the interoperability of the special operations structures of the Romanian Army and the United States of America, the president also mentioned in the document presented in the Parliament plenary meeting.