Geoana, asked if he runs for the presidential elections: I feel a desire for profound change in the country and in the diaspora  

The NATO deputy general secretary, Mircea Geoana, considers that ‘ the present political offer is not very convinging’ for many Romanians and he feels in the public in the country and in the diaspora ‘ the desire for profound change’. He did not want, on the other hand, to answer if he runs for presidential elections, showing that an announcement regarding his political future would be made only after ending his NATO mandate.Present at a debate organised on Saturday in Arad, on the occasion of the launch of his book "The Battle for Romania's Future. The thoughts of a Romanian at the top of NATO", Mircea Geoana was asked if he wanted to build a political project on this editorial project and if he felt ready "to get involved, to present an alternative".    ‘The question is not if I am prepared, the question is if the country is prepared’ answered Geoana, who then added: ‘ I think that yes, I feel that, and no, I don’t refer to me, but to the spirit status of the Romanians’.   Regarding the French President's statements about sending troops to Ukraine, Geoana said that Emmanuel Macron "sends a message of the imperative need to continue to support Ukraine", but there are no such plans at the Alliance level.   "The President of France sends a message of imperative need to continue to support Ukraine. At NATO level, where decisions are taken by consensus, we have at this moment neither plans nor political intention to deploy NATO forces in Ukraine. At Alliance level, we remain interested in supporting Ukraine with everything we can, but at the same time we are also interested in not escalating this war into an even bigger conflict between NATO and Russia. That is why it is the natural right of our leaders in NATO countries to express their views, to present, in essence, something we all agree on and know: we need to support the Ukrainians," Geoana said.   Asked about their  own ‘red lines’ NATO had to cross when it was about sending weapons to Ukraine and about the possibility that sending troops  would be another broken ‘red line’, Mircea Geoana said:’ We have a permanent relationship based on trust and professionalism between the countries supporting Ukraine, they are NATO countries and outside NATO and our Ukrainian partners. There is a format of permanent consultation between their needs and the situation on the front, between our industrial capacity and their needs. That is why I think that at present the recent decisions to train (pilots – o.r.) and offer F-16 aircraft  take into consideration the present situation of the war, that is why I don’t think  it is about crossing red lines, but to have an evolution of the dynamics of this war’.The Deputy Secretary General added that "NATO is the ultimate risk-bearer, so obviously individual allies have a certain degree of freedom, but when it comes to Article 5, we are all bound by that article."   He said it was not possible to estimate how long the war would last, but "one thing is clear, this war will continue".   Asked what additional guarantees Romania should receive if it sends a Patriot anti-aircraft system to Ukraine, Geoana said that NATO was working "so that all allies are protected at all times". He pointed out that even after the drone incidents on Romanian territory, NATO allies, at Romania's request, have taken additional measures to defend the area.