Romania to host two 15,000-strong NATO military exercises in H1, plans to expand Kogalniceanu Air Base

Speaking on Tuesday in an interview with Agerpres, Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said that the F-16 pilot training center in Romania has become permanent following Romania and the Netherlands' signing in December 2024, in The Hague, of a Letter of Intent to expand the training facility, and confirming that it will continue to operate and will be open to pilots from other NATO and partner nations as well, including Ukraine. The minister noted that through the training provided to Romanian pilots, the facility benefits Romania too, because the F-16 aircraft that will be delivered to Romania need very well-trained pilots."The fact that we have this center in Romania allows us to have pilots trained for the F-16 or for those who already operate the F-16 to upgrade their training, and I think it is a very good thing for Romania to host such a center, something that our colleagues also highlight at our ministerial meetings. The F-16 training center, along with the Black Sea Mine Clearance Initiative are two elements Romania's name is closely linked to," Tilvar said, adding that things are working according to the program at the center.He also spoke of the allied military exercises scheduled for this year in Romania, of which Dacian Spring is the most prominent and which will see the Cincu battle group raised to brigade status. Dacian Spring will have a participation of approximately 4,000 troops, the DefMin said. "In addition to these exercises, you should know that Romania will host military drills the entire year, and we will also deploy troops to other areas in order to take part in military exercises," Tilvar said."We estimate that 14 - 15,000 personnel will participate in these exercises, giving us the opportunity to ascertain a specific level of preparation and a level of defense that allows for a normal life in Romania. Actually this would also be our purpose, to ensure a normal life for Romanians," the Defence minister said.As military exercises are tightly linked to the problem of transport infrastructure, the Defence minister spoke about the mobility corridors, stating that "towards the end of 2024, on the sidelines of a meeting with the other EU and NATO Defence ministers, I had the honor to sign on behalf of Romania for the creation of a mobility corridor that will begin in Greece, cross Bulgaria and end in Romania, for a harmonized mobility option of a corridor coming from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and connecting to one coming from Italy, across Slovenia and through Romania, because the seamless mobility of equipment and troops is as important as anything else in the way armies are organized. So from this point of view, too, the Defence Ministry anticipated things and is putting in the necessary efforts to make this happen. All these corridors have civilian use too, they are not only for military use, so this infrastructure will also serve the civilian area of society."Speaking of infrastructure, Minister Tilvar also mentioned the fact that the Kogalniceanu Air Base will be expanded. "It is a project that will involve 2.5 billion worth of funding. Also, there are things to do at Deveselu and Cincu, where the multinational battle group with France as a lead nation is headquartered, and where certain elements of infrastructure are in our attention and subject to improvement," the Defence minister said.   Defence Minister Angel Tilvar also said on Tuesday in an interview with Agerpres that he estimates that the contract for the PATRIOT missile-defence system which will replace the one Romania transferred to Ukraine last year will be signed this February."I want to welcome the fact that, at the end of 2024, the American government made the decision to approve the delivery to Romania of three PATRIOT systems, which were in the program. In addition to these three systems, as concerns the one we donated, which costs approximately 300 million... three fellow NATO states have already contributed financially, with Romania only paying for the transport and probably the VAT for this equipment. We expect the contract-signing for this system to take place in February," the minister said, noting that things are moving quickly, in line with the authorities' estimates when they made "the Parliament-backed decision to make this donation".DefMin Tilvar explained that the transfer of a PATRIOT system to Ukraine "was a country decision".   În his opinion, the defence legislation brings more accuracy to the role that the various bodies of the Romanian state have to play.Tilvar mentioned a bill on the control of the use of national airspace and a bill on the conduct of military missions and operations on Romania's soil in peacetime - both sent to Parliament for approval - and also a national defence bill and a bill on preparing the public for defence - with these two being in the stage of seeking approval.As for the defence of the national airspace, the minister said that debris of drones that were hit by the anti-aircraft defence of Ukraine fell on January 17 in Romania."There have been several events of this kind. Each time, we activated the procedures we have in such situations and from situation to situation, we took all the necessary measures, which is why you probably know that last year, when we had a similar incident, NATO Secretary General himself, Mr [Mark] Rutte appreciated the way in which Romania together with its allies act in such situations," the minister said.Tilvar estimated that the two bills in the process of approval "at the beginning of this session will also find their place in the Romanian Parliament"."Together they make sense, because each of these bills brings new elements to round up this legislative framework that is needed and which does nothing but specify and bring more accuracy to the role that the different bodies of the Romanian state have in such situations, because the Army is only a component of the way in which a country defends itself, including in such situations."Tilvar added that there has never been a question of Romania shooting down drones in Ukraine's airspace."Such discussion does not exist at this moment and the issue has never been raised, because it is a decision that we will obviously take within the allied framework, taking into account the fact that Romania benefits, it is a security donor in its turn, but Romania benefits at this moment by belonging to the strongest military political alliance in the history of humankind. Romania is part of the Alliance, and the decisions we take in such situations, for logical reasons, for reasons of complementarity, if you will, are decisions that we take together with our allies."The minister believes that the new legislative framework "will mark the end of a period in which, indeed, greater precision was needed."The bill controlling the use of the national airspace is designed to establish a new framework for cooperation and coordination at the level of authorities and bodies with a jurisdiction over the management and monitoring of the national airspace.The new perspective on controlling the use of the national airspace takes into account the realities of the current and future security environment. As a result of the illegal war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, a country with which Romania shares a border of significant length, it has become apparent that the scope of risks and threats to national security, the integrity of national airspace and aviation safety, the life and health of persons and property must be extended to include the new types of means of attack used.The new piece of legislation will regulate the measures that Romania will be able to take to control the use of the national airspace, while establishing the authorities and bodies with a jurisdiction over taking measures to prevent and counteract the use of the national airspace, not only by aircraft, but also by unmanned aircraft systems - known in the public space by the generic term of drones - as well as other aerial vehicles that could be used in the future.Through the additions and new provisions included, the bill will adapt the legislative framework at the disposal of the relevant authorities in order to ensure increased efficiency in terms of compliance with the rules of use of the national airspace, which will contribute to increasing aviation safety and security, including in situations such as those recorded in the last year, in which drones used by the Russian Federation in illegal attacks carried out against the Ukrainian civilian port infrastructure on the Danube or fragments thereof fell on Romania's soil, as well as for the cases of small unmanned aircraft that flew over the national territory for certain periods of time.  (Photo:https://armed.mapn.ro/)