Something is moving on the eastern European flank of Born. There Romania has started construction work on what, once completed, is expected to become the largest European military base of the Atlantic Alliance, allowing the organization to strengthen its defensive capabilities in the region Black Sea in an anti-Russian key. Meanwhile, the Moscow Foreign Ministry has announced that the Russian Federation will evaluate the risks resulting from the construction of the aforementioned structure, and which will take everything into consideration in the military planning phase.
The NATO base in Romania
As reported by Newsweekthe military structure is part of a project worth 2.7 billion dollars aimed at expanding the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base of theRomanian Air Forcewhich is located near the port city of Constanceon the Black Sea. The new site will have a perimeter of nearly 20 miles, cover approximately 11 square miles and accommodate approximately 10,000 members of NATO personnel and their families. We recall that Bucharest has long been a key hub for the Atlantic Alliance’s operations in the region and that, within the country, American fighter and surveillance planes regularly operate as part of NATO police operations.
The site Euronews he announced that last weekend work began on the expansion of the base’s infrastructure, including the access roads and the eletricity grid. Various new runways are expected to take shape to support numerous types of military aircraft, although no further information has yet emerged. Nicolae Cretucommander of the air base, explained that there will be “maintenance hangars, fuel depots, ammunition, equipment, aeronautical technical material, simulators, refueling facilities, accommodation; everything is necessary to support the operations and missions of this air base“.
The moves of the Atlantic Alliance
NATO has begun building its network of four battlegroups Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic region following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. After the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the Atlantic Alliance strengthened these missions and established four additional battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia .
Bucharest, in particular, is meanwhile seeking ever closer cooperation with its European allies and the United States, while the Black Sea becomes a theater of increasingly tense conflict between Kiev and Moscow. “Romania has already established itself as an anchor of the eastern flank of NATO and the EU“, the Romanian prime minister declared last June Marcel Ciolacu.
“Romania is, and will continue to be, a reliable ally of the United States committed to stability and peace in Central and Eastern Europe. We are determined to contribute strongly to the transatlantic community and to firmly support democratic values, fundamental rights and freedoms“, added Ciolacu himself, reiterating that Bucharest is in alert 24/7,”against Russian influence and interference operations in Romania“.
From Moscow, meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry Russian said it was monitoring the situation. As reported by the agency Ria Novostithe same ministry underlined that html” data-ga4-click-event-target=”internal”>NATO’s activity in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea is aimed at preparing the allies for a potential confrontation with Russia, and that the Atlantic Alliance’s own moves are provocative and create further threats to the security of the country.
