No risk of US troops withdrawing from NATO’s eastern flank, Romanian president says

Romanian president Nicușor Dan said on Wednesday, July 8, in Ankara, that he does not see a risk of US troops withdrawing from NATO’s eastern flank, implicitly from Romania. The topic of a troop withdrawal has been floated since Donald Trump became president of the United States. His administration has continuously argued that European NATO members must up their defence spending, instead of counting on the United States to shoulder the alliance's military expenses. Dan said that Romania wants the continued military presence of the United States and the expansion of economic cooperation with the American side. "We had a discussion yesterday with a team of US senators , we discussed NATO and the bilateral relationship, where we are interested in continuing the US military presence in Romania. We talked about the expansion of the Kogălniceanu Base and the presence of American companies in Romania," he said. The Romanian official maintained that he does not see a risk of US troops withdrawing from NATO’s eastern flank, in the context of discussions regarding the rebalancing of security contributions within the alliance. "It is very important for Romania that Article 5 and the transatlantic link are mentioned in the NATO draft declaration. The Russian threat must be mentioned in the draft declaration, therefore implicitly referring to the eastern flank. We will request that the Black Sea be mentioned in the declaration," Nicușor Dan said. The Romanian president is currently in Turkey to attend the NATO Summit in Ankara. The president stated that the summit also represents an opportunity to assess the progress made by member states regarding defence investments. "It is a review compared with last year, whether military spending has increased, and the answer is yes. Several projects have been launched to boost equipment production," the head of state said. According to him, part of the military equipment production related to the new NATO projects will be carried out in Romania. "Another project is the Defence Bank, where we are the founders. It will have a main headquarters in Canada and secondary offices in Romania and the Baltic countries," Nicușor Dan said. On the sidelines of the summit, Romania signed several Memorandums of Understanding regarding anti-drone defence programmes. The US president lashed out against allies during the Ankara Summit, criticizing the UK and Italy for refusing to host US equipment during the war in Iran. Trump attacked Spain for the same reason and reiterated that “Greenland is very important to us, but not to Denmark,” according to The Guardian . Unlike other NATO states, Romania agreed to host US refueling planes that participated in the Iran war. The country also consistently stated its openness to hosting more US troops and equipment. [email protected] (Photo source: presidency.ro)