Located at the extremes of European Latinity, one on the Atlantic Ocean, the other on the Black Sea, both ruled, for decades, by hateful dictatorships, a right-wing dictatorship in Lisbon, and a communist dictatorship in Bucharest, Portugal and Romania are today stable democracies, partners in the European Union and allies within NATO. Thursday’s visit to Romania by the Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa was also an occasion for the signing of a bilateral defense cooperation agreement. It includes defense management and planning, participation in bilateral and multinational military exercises, cyber defense, and counteracting hybrid warfare.
Prime Minister Costa’s political consultations with his Romanian counterpart Nicolae Ciucă and President Klaus Iohannis have highlighted that Romania and Portugal are well coordinated in strengthening defense in the Black Sea region, as well as on NATO’s Southern Flank. President Iohannis recalled that in 2014, after Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, an extensive process started to adapt the Alliance to a volatile and unpredictable security environment.
Prime Minister Ciucă thanked Portugal for its substantial contribution to the multinational military structures in Romania. About 200 Portuguese soldiers have been deployed this year in Romania, where they will stay for six months. The Portuguese prime minister stressed that the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops on February 24 brought about major changes in Europe’s security. He said that Portugal had immediately approved the deployment of forces in Romania to strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank. The Allies, he says, have sent a strong message to Russia: an attack on an ally is considered an attack on everyone. In this way, we made it clear that Russia would have to pay a high price for any aggression against a NATO member – the Portuguese PM concluded.
Itself invaded by the Russian army 12 times, in less than three centuries, Romania has reacted promptly to the tragedy of neighboring Ukraine, showing solidarity. About one million Ukrainian citizens took refuge in Romania after their country was invaded, and Romania offered them the guarantee that their lives and dignity would be protected.
The merit also goes to Romania’s military allies, one of the most important of these being France, to which Romania is linked by a strategic partnership and a historical friendship, for almost two centuries. Paris has announced that, in addition to its existing troops in Romania, it will deploy an air defense detachment to the Capu Midia National Air Defense Training Center (southeast). Operated by 100 troops, the medium-range ground-to-air system can provide protection to the Allied forces operating in the area.
Bogdan Matei, Radio Romania International
