At the NATO summit, which ended in Madrid on Thursday, US president Joe Biden said the US would establish a permanent headquarters for the US 5th Army Corps in Poland add a rotational brigade of 3,000 troops and 2,000 other personnel to be headquartered in Romania. Biden has also pledged to enhance rotational deployments in the Baltic region, deploy two squadrons of F-35 aircraft to the UK, station additional air defence in Germany and Italy and seek to increase the number of destroyers stationed in Spain. At the NATO summit in Madrid, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday reiterated Romania’s support for the Alliance’s cooperation with the European Union. He also pledged Bucharest’s active support for the consolidation and deep cooperation with the partners in the eastern and southern neighborhoods. Iohannis has underlined that the Black Sea region has been a platform for the projection of Russia’s power to the Middle East, North Africa and the region of Sahel. President Iohannis has also said that Romania supports the adoption as soon as possible of a joint NATO-EU statement for the common approach and handling of the Ukrainian crisis. Finland and Sweden are to sign the NATO accession protocol on Tuesday, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced, according to Reuters. The protocol must be ratified by the parliaments of all 30 NATO members. On Wednesday, NATO endorsed a new strategic concept, which defines Russia as the most significant and direct threat to the allies’ security and stability.
