The Romanian Army intends to purchase modern equipment.

A key player on NATO’s eastern flank, bordering the Black Sea and neighboring Ukraine, currently invaded by Russian troops, Romania is forced to manage a very complicated security equation. Moreover, not being one of the robust economies in the North Atlantic Alliance, the country must carefully manage the money allocated to this sector. The NATO report for 2022, presented this week by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, places Romania in 11th place out of 30 allied countries, with an allocation of 1.75% of the Gross Domestic Product for the defense sector.

Of different political colors, the coalition governments in Bucharest in previous years gave the army and other force structures 1.86% of the GDP in 2021, just over two percent in 2020 and 1.84% of in 2019. The NATO member states have repeatedly pledged to use 2% of the GDP for military spending, but this threshold has been  exceeded only by seven of the allies. The Romanian Ministry of National Defense requested the Parliament’s approval for the acquisition of new weapon systems, howitzers, air-to-air missiles and combat vehicles.

These endowment programs are part of a broader objective of transforming the Romanian Army until the year 2040. Their role is to create flexible and modern force structures, with means to ensure their survival in the tactical field, mobility and knowledge of the extended situation and an increased firepower, the ministry’s request reads.

The united permanent bureaus of the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament decided to forward the request to the parliamentary defense committees, where, according to the press in Bucharest, it is almost certain that they will receive a favorable opinion. The endowment programs, military experts say, also consider the operationalization of the targets assumed by Romania within NATO and the European Union. The army’s shopping list includes modern equipment, and the total value of the endowment program is estimated at 4.2 billion euros. For a country far from having solved many of its economic and social emergencies, the procurement of armament for the Romanian Army seems very expensive.

But security itself costs money, and sociological research confirms that the population understands this truth. „Our latest polling shows that 82% of people across the 30 NATO Allies believe it is important that North America and Europe  work together for our shared security. And 61% agree that NATO membership makes an attack from a foreign nation less likely. NATO has enabled Europe and North America to live in peace for almost 75 years. But today’s world is as dangerous as at any time since the Second World War”, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in his annual report.

Bogdan Matei, Radio Romania International