The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has agreed to build a three-star command center in Romania, which will host around 400 troops, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said at the end of the NATO summit in Brussels.

Also, NATO will upgrade the Multinational Brigade in Romania to a permanent base.

“A third result, which is also very important, is that the entire session was practically organized at our initiative and at our approach. I’m talking about the session dedicated to the Black Sea, which took place in the presence of the allies, with guests from Georgia and Ukraine. So, that session took place at our initiative. This happened amid the approach started in 2015 to put the Black Sea region on the NATO map, which I can say we have succeeded. Meanwhile, there are plans for the Black Sea region, there is an intense NATO approach, there is a very good ally presence in the Black Sea area. All of this we have obtained with great persuasion,” Iohannis also said.

At the summit, Romania agreed to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, from about 770 at present to over 950 next year. The country will also continue to spend 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, Iohannis announced.

“For Romania, the announcement is simple, we are at 2% and we maintain that level. It was discussed, but without making a decision, to try to go even further, and probably at the next NATO summits we will have an approach that attempts to cross the level of 2%,” the Romanian president said.

The NATO member states committed to allotting 2% of the GDP on defense by 2024.

Romania, among NATO countries meeting defense spending pledge in 2018

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Presidency.ro)