Romania’s defense minister, Angel Tîlvăr, recently announced a scheduled increase of foreign military personnel stationed in the country.
The increase is set to take place following discussions with officials from Slovenia, Italy, and Spain.
“In addition to the American soldiers we have at Mihail Kogălniceanu [base], we have soldiers from France in Cincu, we have 1,700 together with soldiers from Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, but we also have soldiers in the south of the country. From the discussions I have had with partners, with my counterparts, I expect that by the middle of the year [...] we will have a military presence from Slovenia; from the discussions I had with the Minister of Defense from Italy I hope we will have 200 Italian soldiers, because we have had Italian soldiers who provided air police service impeccably and we want their presence here. At the same time, Spain will also contribute with soldiers on our territory,” said Angel Tîlvăr, cited by News.ro.
At the same time, Romania also increased its military presence in areas such as Kosovo, with 134 more soldiers sent there, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where over 400 Romanian soldiers are stationed. Starting next year, Romania will take over the leadership of the mission in Bosnia Herzegovina.
(Photo source: George Calin/ Inquam Photos)