France will boost its military presence on NATO’s eastern flank by deploying armored infantry vehicles and Leclerc tanks to Romania in the coming weeks, France’s armed forces minister said on Tuesday, AFP reported.

22:37 Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has welcomed President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to increase the French military presence in Romania by sending a company of armored vehicles and a squadron of Leclerc tanks.

“An important gesture for NATO’s eastern flank, a sign of Alliance solidarity,” Johannis wrote on Twitter.

“This decision by President Emmanuel Macron to ‘strengthen our defense posture on the eastern flank of Europe’ was made ‘taking into account the situation on NATO’s eastern flank’ and ‘the brutality of the fighting in Ukraine,'” Sebastien Lecornu argued during hearings before the Senate Defense Committee.

Paris is preparing to double its forces on the ground in November, according to a military source, with a dozen armored vehicles and a dozen Leclerc tanks.

“We will also continue to strengthen our defense position in Lithuania,” deploying Rafale fighter jets to provide air control, “and in Estonia, where a reinforced light infantry company will be deployed” in 2023, equipped with Griffon vehicles, i.e. a hundred additional people, the minister of armed forces added of France

In February, France and Belgium confirmed they would deploy military units to Romania to form a NATO battle group, AFP reported at the time.

As part of the Rapid Reaction Force, France will deploy 500 soldiers with armored vehicles and combat equipment to Romania, French Army Chief of Staff General Thierry Burckhard said at the time.

In March, President Klaus Iohannis announced that “NATO has approved a battle group to be deployed in Romania.”

“We want to discuss the consolidation of the eastern flank. We already have some very good news. According to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, NATO has already approved a battle group to be deployed in Romania. This is the battle group I asked for. France will be the framework nation, there will certainly be negotiations to decide who will send troops to the group,” Johannis said.

“Romanians can remain calm. Romania is protected by the largest alliance,” he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the Allies are strengthening security around key facilities and will take additional measures to strengthen our resilience and protect our critical infrastructure.

“Any deliberate attack on the Alliance’s critical infrastructure will be met with a united and decisive response,” Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday.