On March 29, 2004, Romania officially joined NATO. A few days later, on April 2, the Romanian flag was raised at the headquarters of the Alliance in Brussels. A long-awaited moment for Romanians and a clear signal from Romania about the direction it is going to take after decades of rapprochement with Russia. What happened next?

From the presence of the Romanian military in Afghanistan to the deployment of the Deveselu shield and the recent decisions that allow NATO response forces to enter, deploy or transit through Romania for training and/or military operations, if at all, in 2024 .

Romania joined NATO along with six other countries: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. This moment happened after Romania received an invitation to join back in 2002 at the Alliance summit in Prague.

The first important mission in which Romania participates as a member of NATO

The first important mission in which Romania participated after joining the Alliance was the mission in Afghanistan. Romania sent more than 32,000 soldiers to the conflict zone in a six-month rotation.

During all this time, 27 Romanian soldiers were killed, more than 200 were injured.

Afghanistan was not the only conflict zone where Romanian soldiers were sent. In the early years of NATO membership, Romania also sent its soldiers to Iraq (about 10,000 soldiers), Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo (several hundred soldiers).

Shield from Deveselu

Another key moment of Romania’s membership in NATO was the deployment of the Deveselu anti-missile shield. Thus, Romania has officially moved under the protective umbrella against any threat of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

The base, which cost the US approximately $800 million, houses a radar complex, three batteries that house interceptor missiles without explosive charges, and several security perimeters.

See pictures of the Deveselu base from both the outside and the inside of the facility that has made Romania an important link in NATO’s defense strategy, HERE.

Romanians, who over time were at the top of NATO

In addition to the resources offered to Romania, joining NATO allowed Romanian citizens to occupy leadership positions in the Alliance.

Mircea Joane currently holds the post of Deputy Secretary General of NATO. He has held the position since 2019, becoming the 17th in the position.

Romania also provided the North Atlantic Alliance with an assistant secretary general, Sorin Dukara. Former NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu was also born in Romania.

In addition, Romania is among the countries from which the institution’s employees come, writes Europa Liberă Romania.

The first NATO summit was held in Bucharest

In 2008, Romania hosted the first NATO summit. At the NATO high-level meeting, such important topics as the expansion of the Alliance, its relations with the Russian Federation and the mission in Afghanistan were discussed.

Also then, a joint Ukraine-NATO statement was adopted, in which the Alliance members welcomed “the progress achieved by Ukraine in implementing the necessary reforms in the security and defense sector, and confirmed support for the continuation of these efforts.”

3,000 officials from 49 countries were in Bucharest to participate in the work of the North Atlantic Council. Among them are US President George W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, European Commission President Jose Manuel Duoro Barroso, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian leader Viktor Yushchenko, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Spain Jose Rodríguez Zapatero, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Before joining NATO, as part of the necessary steps before that step, Romania was the first country in the region to join the Partnership for Peace in January 1994.

The largest NATO military base in Romania

Mihail Kogelnicianu Air Base, one of the main military bases of the Romanian army and home to the largest US military presence in Romania, will be modernized in a massive program of almost 2.5 billion lei by 2030.

In addition, Mihail Kogelnican (MK), apart from the air base, is home to the largest US military base in Romania. The MK facility is also home to the US military, also in a rotational format, with Abrams tanks and Bradley armored vehicles, as well as units of Black Hawk helicopters, Apache attack helicopters, and Chinook transport helicopters.

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The Americans often land large transport aircraft such as C-17 or C-130 Hercules on the airstrip in Kogelnichyana.

Mykhailo Kogelnichyanu Air Base is home to foreign fighter squadrons that assist the missions of the Enhanced Air Police. Most recently, on Monday, six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) landed at Mykhailo Kogelnicianu Air Base 57, according to MApN.

A British force of around 200 servicemen (pilots and technical staff) and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft will, together with the Romanian Air Force, carry out enhanced air surveillance missions under NATO command over the next four months. This is already the fifth rotation of Mykhailo Kogelnichana from the Royal British Air Force after those that were carried out in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

In Kogelničan, Romanian troops operate with helicopter units, and MiG-21 Lancer aircraft also operated from there earlier.

• Read also: Russia is concerned about the modernization of the Mykhailo Kogelnichyan air base: “Proof that NATO continues the unlimited militarization of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region”

A key moment before joining NATO: Romania approved an air corridor to Kosovo

Although Romania did not join the Alliance at the 1997 Madrid Summit, another key moment in NATO-Romania relations occurred just before accession.

In October 1998, the Romanian Parliament approved NATO’s request that Alliance aircraft be allowed to use Romanian airspace for possible military operations against Yugoslavia only in “exceptional and emergency situations”. The decision was confirmed on April 22, 1999, when airspace was authorized for operations in Kosovo.

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