Aurel Cazacu: "The American side is the mastermind of this operation to donate some Patriot systems to Ukraine"

Military expert Aurel Cazacu believes that President Klaus Iohannis' statement regarding a possible donation of a Patriot system to Ukraine should be seen as an operation launched by the American side and not by our country.

Aurel Cazacu told us: "The Patriot operational system that we have will not be donated to Ukraine, but it is possible that one of the other six that are to be operationalized will be given away. I believe that the American side will make sure that everything we received fits into the system of deterring the Russian forces. I don't think there will be a risk that we won't be able to carry out a certain mission if something happens, and I think that if we donate something to Ukraine, the American side will take care to redo us immediately in the next period. The problem is not only that the respective systems are operational, but also the schooling, theoretical and practical training, of the Ukrainian military for the use of the Patriot systems. Even if they have been supplied with such equipment, those who will actually use it must prepare for it. I believe that the "brain" of this operation to donate some Patriot systems is the American side. The Americans will make sure that we do not expose ourselves and that the risk of us being attacked does not increase because we would no longer have what we need to deter the Russians, but also equip Ukraine to be able to face the war started by the Russian Federation".

The military expert also referred to the fact that President Iohannis stated that our country allocated 2.5% of GDP last year to endow the Army, but Mr. Cazacu was disappointed that the Romanian state did not spend this amount in 2023.

Aurel Cazacu told us: "It is sad that, although we have an allocation of 2.5% of GDP for military spending, last year only 1.6% of GDP was actually spent. I say that the allocation of this money is primarily for the deterrence of external forces, which at the moment is the Russians, and the provision of the military increases the confidence of the citizens in the military forces that they can defend the country - and that is a very important thing; also equipping the army will lead to economic development, because it involves an increase in the level of knowledge through the training and employment of people, to which is added the provision of spare parts stocks and ammunition stocks. Regarding the ammunition part, the equipment we equip ourselves with must have the ammunition produced in Romania, because the American side or the European part of the Army endowment contracts is not able to provide us with all the ammunition we need, but only partly to begin with, because of the huge European ammunition crisis. In my view, deterrence, increased confidence and economic development are positive things for our country. My disappointment is that the decision-makers in Romania do not act in this sense, and the money they take from the endowment of the Army and give elsewhere does not implement any of the three elements I stated, among which is economic development through which the necessary funds would be created to increase the fiscal-budgetary receipts necessary for development. In vain we spend on certain things, if we cannot have economic development, added value. The equipment is very important because the purchase of new military equipment creates some specialists, who when they leave the army can always find work in civilian life".

Regarding the defense industry that President Klaus Iohannis spoke about in Washington, Mr. Cazacu showed that a restructuring of the system is needed.

The military expert stated: "Technique has changed, technologies have changed; they are specialists in the field who can very easily integrate into a modern system with new technology. State-owned companies in the defense industry must be adapted, by equipping with new technologies, to maintain and perform the maintenance of the acquired military equipment and to manufacture the ammunition required for them. This also means a downsizing of staff, because there are modern assembly or production lines that operate with a maximum of 100 people, including maintenance staff, compared to the thousands of employees that were and still are in places in some companies of the state in the defense industry".

He concluded by saying that all these things must be done quickly in the current geopolitical and strategic context following the war that the Russian Federation has launched in Ukraine.