The Parliament approved the training of the Ukrainian military on the territory of Romania

Ukrainian Naval Forces personnel are set to be trained in our country, as a U.S. Navy special operations contingent will be pre-positioned at Mihail Kogălniceanu for the next two years. This contingent will conduct joint exercises with Romanian Naval Forces soldiers and also carry out training activities. At least, this is what emerged from a request and briefing that passed yesterday through the joint session of the two Defense Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, as well as through the Parliament's plenary session.

President Klaus Iohannis has requested the Parliament to approve the establishment of a maritime training facility on national territory for the training of Ukrainian personnel. This facility is expected to operate for two years, during which time our country can terminate its commitment either during the training or after the two-year period expires. The financing and initial development support for this facility will be fully provided by the United Kingdom, and later, other NATO member states will contribute.

At the same time, President Iohannis informed Parliament about the approval of training activities and exercises with the U.S. partner, including the pre-positioning on Romanian territory, for a period of up to two years, of a U.S. Navy special operations contingent. According to the President, this two-year pre-positioning of U.S. military personnel and certain military products, equipment, and materials from the United States Naval Special Warfare (US NSW) was requested by the head of the U.S. Special Operations Command in Europe (SOCEUR) and aims to enhance the capacity to respond adequately to potential security challenges in the Black Sea region.

Yesterday, the Legislature also approved the President's request for the Romanian Army to participate in the NATO-NSATU Security Assistance and Training mission. It is worth mentioning that, following the NATO Summit in Washington in July 2024, a new command was established for planning, coordinating, and providing security assistance to Ukraine.

NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) consists of 700 personnel from Alliance member states, is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, and has key logistics centers on the Alliance's eastern flank. NSATU has three main areas of interest:

- oversees the training of the Ukrainian armed forces at training facilities in allied countries;

- to provide support to the long-term development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;

- supporting Ukraine through planning, coordination of donations with Allies and partners, transfer of security assistance material and equipment repair.

In relation to NSATU, President Iohannis informs Parliament with

regarding the approval of the transit of the equipment and material goods donated to Ukraine by Sweden through the national territory and, upon request, the training of the Ukrainian military.

The above requests and information were sent to the Parliament as early as September 25, following the decisions taken in the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country in the meeting of September 19, 2024.

According to the decision-makers, these efforts do not make our country and NATO a party to the conflict, but increase support for Ukraine's self-defense. By using NATO structures, support will be on a firmer footing, provide greater predictability for Kiev, and address both immediate and long-term needs.

We mention that during this year the training center at the Borcea Air Base was operationalized in our country, where the Ukrainian pilots who operate the F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine by some NATO member states are trained.

• Nicu Fălcoi: "The establishment of this facility and the prepositioning of the American contingent do not represent activities hostile to the Russian Federation"

The establishment of the marine training facility for Ukrainian soldiers and the prepositioning of the American contingent do not represent hostile activities to the Russian Federation, declared for the BURSA newspaper, deputy Nicu Fălcoi (USR), member of the Defense Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, former military pilot and vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO member states.

Nicu Fălcoi told us: "Honestly, I cannot tell you exactly if there is any connection between the establishment of the marine training facility for Ukrainians and the prepositioning of the American contingent of naval forces for special operations at Mihail Kogălniceanu. It is possible that there is some connection, because the Romanian Naval Forces are not among the most equipped of the Romanian military forces. The military navy was the most widowed in recent years in terms of investment in equipment, therefore the prepositioning of this American contingent may also be related to the training of Ukrainian soldiers. This action falls in the spirit of what Romania has supported all this time related to Ukraine. I do not believe that the establishment of this facility and the prepositioning of the American contingent represent hostile activities of the Russian Federation. After all, the Kremlin authorities view any type of activity in support of Ukraine as hostility, just as the training of F-16 pilots was viewed. But we are talking about the commitments that our country made to NATO, to Ukraine, and it seems natural to me to respond to these requests. The items on the agenda of the plenary session of the Parliament are not new except in the light of the fact that the respective assistance is being granted from now on. But from the point of view of the commitments that our country has made, it is absolutely nothing new. There is absolutely no cause for concern; the requests and information sent by President Iohannis are in the spirit of what Romania has committed to doing with NATO partners".

Regarding the Swedish military equipment that will transit our country to Ukraine, his lordship could not give us more details.

• Aurel Cazacu: "There is a risk that in the future the Russian Federation will remove any access to the Black Sea from Ukraine"

Military expert Aurel Cazacu, former director general of Romarm, believes that the marine training of Ukrainian soldiers in our country is a welcome thing, but that the Government or CSAT must provide some explanations regarding what would happen if the Russian Federation would eliminate any exit to the Black Sea in the case of Ukraine.

Aurel Cazacu told us: "Those who lead the country, even if some of them will no longer be in power in three months, must think about the future of this nation and not make decisions that expose us internationally . I am not saying that through the decisions on the requests of President Iohannis we will expose ourselves internationally, but it must be seen, analyzed what the establishment of such a facility means and the prepositioning of the American naval special operations contingent. Any such action also involves the consideration of a response from a hostile state, which may have an erroneous view of that action. In the present case, both the establishment of the marine training facility and the prepositioning of the American contingent have a confidential part that cannot be shown publicly, and therefore I believe that at the level of the Government or at the level of the CSAT they should include in the note of justification, substantiation, those elements to take into account so that, in the event of any criticism from the Russian Federation, we show that the respective actions are in line with the position we have in NATO, the position we have as neighbors and that they are carried out in the concept of prevention and defense . Within these actions are issues of a confidential nature and of a covering nature, in which certain operations are covered by others; it is about those operations that cannot be said, cannot be shown off, because in the neighboring country we are dealing with a war. The Ukrainians no longer have a place in their country to train from a maritime point of view, especially since there is a risk that in the future the Russian Federation will eliminate any access to the Black Sea. I don't see a problem with marine training of Ukrainian soldiers, but the problem would be if they would bring to our country naval combat units that would be used to attack Russian ships. My opinion is that the training can take place in the framework of a collaboration, behind which is the logistics of NATO, an alliance that should also support us in the face of unfounded accusations from the Russian Federation against our country regarding the involvement in the war in Ukraine . Romania does not get involved in the war, but follows the policy pursued by NATO".

We also point out that, according to sources from the Ministry of National Defense, the two requests and presidential briefings are in line with the position our country has alongside NATO and the EU in the conflict illegally triggered by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Those sources told us that our country is part of the coalition supporting Ukraine, that it is part of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine - the so-called Ramstein format - and that the actions submitted to the Parliament for approval are not something conspiratorial, out of the ordinary, especially since the training of Ukrainian soldiers is done in several fields at the European level, not only in the handling of F-16 aircraft and in the field of the military navy.