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President Iohannis at NATO Summit: All the objectives we set ourselves have been achieved
President Klaus Iohannis announced on Wednesday that all Romania's objectives at the NATO summit have been achieved.
"This summit is one of the most significant NATO meetings in recent years in terms of results for Romania, for our country. Once again, all the objectives we set ourselves have been achieved and met as requested and hoped for by us," Iohannis said on the sidelines of his participation in the NATO Summit in Madrid.
He added that the focus of the summit's talks and decisions was Russia's military invasion of Ukraine and its long-term regional, Euro-Atlantic and global implications. The chief of state presented the objectives achieved by Romania at the meeting.
"Together with the other allies, we took decisions of major importance that make the North Atlantic Alliance a stronger, more efficient and more international organisation. First, we decided to strengthen support for Ukraine by adopting a strengthened aid package. Secondly, we adopted a new NATO strategic concept, which provides the major guidelines for action for at least the next ten years, as we presented our intention this morning as well. You may remember that Romania was the first NATO state to support the need for a new programmatic document, and today such new document was approved. Thirdly, amidst dramatic security developments in Ukraine, we decided to strengthen NATO's long-term posture of deterrence and defence on the eastern flank. That is an absolutely necessary step, which we insisted on especially after February 24 in all the discussions we had at NATO, and also with our allies. Therefore, we agreed on a framework that ensures the parameters of a posture able to respond effectively to all threats. Here in Madrid, we decided to increase support for our partners, especially those in the Eastern Neighbourhood, including Moldova and Georgia - the most exposed to the effects of security developments. All these decisions respond to a major request made by us, by Romania," Iohannis explained.
He added that the new strategic concept adequately reflects the current security situation, being strongly anchored in reality, as requested by Romania.
"In addition, Russia is defined as the main threat to Euro-Atlantic security, as we explained this morning that Romania demanded and as presented in the Statement of the Bucharest 9 Summit, which we hosted a few weeks ago. Moreover, we managed to get, as Romania proposed, a strong reconfirmation of the strategic importance of the Black Sea to Euro-Atlantic security," Iohannis showed.
For the first time, according to Iohannis, the Black Sea is mentioned in a NATO strategic concept. He also said that the document reconfirms NATO's commitment to the security of the alliance's eastern flank member states.
"As part of strengthening NATO's posture on the eastern flank, reference is made to a substantial and persistent ground presence, to strengthening air and missile defence, to the pre-positioning of military equipment and the improvement of infrastructure to ensure important reinforcements. Now, both the northern and the southern ends of the eastern flank have a similar structure that is based on the American presence and battlegroups that ensure the coherence of the posture on the entire flank, as we have always demanded," the head of state highlighted.
Iohannis also announced that NATO battlegroups including that in Romania could be upgraded to brigade if necessary.
He said he unveiled the measures adopted by Romania at national level, especially an increase in defence spending from 2% to 2.5% of GDP starting next year, showing that Romania was among those who supported an increase in NATO's common budget.
"It is a decision in Romania's interest. An increased budget ensures an efficient implementation of all the measures adopted," Iohannis added.
The summit in Madrid also decided to adopt additional support measures for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, as well as for other partners, commensurate with the needs and specifics of each country.
"Romania is determined to be actively involved in the implementation of assistance packages," Iohannis said.
At the same time, important decisions were taken to adapt the alliance to the challenges of the future, mentioning the launch of the NATO Innovation Fund and the subsequent signing of the Charter of the Defence Innovation Accelerator, in which Romania has already announced its participation.
The chief of state welcomed the decisive progress with the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, to which Romania also contributed and that will make the alliance stronger.
He also underscored that the NATO decisions do not have any aggressive component against the Russian Federation.
"The paradigm we are working on is to support Ukraine, but not to go so far as to stir up a military conflict between NATO and the Russian Federation. We believe that there are no reasons that can be presented, as our actions are all - I repeat, all - strictly defensive. We will strengthen the defence posture on the eastern flank, we will strengthen other areas, we will do research and so on, but none of them have any aggressive component against the Russian Federation. Yet, Russia must also understand that it should be doing the same and not go on in Ukraine," said Iohannis.