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Romania is hosting NATO Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East located in Craiova
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg commended the servicemen of the Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East (HQ MN BDE-SE) on Monday, for their contribution to preserving the security of nations, adding that the message they convey is of a powerful and united NATO.
Stoltenberg stated that NATO reached 5,000 servicemen with a very-high level of operability and set up a chain of small command along the eastern flank of the Alliance.
He added that he is extremely delighted to be able to visit the brigade in Craiova, adding that he is grateful for Romania's contribution to the collective security of the Alliance and for the support granted to other states, as host nation. Romania's contribution to training forces from numerous countries and increasing the skills to work together and respond fast when needed was underscored by the NATO secretary General. He added that he got the opportunity to personally see the training level of the Romanian service people in theatres of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He went on to say that the Romanian "Scorpions' were among the first NATO units to serve in Afghanistan ever since 2002. Many countries deployed troops here, tens of NATO states committed themselves to contribute personnel for the headquarters of this brigade, he said, mentioning that Poland deployed a company, while Portugal, Bulgaria, Italy and Germany are to also contribute.
He told the service people in Craiova that NATO is a transatlantic alliance whose purpose is to maintain peace and security, that has the best and the most determined service people, men and women, and at the end he congratulated for their courage and professionalism.
Romania hosting the Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East (HQ MN BDE-SE) indicate the level of the country's preoccupation with increasing security in the Black Sea region, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said Monday.
"We are in the full swing of strengthening NATO's defence and deterrence posture on NATO's eastern flank. The fact that Romania hosts the Headquarters Multinational Division South - East indicates the high degree of preoccupation and involvement of our country in increasing the security level, not only in our country but throughout the Black Sea region as well. To us, the role of a security and stability provider that we have undertaken is a goal that once realised we intend to strengthen it and to adjust it to regional and global developments," Iohannis said in Craiova, the location of the HQ MN BDE-SE.
Iohannis voiced his conviction that Romania would honour its commitments to the Multinational Brigade South-East so that the full capability of the headquarters of this NATO body in Romania will be reached next year.
He praised the establishment of the Multinational Brigade South East in Craiova as a moment of great significance in the defence of Romania and of the Euro-Atlantic area, reviewing the developments in NATO's presence in Romania.
"We are here today, at a moment of great significance in the defence of Romania and the Euro-Atlantic area - the establishment of the Multinational Brigade South-East in Craiova. This is one of the important objectives Romania advocated at the Warsaw NATO Summit. Mr Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, it has been more than two years since we inaugurated together the headquarters of the NATO Force Integration Unit in Bucharest (...) That was followed by the establishment and activation of the Headquarters Multinational Division South - East (HQ MND-SE) on December 1, 2015. Later, in the spring of 2016, the Aegis Ashore missile facility at Deveselu was inaugurated (...) I have mentioned all these developments to highlight the dynamic and concrete character of the NATO presence in Romania subsumed to the decisions to adapt the North Atlantic Alliance to a complex security environment," said Iohannis.
He pointed out that that the Multinational Brigade South-East was set up in response to the environment of insecurity and instability in NATO's vicinity.
President Klaus Iohannis, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Defence Minister Mihai Fifor and Chief of Romania's Army Staff Nicolae Ciuca made an informational visit to the NATO Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East (HQ MN BDE-SE) in Craiova, on Monday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced for the first time in July 2016, at the beginning of a two-day NATO Summit in Warsaw, that the Alliance is to change a brigade of the Romanian Army into a multinational brigade in order to increase NATO's presence in South-Eastern Europe.
On 27 September 2016, after a meeting of Romania's Supreme Council for National Defence, President Klaus Iohannis announced that the 2nd "Rovine" Infantry Brigade will be turned into the frame-brigade of this multinational formation.
The NATO Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East located in Craiova, declared Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in April 2017, with least nine NATO allies interested in joining.
On April 30, 2017, at the order of the national defence minister, the 2nd Rovine Infantry Brigade become the Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East.
On 15 June, the ceremony to activate the headquarters took place, an event which represented the official integration of HQ MN BDE-SE with the NATO Force Structure (NFS) based on implementing NATO's Readiness Action Plan, established at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016.
Moreover, an air defence battery of the HQ MN BDE-SE is part of the improvement of Poland's consolidated presence, led by a combat group of the US.