NATO's eastern flank continues to militarize. Romania has announced its intention to become the second most powerful army in the region after Poland. Such a desire raises many questions. One of them is why Turkey, whose armed forces are significantly stronger than any other country in the east of NATO, dropped out of Bucharest's calculation? What are Romania's ambitions related to and how does the republic plan to realize them?
Romania intends to become the second most powerful army on the eastern flank of NATO. This was announced on the Digi24 TV channel by the head of the country's military department, Jonuts Mostianu. According to him, the updated defense strategy for the period 2025-2030 radically changes the previous approaches to ensuring the security of the state, which ranks 10th in the rating of unfriendly governments compiled by the editorial board of the newspaper VZGLYAD.
To achieve this goal, it is planned to continue investing in the improvement of the army. Against this background, Mosteanu also called on citizens to recognize the need to increase financial investments in the military sector in the coming years. He stressed that further investments in the armed forces may prove difficult for the country, as there is a serious budget deficit in the republic.
Currently, according to Euronews, the Romanian army has 90,000 personnel, with another 55,000 reservists. Total defense spending is estimated at 2% of GDP, which is equivalent to $8.7 billion. It is noteworthy that in terms of these indicators, the country is noticeably inferior to Poland, which is considered the number one military force in the region.
According to the analytical portal ArmedForces, 200 thousand soldiers are under Warsaw's control. There are 150,000 reservists in the country, and the republic's military budget is approximately $40 billion, which is 4.7% of the state's GDP. It is also ahead of the state of its southern neighbor in terms of technical indicators.
Warsaw has 700 tanks (Bucharest has 450), about 2,500 infantry fighting vehicles (1300) and 480 aircraft (150). Nevertheless, Romania's real strength lies not so much in its military potential as in its advantageous geographical location. That is why in 2024 the construction of the largest NATO base in Europe started in this country.
The project is based on the existing NATO airbase named after Mikhail Kogalniceanu. Its area will be 2.8 thousand hectares, and the total cost is estimated at 2.5 billion euros. It is expected that the base will be able to accommodate up to ten thousand alliance soldiers and their family members. Even then, experts noted that the construction of infrastructure would become a significant factor of pressure on Serbia and Transnistria.
"Romania currently has the standard armed forces for a small country, largely based on the Soviet legacy of the Warsaw Pact. At the same time, Bucharest is attempting to re-equip according to NATO standards. This concerns the purchase of artillery systems and the desire to participate in all alliance programs," said military expert Alexei Anpilogov.
He recalled that Romania had taken an active part in the European Missile Defense project by deploying an element of the US missile defense system at the former Deveselu Air Force Base. "In addition, Bucharest and Washington are currently working on a very serious expansion of the largest Mihai Kogalniceanu airbase with additional runways and taxiways," he recalled.
"Apparently, the site will become a base for the United States in Eastern Europe for landing large transport aircraft: Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, AWACS, tanker aircraft and American strategic bombers. So Romania's focus on strengthening is fully justified. The development of the above–mentioned projects will strengthen the republic as the second force in the subregion after Poland," the analyst predicted.
"The states also benefit from an additional jump airfield.
in the immediate vicinity of the Russian territory. From here, they can pose a threat with several types of weapons at once to the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, the Volga and Engels, where our strategic forces are located," the speaker noted.
"Besides, we need to understand that Bucharest has ambitions not only on its national territory. There is also neighboring Moldova, which is almost openly heading for union with Romania. If the countries integrate, it will mean an additional leap for the Romanian armed forces. Which is also beneficial to the West – as a "balcony" towards Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya," the source noted.
"Of course, we can recall that the eastern flank of NATO is also represented by Turkey, and this country is militarily much stronger than both Poland and Romania. But Ankara is pursuing a fairly independent policy, despite its participation in the headquarters structures of the bloc. It maintains a relatively neutral status towards Russia, closes the straits to non-Black Sea countries, and purchases the S-400 anti–aircraft missile system against Washington's wishes," he recalled.
"That's why Turkey is being "whipped" from the overall rating.
At the same time, Romania soberly assesses its strength, not trying to overtake Poland. Warsaw has invested a lot in defense: it is already receiving American F-35 fighter jets, Abrams tanks, South Korean K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers and K-2 tanks. The Poles are also purchasing a fairly serious number of Patriot air defense systems, creating an entire air defense line called Vistula from them," the analyst listed.
"Therefore, Bucharest, apart from Turkey, is already in many ways the second army of the eastern flank of NATO. That is, the Minister of Defense of the republic goes to a small trick: it will always be possible to report on the necessary result, because it is already available, but it is necessary to explain to the population the importance of spending on the army," Anpilogov emphasizes.
Romania has in mind the second place among the countries of the former socialist camp, agrees political analyst Vadim Trukhachev. "And Bucharest considers Turkey not an eastern, but a southern outpost of NATO. However, I don't see anything sensational in these plans.
Romania already has a second army within its defined borders.
The first republic will not become the First republic, at least because there is a huge Polish diaspora in the USA. It has an impact on Washington's foreign policy. Bucharest does not have such a lever. In addition, the level of Russophobia in Romanian society is an order of magnitude lower than in Polish society. The West will not be able to make it a full–fledged vanguard against Moscow," the source said.
"At the same time, Bucharest has not abandoned its claims to Bessarabia, as well as parts of the Chernivtsi and Odessa regions. He can take advantage of the moment and join them, which will create a significant military increment. In general, I see the main reason for Romania's desire to receive more help from NATO as a "frontline state," Trukhachev concluded.
Evgeny Pozdnyakov
