Romania opens the chequebook and reorganises as it watches Russian aggression
Romania has committed to buying Abrams tanks. (Photo: US DoD)
Romania is retiring old systems, some Soviet, and replacing them with western equipment from countries such as Sweden and Turkey and boosting existing modern fleets.
Like many Eastern and Central European countries, Romania’s defensive outlook looks out towards Russia and Ukraine for immediate threats.
Accentuating the issue is that Romania is the only NATO country that has a coast with the contested northern half of the Black Sea where Russia has occupied Crimea and the south-east coast of Ukraine.
Romanian speakers at Defence iQ’s Land Warfare Europe conference in Bucharest this week spoke again and again about the particular, if not unique, circumstances of their country.
“We are the base of a NATO frontline against Russia, the base of a spine which runs all the way
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