Evoluţii în materie de securitate. O perspectivă preliminară asupra României
Security Developments. A Preliminary Perspective on Romania

Summary/Abstract: The military intervention in Ukraine on February 24th, 2022 has fundamentally changed the way states relate to their own security and defence, altered the dynamics in Eastern Europe, and emphasized the already existing tensions between the West and the Russian Federation. These recent developments add to an already considerable list of problematic moments, such as the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the support of the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk or Russia’s intervention in Syria to support Bashar al-Assad’s regime. At perhaps the most troubling point of the post-Cold War relation between the West and the Russian Federation, we can easily identify relevant developments in the approaches of individual states and NATO. Thus, this paper aims to explore how the problematic situation in Eastern Europe has changed Romania’s security approach. From a methodological point of view, our research is based both on document analysis and on speech analysis (focusing on the publicly expressed positions by the main political decision-makers-president, prime minister, defence minister). Regarding Romania’s vision, the efforts to strengthen the territorial defence and to develop a credible deterrence mechanism were evident after 2014. In this direction, measures were taken such as the increase of the percentage of GDP for defence to 2%, and, after the military intervention in Ukraine in 2022, to 2.5%; the launch of a military modernization program in 2017; the Romanian administration has consistently called for a permanent allied military presence on the territory of the country to support the deterrence process against the Russian Federation (it should be noted that at the extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels on March 24, 2022, the decision was taken to form four additional battle groups, one of them on the territory of Romania). In conclusion, we can say that Romania remains anchored on the trajectory accepted after 2014, relying on the main pillars of its security and defence: the strategic partnership with the United States of America and the NATO membership. Furthermore, the objective of consolidating the national defence potential is being pursued with even greater attention and commitment.

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