Romania's naval projects, part of the EU plan to strengthen the Eastern Shield

Romania's maritime and naval projects could be included in the joint projects to defend the borders and strengthen the Eastern Shield from Finland to Bulgaria, said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, yesterday at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base at the end of her official visit to the EU states on NATO's Eastern Flank.

Ursula von der Leyen stated: "We want to keep Europe safe by air and sea at the Black Sea, and Romania is a key partner on NATO's Eastern Flank. Romania has demonstrated impressive resilience in democracy, has successfully combated attempts at disinformation and manipulation, and offers firm support for the Republic of Moldova, resisting Moscow's intimidation. We know that we need to increase defense investments, we have the necessary funding, but we need to work on its implementation and ensure its long-term sustainability. Within the European Council, we agreed on a package of 800 billion euros until 2030, and part of it is represented by the SAFE instrument worth 150 billion euros, for which 19 member states, including Romania, have signed up, which will make joint purchases and projects. At the military naval base in the Port of Constanta, we have already seen the first project ideas of the Romanian Naval Forces regarding the potential use of loans under SAFE. (...) For implementation we will develop a roadmap with targets and milestones until 2030 which we will present at the next meeting of the European Council. For the next multiannual financial exercise, we want to triple the funding for border security, increase investment in defence fivefold and increase investment in military mobility tenfold. We need to hurry up with the implementation of the SAFE programme. We have an incredible defence industry that has the ability to develop rapidly. But we need predictability and long-term contracts in this industry, not just for one year. I am confident that we will have the first projects at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. Foreign companies from third EU countries can participate in these contracts, but with certain restrictions, because we are talking about Europeans' money, and they must somehow return to Europeans, that is, to see themselves in the jobs created in the defence industry”.

For his part, President Nicuşor Dan said that he had discussed with the head of the European Commission the future Black Sea security hub of the European Union, which our country would like to see implemented in Constanta.

Nicuşor Dan said: "We are glad that the European Union has adopted a strategy for the Black Sea that we want to operationalize as soon as possible and we want the European security hub included in the strategy to be located in Romania, in Constanta. Especially since Romania, through the port of Constanta and on the Danube, can offer a cheap means of transport when the reconstruction of Ukraine begins.”

President Nicuşor Dan recalled the pressures from the Russian Federation and said that in the current context, European solidarity is an important factor, especially since it is now being materialized in the ReArm EU program, the first component of which - the SAFE instrument - our country has proposed to the European Commission the implementation of projects at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base and in the Port of Constanta.

"The SAFE program will be an opportunity for the development of the Romanian defense industry, because we are talking about equipment that will be made in our country and for the construction of an infrastructure that will serve both the military and civilian areas. Especially since at this moment we have additional challenges. We are at the Black Sea, which is extremely important for us and for Europe, because starting with 2027 Romania will start extracting gas from offshore perimeters, which will contribute to national and European energy security. Then this area is important because it represents a secure communication route with the states of Central Asia”, concluded Nicuşor Dan.

We mention that Ursula von der Leyen paid a short visit to Romania yesterday to see what projects we want to do regarding security in the Black Sea. The President of the European Commission visited together with President Nicuşor Dan the military port of Constanţa, where they boarded the frigate Regele Ferdinand, and then the military air base at Mihail Kogălniceanu. The two officials were accompanied by Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space, and Ionuţ Moşteanu, Minister of National Defence.