Dan told the Financial Times that he had proposed “certain figures… on troops and cost-sharing”, referring to a previous offer made by Poland. In September, Warsaw proposed paying Washington USD 15,000 a year for each American soldier stationed at a planned military base dubbed Fort Trump.
“We want to have more American troops and more lethal capabilities,” Dan said, as reported by G4media.ro.
In a press conference on November 12, president Dan disclosed that Romania’s offer is similar to that made by Poland. Romania is ready to spend EUR 2.5 billion in investments at Mihail Kogalniceanu base, as well.
The Presidential Administration said that the US military presence in Romania currently numbers 1,172 troops, down from a previous contingent of 1,700.
Dan’s statements came just days after he presented the offer to US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby during the latter’s visit to Poland and Romania, NATO’s two most populous countries on its eastern flank, to assess security challenges in the region.
Colby has previously advocated a “more limited and focused” US military presence in Europe. The Department of Defense, led by Pete Hegseth, has repeatedly raised the possibility of significantly reducing the US military footprint on the continent.
The US currently has around 10,000 troops in Poland, stationed across twelve bases. Warsaw has been pushing for the construction of a permanent base to be named after Donald Trump and has offered to cover its costs, as well as pay USD 15,000 a year for each soldier stationed at Fort Trump.
Following a meeting with Hegseth on Tuesday, Polish defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the US official had told him that “everything is moving in the right direction”, which he interpreted as “a green light from the Pentagon for a permanent US military base in Poland”.
Dan said Romania has a “very, very similar foreign policy” to Poland, which takes a tough stance on Russia.
“We understand the threat posed by Russia, and we understand how the war in Ukraine [threatens] our security,” the Romanian president said.
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