US general Ben Hodges, the former head of the United States Army in Europe, said on Thursday, May 22, that if Russia attacks NATO, it will first bomb Romania’s port of Constanța and civilian targets.
Hodges spoke in an interview about the possibility of reducing American troops in Europe, and implicitly in Romania. He added that the Trump administration is unpredictable.
“Logically speaking, it doesn’t make sense to reduce what is already a rather limited presence. But this administration talks about the Indo-Pacific region and about giving it higher priority. There’s not much in Europe that could be moved to the Pacific, so it’s not about reorienting resources,” Hodges said, cited by News.ro.
At the same time, he does not exclude the possibility that, “in the next few months,” the US army may reduce its presence in Europe in order to fund air and maritime power in the Pacific. Hodges believes that “even if the United States reduces its presence in Europe and even if the United States is no longer considered a pillar, the economies, populations, and armies of all our European friends, plus Canada and the United Kingdom, far surpass those of Russia.”
As a result, Europe could easily defend itself but it “lacks self-confidence. It lacks the political will to say: ‘Enough is enough,’” the American general also declared.
In the event of such a conflict, the former head of the US army in Europe warns that the Port of Constanța will be attacked.
“Romanians should assume that once Russia makes the terrible decision to attack any NATO country, that means it has already made the decision to launch hundreds of drones, missiles, and bombs on Constanța and any seaport, on transport infrastructure, on civilian targets in Romania, as well as in other places, just as they did against Ukraine,” he said.
To fend off such an attack, Romania needs to look into the defense of its critical transport hubs. These must be protected against cyberattacks but also missiles and drones, he said.
Hodges also weighed in on Romania’s repeated presidential elections. “I live in Germany. It was felt throughout Europe. The relief caused by the elections you just had was felt across Europe. It was evident that not only is it worth fighting for democracy, but also that it can defeat the evil forces led by Russia. And not only by Russia,” he said.
(Photo source: Dynamoland | Dreamstime.com)
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