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\u2019s port of Constan\u021ba and civilian targets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cLogically speaking, it doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s not much in Europe that could be moved to the Pacific, so it\u2019s not about reorienting resources,\u201d Hodges said, cited by News.ro<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the same time, he does not exclude the possibility that, \u201cin the next few months,\u201d the US army may reduce its presence in Europe in order to fund air and maritime power in the Pacific. Hodges believes that \u201ceven 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As a result, Europe could easily defend itself but it \u201clacks self-confidence. It lacks the political will to say: \u2018Enough is enough,\u2019\u201d the American general also declared.<\/p>\n In the event of such a conflict, the former head of the US army in Europe warns that the Port of Constan\u021ba will be attacked.<\/p>\n \u201cRomanians 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 Constan\u021ba and any seaport, on transport infrastructure, on civilian targets in Romania, as well as in other places, just as they did against Ukraine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Hodges also weighed in on Romania\u2019s repeated presidential elections. \u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n