The war in Ukraine, regardless of when and how it ends, creates new geopolitical data in the North Atlantic Alliance, which should be studied and exploited for Greece’s international strategy. The news, which is not exactly new, but which now occupies more and more space in the press, is that the largest NATO base in Europe will actually be moved from Germany to Romania.
From a huge base in terms of surface, but also in terms of forces, structures and services housed in Ramstein to a new base of almost 3,000 hectares under construction in the south-east of Romania, in the Constanța region, whose port is one of the main ones from the Sea Black. What does this mean? The war and the new data it creates lead Washington and ultimately NATO to shift their focus east and south to an area with an outlet to the Black Sea, bypassing the Bosphorus and the special status of the Dardanelles.
There are, in fact, three ports in the sights of the allies for the Black Sea. Alexandroupoli and the ports of the Greek archipelago on the Aegean Sea, on a route that passes through the open seas, i.e. the Mediterranean Sea, and two ports to the north, representing the NATO-integrated Black Sea area, on a route that passes through the Balkans: Varna in Bulgaria and Constanta in Romania. This route ends in the port of Odesa, which, not without meaning, was recently visited by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who met with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenski. An intermediate country is Moldova, which despite a growing threat of being invaded by Russian troops, will continue to be part of the western sector, with the exception of Transnistria, already controlled by Moscow. But Moldova does not have access to the sea. The Americans have repeatedly talked about this area on the Black Sea in the eastern Balkan Peninsula, which bypasses the straits and is dominated by NATO and EU member countries with special bilateral relations with the US. The increase in the military role of Romania comes to show that this new order of things is not a simple theory of the Americans, but a practical strategy to protect their interests in the context of the new Cold War data in Europe.
The largest NATO base in Europe is being built in Romania
NATO and the Government of Romania have already started work on the largest NATO base in Europe. The new base will also be at Mihail Kogălniceanu and will cost over 2.5 billion euros, with a constant military presence of 10,000 soldiers.
The project includes runways, weapons platforms, hangars for military aircraft, but also schools, kindergartens, shops and even a hospital, reports Euronews.
The new NATO base will become like a city and house, in addition to 10,000 NATO soldiers and their families. In the military base there will be kindergartens, schools, a hospital, but also shops or amusement parks.
Details of the Minister of Defence
The modernization project of Base 57 “Mihail Kogălniceanu” aims to strengthen the air infrastructure, including runways, administrative and social facilities, storage areas, as well as aircraft maintenance, and is carried out in collaboration with the 101st Airborne Brigade of the USA, said minister on the sidelines of the 2024 Munich Security Conference.
The ongoing projects for the expansion of the 71st “General Emanoil Ionescu” Air Base, Câmpia Turzii, in a total value of almost 1.7 billion lei (without VAT), were also mentioned, essential for increasing synergy and the level of interoperability within the operational activities of the Romanian and American military.
