The Defence Minister, Teodor Melescanu, and the Chief of Romanian General Staff, Admiral Gheorghe Marin, will participate, on Wednesday and Friday, at the Informal Reunion of the NATO Defence Ministers, that will take place in Vilnius (Lithuania), and where the main themes on the Bucharest Summit agenda will be outlined. According to a Defence Ministry press-statement, the Ministries will approach subjects focused on the NATO operations (the progress and the support of the ISAF operations in Afhanistan and KFOR in Kosovo), respectively the process of transformation of Alliance capabilities and the assuring of the forces. The Agenda also contains, among other issues, subjects such as the NATO Response Force (NRFO), the military support for stabilization and reconstruction, as well as aspects that will be discussed at the Bucharest NATO Summit on April.
The main topic on the Vilnius Agenda is the stage of the Afghanistan operations. According to his own statements, the American Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, will intensify the pressure on the European Allies that refuse to send troops "on the first line" in order to eradicate the Taliban rebellion in the South of Afghanistan. "I am very preoccupied with the perspective of NATO turning into a divided alliance, where some are willing to fight and give their lives in order to protects the security of others, while other allies are not willing to make the same gesture", stated Gates Wednesday, in a USA Senate hearing. "Before the Vilnius meeting, Gates wrote to his NATO homologues, asking them to send reinforces to replace the 3.200 American Marines that will be temporarily deployed in order to consolidate the NATO Mission in Afghanistan, from April to October, the traditional fight season of the Taliban.
All the 26 NATO states have sent troops to Afghanistan, where the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), placed under Atlantic Alliance command, currently counts approximately 43.000 people. Many Allies, among which Germany, France, Spain, Turkey and Italy, refused to send fighting troops in the South, refusal that generated friction with USA, Canada, Great Britain, Holland, Denmark and Romania – countries whose military forces deployed in the south provinces carried through the heaviest part of the confrontations with the violent Taliban forces over the last year. Canada even threatened to pull off the 1700 troops in Kandahar the next year if NATO doesn't send in reinforces of 1000.
Presently, 559 Romanian Militaries are stationed in Afghanistan, on the ISAF Mission.
Another subject to be addressed at Vilnius is Kosovo, where the 16000 NATO peace enforcement troops might experience turbulences if the province declares independence from Serbia this month as expected. 151 Romanian Militaries currently participate to the KFOR mission in Kosovo, under NATO command.
(Source: Rompres)
