Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank and deploy German soldiers in Romania, writes Politico.
At a press conference in Berlin, Ciolacu referred to Germany’s announcement that it will permanently station 4,000 soldiers in Lithuania, and said: “I hope that soon we will have German soldiers permanently on the territory of Romania.”
Answering a question about the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in mid-July, Ciolacu expressed his concern that the war in Ukraine will drag on longer than anyone would like and indicated that he expects the German government to act by deploying larger forces at the alliance’s eastern border. He added that he hopes to reach an agreement with the German chancellor soon.
Scholz did not immediately respond to Romania’s claim. The fact that a Romanian is talking about the issue in public seemed to surprise Scholz, who has not commented on plans to send troops to Romania.
NATO troops are already stationed in Romania and the US has indicated they will be there at least until the fall.
Both Scholz and Ciolacu were pessimistic about the end of the war, and Ciolacu said that although everyone hoped for the end of the war with a counterattack, currently publicly available information does not indicate that. Scholz pointed out that the moment when big changes will be noticeable will not come so soon. He also said that Ukraine will likely not be given clear steps to take during the Vilnius summit, rather the focus will be on deeper cooperation with Kyiv.
“Certainly, we will also discuss the question of how to further deal with the perspective of countries that look to NATO and want to join it. But it is also clear that no one can become a member of a defense alliance during a war,” said Scholz.