Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Mircea Geoană: “The strategic center of Europe is moving to the East”

The deputy general secretary of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), Mircea Geoană, believes that, following the war in Ukraine, the strategic center of gravity of Europe will move to the East.

Thus, Romania will become a country not only strategically relevant, but also one with “an economic, political and technological relevance”.

He said on Friday, during the international conference “NATO and the war in Ukraine. Geographical rebalancing and institutional consolidation”, which is taking place in the Municipality of Iasi, that Romania must take advantage of the new reality that appeared after the invasion of the Ukrainian territory.

Statements made by Mircea Geoană, Deputy Secretary General of NATO

“When the Chancellor of Germany visited Prague a few weeks ago, he made a very important and very relevant statement. His lordship said in a speech at a university in Prague that, following this conflict in which Russia practically chose to disconnect from Europe, the center of gravity of Europe is moving to the East. This is true. The strategic center of gravity of Europe is moving to the East, and the eastern flank for Romania represents everything we have from Negru Vodă to Satu Mare, obviously passing through the extremely important strategic area that Iași and Romanian Moldova represent”, said Geoană .

“This is not a simple observation of a strategic nature, but must also be one of an economic, technological and political nature. I believe that this new situation in Europe creates the conditions for the strategic relevance of the countries on the eastern flank, including Romania, an extremely strategically relevant country for us, to also become an economic, political and technological relevance. The center of gravity is moving to the East, the center of gravity is moving to a new reality, which we must take advantage of,” he added.

Also, the NATO official is of the opinion that “Eastern Romania will become much more important for investments and for business”.

“They can and will have to become protected areas from a military point of view”

“I believe that the East of Romania, the eastern flank, the entire Romanian Moldavia, the entire area of ​​Bucovina and the entire area of ​​Maramureş can and should become not only protected areas from a military point of view, but areas that represent economic dynamism, investment opportunities , chances of better living conditions, infrastructures and capacity to develop equally with our strategic relevance”, added Mircea Geoană.

He also condemned the “savage attacks” that the Russian army is launching against the civil and energy infrastructure in Ukraine, assuring that NATO’s eastern flank and Romania will be protected.

“We are all concerned about this barbaric and protracted war. The Russian Federation is the only one to blame for this terrible war. We are now in a phase of further escalation to the level of war. In addition to the atrocities we have seen, we are seeing savage attacks against civilian and energy infrastructure. We are at an extremely important moment in the unfolding of this war”, said Geoană.

“We will continue to support Ukraine. We will also be careful not to escalate an already complicated conflict into a confrontation between NATO and the Russian Federation. That’s why the Secretary General and I, in Brussels, maintain this balance between support for Ukraine and the way NATO is concerned with protecting the entire allied territory, including our ally Romania”, said the Deputy Secretary General of NATO.