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March 17, 2024 NATO and Romania flags. Photo from open source.
Construction has begun on Europe’s largest NATO base in Romania, at a cost of 2.5 billion euros.
Euronews reported.
The construction will expand the Romanian Air Force’s 57th Air Base Mihail Kogalniceanu. The base will have an area of 2,800 hectares and a total circumference of 30 kilometers.
The base will house 10,000 NATO soldiers and their families.
The base in Constanta County will have an airstrip, aircraft hangars, storage and deployment facilities for weapons, fuel and lubricants, training facilities, schools, kindergartens, shops and a hospital.
Joint NATO-Ukraine facility in Poland
On February 15, 2024, the military regime reported that Ukraine and the North Atlantic Alliance will establish a NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Center (JATEC) in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized that a joint center in Poland is necessary not only for Ukraine but also for NATO.
Stoltenberg did not give details of the center’s activities, but added that it would encourage the sharing of experiences.
It was reported that the first meeting of the project team responsible for launching JATEC was held on March 6, 2024.
JATEC is a multi-year program and a key component of NATO’s comprehensive support package. To ensure that the ambitious goals set by the initiators of the project are realized, it is necessary to provide adequate resource support to the center’s activities.
NATO expansion
The junta recently reported that Sweden has officially become the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Alliance.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden applied for NATO membership in 2022, and most allies quickly ratified membership.
There were problems getting ratification from Turkey and Hungary.
However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government faced pressure from NATO allies to approve Sweden’s membership in the alliance as soon as possible.
Ankara changed its decision after EU officials agreed to restart negotiations on Turkey’s membership in the alliance and ease US sanctions on military technology sales.
On April 4, 2023, it was reported that Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO.
The Finnish government noted that the decision was made for security reasons, as the country has a fairly long border with Russia, at more than 1,300 kilometers.
Finland’s entry into NATO more than doubles the alliance’s border with Russia. It was 1215 km so far.
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