Romania has started work on rebuilding an airbase that will become the largest NATO facility in Europe, according to Euronews. The base is located near the city of Constanta on the Black Sea, around 130 km from the border with Ukraine.
When the expansion of the Mihail Kogalniceanu Romanian Air Force 57th Air Base is complete, it will be able to permanently host around 10,000 NATO soldiers and their family members, the broadcaster reported on Saturday.
In the new geopolitical context, with a war on the border, the development of the base thus strengthens NATO’s eastern flank, Euronews said, referring to the proxy conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The extensive project, which will cost Bucharest €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion), includes a new runway, aircraft hangars, fuel depots, and ammunition stores. The base will also feature accommodation for personnel, schools, kindergartens, shops, and a military hospital.
The basic infrastructure for the expansion is being set up on site, Euronews said, adding that the eventual plan is to connect the existing runway at the base with a new one and to link it with the infrastructure of the international airport.
It did not provide a deadline for the completion of the project. Moscow has consistently warned the USA and its allies against NATO’s eastward expansion and military buildup near Russia’s borders.
Preventing Kiev from joining the bloc was among the main goals of the military operation launched against Ukraine in 2022, the Russian leadership has explained.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that he doubts that anyone is interested in a direct military confrontation between Moscow and NATO, as that scenario would mean we’ll be one step away from World War III, but that everything is possible in the this world.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2024.
Well, they can’t do it in Ukraine…but they could have done it from the start. So many lives lost, a country destroyed, millions displaced. Shame on you West/ puppet Bucharest.
Romania sided with the Nazis in WW II. So, this is not a surprise.
This is not for the attention of Russians, but the attention of the western public. This proposed site, as stated many times already on this page, will be destroyed by one missile, or a few more and there will be a fireworks display. More to the point, when I was in NATO 40 years ago, we were based in Gütersloh, the closest base to Moscow in (then) west Germany. We serviced all UK military aircraft, some US, Italian, French (who were not in NATO then), Dutch, Danish, German, Belgique, Norwegian, Swedish etc. Most of these aircraft were not expected to… Read more »
Scandalous.