DefMin Dusa: I wish NFIU command to be operational by June

Romanian National Defence Minister Mircea Dusa announced in Cluj-Napoca (northwest of the capital) on Monday that he wished NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) to be operational by June.

Photo credit: (c) Liviu Sova / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Setting up the structure was decided together with NATO partners last week. Each of the three Baltic states ? Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ? as well as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria have been tasked with establishing such 'command centres'.

The minister explained that a location for such command is yet to be established, but added an evaluation is in full swing.

Romania, at the same time with establishing this command centre, will have to make the necessary moves to commission a Division Command ? such type of command will only exist in Romania and Poland ? and the time to achieve it is two years. Dusa stressed a range of approvals for setting up this Division Command will be issued at the NATO Summit in Warsaw next year.

'Such commands are of a command-control type, which ensure the planning and commissioning of the missions, so that when needed, in a crisis situation, those rapid reaction forces approved at the ministers' meeting might take action within 48 hours. We are already discussing such locations and tomorrow (Tuesday ? editor's note), together with the General Staff head, we'll see which are the most efficient from a military point of view and from the viewpoint of material expenditure. It is normal that we should have a command in that place where we already have a structure, where we have command-control elements, where there are conditions for them to function. Evaluations are under way to also establish the amounts of money', Dusa underscored. AGERPRES