Tens of thousands of people attend Military Parade in Alba Iulia

Tens of thousands of people attended on Saturday, on the National Day of Romania, the largest military parade ever organised in the "City of the Greater Union", a ceremony that was attended by President Klaus Iohannis, who, both prior and after this ceremony, gathered a mass of people," the head of state being welcomed and applauded by those who participated in this event.

The military parade was also attended by other officials, namely Patriarch Daniel, Curial Bishop of Romanian Greek Catholic Major Archeparchy Claudiu, European Commissioner Corina Cretu, Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar, US Ambassador Hans Klemm, Ministers Ecaterina Andronescu, Daniel Breaz and Gabriel Les, Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ludovic Orban, senators and deputies.

Fore one hour, over 1,600 servicemen of the National Defence Ministry (MApN), the Interior Ministry (MAI), the Justice Ministry (MJ) and the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), as well as around 150 technical means marched on the 1 December 1918 Boulevard.

In the ceremony block there was also a detachment of the Polish Army deployed in the Craiova garrison.

The ceremony started to the tunes of Romania's National Anthem, along a 21-gun salute.

Flying over the ceremony were 23 military aircraft, namely IAR-330 Puma helicopters, C-27J Spartan aircraft, IAR-99 Falcon and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

Some of the servicemen marched in uniforms of the period, either of the Great War or the Interwar period. The canine units and the gendarmes on horseback also participated in the military parade.

The military ceremony was opened by the commander of the 4th "Gemina" Infantry Division, namely Brigadier General Virgil Ovidiu Pop who presented arms from a combat vehicle. Decorated with numerous distinctions and medals, Brigadier General Virgil Ovidiu Pop commanded elite units of the Romanian Army, as well as two contingents in the theaters of operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Up next were the Battle Flag of the 4th "Gemina" Infantry Division and the detachment of the identification flags of its subordinate units.

Also participating in the military parade were the detachments made up of servicemen of the 814th "Mihai Voda" Tanks Battalion, the 17th "Dragos Voda" Mountain Huntsmen Battalion, the 317th "Vladeasa" ISR Regiment, the 50th "Andrei Muresianu" Anti-aircraft Missiles Regiment, the 317th "Voievodul Gelu" Logistic Support Battalion, the 136th "Apulum" Engineer Battalion, the 26th "Avram Iancu" Mountain Research and Surveillance, the Communications and Informatics Command. Also marching were the fighters of the Special Operations Forces, students of the "Nicolae Balcescu" Land Forces Academy, pupils of the "Mihai Viteazul" National Military College in Alba Iulia.

On behalf of the MAI, participating in the military parade were the students of the "Septimiu Muresan" Police Agents School in Cluj Napoca, the Mobile Gendrames Group of Cluj Napoca, the "Petru Rares" Gendarmes NCO Military School in Falticeni and representatives of the Inspectorate General for Emergency Situations (IGSU).

Fighters of the Antiterrorist Brigade and a detachment of the National Penitentiary Administration also participated in the military parade.

A point of attraction was also the march of technical means - amphibious armoured personnel carriers, reactive missile throwers, various anti-aircraft artillery complexes, including self-propelled, anti-aircraft missile complexes, ground-to-air rocket systems, cannons and throwers of different calibers, communication and information systems, combat technology for special operations forces, mobile radars, vehicles of other structures of the defence system, public order and national security.

The military parade ended with the servicemen of the 811st Infantry Battalion in Dej, the first structure of Romania's Army that participated in stabilisation and reconstruction mission of Iraq.

At the end of the military ceremony, the 4th "Gemina" Infantry Division in Cluj-Napoca offered President Klaus Iohannis a flag with an message dedicated to the Greater Union Centennial. AGERPRES (RO - author: Marinela Brumar, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - editor: Rodica State)