David Muniz: US has invested over 143 mln dollars in 71st Air Base in Campia Turzii

The charge d'affaires of the United States Embassy in Bucharest, David Muniz, and the commander of Aviano's 31st Fighter Wing, Brigadier General Jason E. Bailey, visited, on Thursday, the 71st General Emanoil Ionescu Air Base in central-western Campia Turzii, Cluj County. David Muniz pointed out, on this occasion, that the USA has invested, since 2015, over 143 million dollars in the base at Campia Turzii. The presence of the US Air Force at Campia Turzii is a telling example of the continued strengthening of the bilateral partnership on matters of security and investment in money, hard work and blood sacrifice that the US and Romania are making to protect this region and the Alliance from current and emerging threats, David Muniz told a news conference. He thanked, on behalf of President Joe Biden, the Air Force military present for service at the Campia Turzii and also the Romanian Armed Forces for their continued support of the US Forces and the strategic partnership between the two countries. In his turn, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Major General Dr. Viorel Pana, underlined, in the same press conference, the importance of the Romanian-American cooperation in the field of security. "Today's activity represents another very important moment, through which we strengthen the cooperation in the field of security, a vital component of Romania's Strategic Partnership with the USA. In the current conditions, and I do not mean the fight we are waging against a still unknown enemy, SARS-CoV-2, but rather to the provocative actions of the various regional actors in the Black Sea area, which have become a commonplace. Ensuring the integrity and sovereignty of the airspace of the members of the North Atlantic Alliance has become an essential peacetime mission and through this deployment we demonstrate an appropriate posture and strengthen the collaboration between allies. The USA and Romania share the same values, as evidenced by the signing of the Romanian-American roadmap by the US Secretary of Defense, Mr. Mark Esper, and Minister of Defense Nicolae Ionel Ciuca, respectively, in October 2020, in Washington," said Viorel Pana. An MQ-9 Reaper aircraft was presented at the event in a static exhibition. A detachment consisting of MQ-9 Reaper aircraft and about 90 soldiers belonging to the United States Air Force is being deployed, for the next months, in the 71st General Emanoil Ionescu Air Base in Campia Turzii. The US military will carry out intelligence, surveillance and research missions in support of NATO operations, and the Romanian Air Force, through the the 71st General Emanoil Ionescu Air Base, will provide the necessary technical, operational and logistical support to carry out missions throughout Romania. . The presence of US partners on our country's territory represents an opportunity for development, testing and evaluation of combat capability, according to the Ministry of Defense, the joint activities being a key element in increasing the level of interoperability between the two parties. The collaboration between the United States of America and Romania contributes to the consolidation of the collective defense capability and to enhancing regional security, the Ministry of Defense further mentions.AGERPRES(RO - author: Marius Septimiu Avram, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)