NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Friday, during a visit at the Multinational Brigade South East in Craiova, that NATO is preparing a new defence and deterrence architecture on the eastern flank, an eastern flank that is much deeper and altered by the arrival of Finland as a new member of the Alliance.

"Here is a place where the North Atlantic Alliance is strengthening its presence on the eastern flank. I am glad to see here the allies from Poland, from Portugal, from North Macedonia together with the Romanian military, training together and being ready to be part of the new NATO defence and deterrence architecture that the Alliance is preparing at this very moment. It is an important moment in European history and it is a moment when we need to continue to support Ukraine, but also to strengthen our defence and deterrence posture on the eastern flank, an eastern flank much deeper and altered by the arrival of Finland as a new member of the Alliance and the arrival, we believe swiftly, of Sweden. This will give us an eastern flank that stretches from the Barents Sea to the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Danube, and the Mediterranean Sea," said Mircea Goana, at the end of his visit to the Headquarters Multinational Brigade South East in Craiova.

He also said that the Multinational Brigade South-East represents "an excellent model of interoperability at NATO level".

"My presence here today is to encourage the Romanian ally and our NATO allies present here to prepare for the next level of defence, joint exercises, interoperability and multi-domain military operations (. ..) An excellent model of interoperability at NATO level and I would like to thank the Romanian military and my fellow citizens of Craiova, because this elite unit makes us proud of our Romanian ally and the Romanian army," said the NATO official.

Asked if there are other concerns at the moment, given all that is happening in Ukraine, the NATO Deputy Secretary General said that there is no security risk for the allied countries, but what is seen on a traditional military level does not always represent the whole reality.

"We do not presently see a security risk to allied security. The Russian Federation has significant difficulties in fighting Ukraine, but that does not mean that Russia does not remain an unpredictable and dangerous nation. And what we see in traditional military terms is not always the whole story. The Republic of Moldova: full hybrid warfare waged by Kremlin against the pro-Western direction of this country. In allied countries: cyber attacks, hybrid attacks, disinformation, manipulation of public opinion, alteration of our democratic system. It is something that is happening and that is why we, at NATO, are vigilant both for the traditional military dimension and look at how robust, and how coherent, and how vigorously we are acting not only at the NATO level, but also for our societies in the face of a need to have a more pronounced societal resilience. After all, the resilience of each and every one of us is the first line of defence for NATO. But I am convinced that despite the sometimes socio-economic difficulties, the effects of war are not easy to counteract, we will understand that we need each other and that only together we can succeed," he added.

After his visit at the Multinational Brigade South East in Craiova, Mircea Geoana gave a lecture at the University of Craiova on "Innovation, Transformation and Security - From the War Economy to a New Economic Model", an event organised in partnership with the US Embassy in Bucharest and NET/New Economy Trust. The NATO official mentioned that he will also go to Mischii commune, where he will visit the ClusterPower Company, which has built here the largest data and artificial intelligence centre in the region. AGERPRES (RO - author: Maria Mitrica, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)