The Minister of National Defense, Angel Tilvar, declared on Friday, in Suraia, that the Saber Guardian 25 exercise tests the limits in real-life situations that may arise in the field.

'The Romanian Army is constantly preparing. I think it is important to know that at this exercise, at Saber Guardian, which is part of a much larger exercise, which will take place over a much longer period of time, a significant number of troops, approximately 4,000, from several countries, will prepare to emphasize the interoperability component, which is so necessary in complicated situations. Exercises are not the same as demonstrations, exercises aim to test limits, aim to put ourselves in situations that could arise on the ground and in real situations, which is why, always, if small incidents occur, these are things from which we have to learn, but which are, in a way, normal for such activities. From what I was informed by my colleagues who also participated in Braila, in a component of this exercise, there were no incidents. There were no negative events, no negative situations. I like to think that the same thing happened here,' the minister of Defense said.

On Friday, in Suraia, within an exercise carried out in the context of Saber Guardian 25, the 'General Grigore Balan' 81st Mechanized Brigade deployed about 2,000 military staff and 400 technical means to carry out the planned tactical activities.

The entire exercise was a fictitious scenario, created for the purpose of carrying out joint training with partners, in order to consolidate the main objective, namely interoperability and the development of collective trust. The activities in the Suraia troops included simulations of forcing a watercourse and integrated tactical operations, intended to test the reaction capacity and coordination of the participating forces in conditions similar to real ones.

And, according to the Commander of the 81st Mechanized Brigade, General Cristinel Dumitru Colibaba, the biggest challenge of this exercise in Suraia turned out to be the Siret River.

'The Siret River is unpredictable. We came two weeks ago with the reconnaissance detachment. The water was up to the level of the dam. Since then, it has continuously decreased, but there have been very large fluctuations, both in the depth of the water and in the speed of the current. We needed certain technical conditions to be able to organize such an exercise. One of the conditions was the speed of the current, which we struggled to control, together with the authorities, at least in the last three days, so that, for the day of the exercise, we would have optimal conditions', said General Colibaba.

The exercise in Suraia was attended, alongside the Romanian forces, by military structures from the National Army of the Republic of Moldova, as well as from the Alabama National Guard, United States of America.

Approximately 10,000 troops from NATO member states and partners are participating, during this period, in the first large-scale exercise of this year hosted by Romania with the participation of American forces, Saber Guardian 25, led by the United States Army Command in Europe and Africa, part of the Defender 25 series. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Dana Lepadatu; EN - writing by: Bogdan Gabaroi)