NATO Permanent Representative for France, Ambassador David Cvach declared on Thursday at the Cincu Training Range, on the occasion of the Distinguished Visitors Day of the Dacian Fall 2025 (DAFA 2025) exercise that in the last days of his visit to Romania he felt how special the French-Romanian relationship is, describing it as 'fraternal'.

We are prepared as allies, and we are prepared as friends of Romania to do whatever is necessary. A lot of effort has gone into preparing for what we've seen today: the deployment capacity at brigade level. There are 3,000 French troops here today (...). The French Ambassador to Romania is here because this is truly a special day for us. We commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Bataclan attack. Thank you for mentioning it, Mr. [Mosteanu]. After those grief-laden days, which I remember very well, we felt the strength of the extraordinary European solidarity - including from Romania, so thank you from the heart. After the Russian aggression in Ukraine, we also saw this solidarity movement within the European Union and NATO. I believe this human dimension is very important. (...) In the last two days I have felt how special the French-Romanian relationship is, it is fraternal. (...) It's a truly unique bond between our two nations. I also wanted to thank you for that, emphasized Ambassador David Cvach.

The Permanent Representative of France to NATO showed that he feels immense pride for having participated, together with General Philippe de Montenon, Commander of the French Land Forces, in the Cincu exercise.

General de Montenon told me that he was here, in Romania, 35 years ago and shared with me his excitement to be back, considering how far we have come since, Ambassador David Cvach also mentioned.

Over 5,000 troops with 1,200 pieces of equipment from ten allied states - Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain - are participating in the multinational exercise Dcian Fall 2025 (DAFA 25) that takes place in Romania and Bulgaria, planned by the Multinational Division Command South-East (HQ MND-SE) in Bucharest.

The exercise began on October 20 and unfolded simultaneously in the training ranges of Cincu, Smardan, Capu Midia, Babadag, Bogata, Alba Iulia, Hanu Conachi, Giarmata, Cartisoara (Romania) and Novo Selo (Bulgaria).

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the major goal of DAFA 25 is the operational integration of the subordinate and affiliated structures of the HQ MND-SE and marks the final stage of scaling up the NATO battlegroups in Romania and Bulgaria from a battalion to a brigade.

During the exercise, 2,400 French soldiers from the 7th Armored Brigade were deployed to Romania to train alongside Romanian and other allied troops. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Dorina Matis; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)