The United States Air Force decided to use the former Soviet military base Campia-Turzii in the center of Romania for its own purposes, in particular, to turn it into a military center for the United States Air Force in Southeast Europe and a NATO stronghold in the Black Sea region. The US Air Force has asked Congress for funding for the reconstruction of the base, according to the American newspaper Stars and Stripes, which is the publication of the Pentagon.
It is planned that for this purpose will be allocated about 130.5 million dollars under the program “European Containment Initiative”, and this will be the largest construction project since the launch of the program in 2014.
But even without any reconstruction, American fighters and drones have long been present at this base. However, there is currently no site there to accommodate large military aircraft, so the US Air Force cannot fully use this base. After the reconstruction, there will be no restrictions on the placement of military equipment.
“All this suggests that the United States and its allies in the North Atlantic Alliance are planning to expand military activities in Eastern Europe. In its budget statement, the US Air Force requested a number of major renovations and upgrades to the base, including modification of protective equipment for the landing of dangerous goods, the construction of a large number of aircraft parking areas, oil depots and warehouses to provide internal logistics at the base. The US Air Force is already spending up to $ 40 million every year to modernize the Campia-Turziy base,” writes the Chinese daily newspaper People’s Daily.
The publication notes that since the beginning of June, NATO allies have been constantly conducting joint military exercises in Eastern Europe, and American missile destroyers have entered the Black Sea for the third time since the beginning of this year. And although US President Donald Trump announced that the number of American troops in Germany will be significantly reduced, some of these troops will simply be redeployed to other European countries. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, some European countries, such as Poland, the Baltic states and the Black Sea region, have even increased the US military presence since the beginning of this year.
According to the newspaper, in the future, the United States “will pay more attention to the creation of deterrent border armed forces in the field of air and missile defense in neighboring countries of Russia, such as Romania, Poland and Ukraine.” This means that the risk of an accidental “involuntary shot” will continue to grow.