The new National Strategy for the Defense of the Country and the SAFE proposal, on the CSAT table, in Monday's meeting

The Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) meets on Monday at 12:00 p.m. On the agenda is the National Strategy for the Defense of the Country, which must be analyzed and approved by the CSAT, and the risks, threats and vulnerabilities to Romania. The projects that Romania wants to include in the SAFE Program will also be discussed.

Today's meeting was recently announced by the president Nicusor Dan. According to the announcement of the Presidential Administration, the agenda of the meeting includes topics related to:

• The National Strategy for the Defense of the Country for the period 2025-2030;
• Defense Strategic Analysis;
• The report on the activities carried out and the results obtained at the national level, in the first seven months of 2025, for the prevention and combating of drug trafficking and consumption, a risk to national security in Romania;
• Assessment of risks, threats and vulnerabilities to Romania, forecast for the year 2026;
• The consolidated report on Romania's participation in the NATO Crisis Management Exercise “CMX-25”.

“During the Council meeting, other topical issues in the field of national security will be analyzed,” the Presidential Administration stated.

What the National Defense Strategy provides

President Nicușor Dan presented the National Defense Strategy on November 12.

“The public administration has some problems. (…) At this national level, the administration does not work with data. So there are many situations in which decisions are not based on data. We do not see a great appetite for collaboration between public institutions. Everyone sees their own little sectoral policy and, because of this, we do not have an integrated vision and, of course, also because of this, we do not have any desire of the people in the administration to innovate”, Nicușor Dan said then.

The secret services will have to get involved to combat the phenomenon of justice, but they will not intervene at all during the criminal investigation, the president emphasized. “The plan research activity is carried out by the prosecutor's office, judged by magistrates. Any interference is illegal.”

“They will make a composite picture of a corruption phenomenon and tell the prosecutor”, Nicușor Dan emphasized about the role that the SRI will play.

Externally, the president emphasized that one problem is that the international order is being called into question. “The war in Ukraine is an example, we see an increase in military tensions all over the world, we see somehow a tendency of the grouping of authoritarian governed states and we see a decrease in the ability of international bodies to preserve the international order based on rules. This is the military part of the context or strictly geopolitical of the context,” explained the head of state.

According to the law, the president must present the Strategy to the Parliament during the first six months of his mandate. Nicușor Dan took the oath on May 26. After the CSAT meeting, senators and deputies will be able to modify the Strategy in the specialized committees, and then, in a joint meeting, it will be debated and approved.

The national defense strategy of the country includes:

• “national security values, interests and objectives;
• evaluation of the international security environment;
• the potential risks, threats and vulnerabilities identified;
• strategic objectives and priorities in the field of defense;
• the directions of action and the main methods for ensuring Romania's national security in the field of defense”.

Drugs, a national security issue

In 2023, after the May 2 tragedy, President Klaus Iohannis stated that the subject of drug use among young people, which he considers an alarming phenomenon, will be included on the agenda of the CSAT meeting.

“It is a problem that concerns our society more and more and I am glad that there is an increased interest in trying to find solutions to combat this scourge. I have decided to include this topic on the agenda of the next meeting of the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country. The effects, the scale, the societal challenges of drug use, especially from a young age and in schools, are a serious challenge to individual and national security”, said Iohannis in 2 years ago.

Then, CSAT decided to set up an inter-institutional working group to combat drug trafficking and consumption. It includes state secretaries from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities, representatives of the SRI, prosecutors and specialists.

The group, CSAT decided, must develop a common action plan, approved at the level of the institutions' management, with clear objectives, measures and responsibilities.

“The working group will develop a joint action plan, approved at the level of the management of the mentioned institutions, which will include the objectives, general and particular measures, specific tasks and responsibilities for the purpose of preventing and effectively combating the risks generated by drug trafficking and consumption to individual and collective safety, according to the competences of each participating institution”, was the conclusion of the Supreme Council of National Defense.

In the meeting that will take place on November 24, CSAT members will analyze the report on the activities carried out and the results obtained at the national level to combat drug trafficking and consumption.

About the European SAFE programme

The European SAFE (Security Action for Europe) program was designed to boost the EU's defense capabilities and help member states address critical gaps, as well as jointly purchase defense products, explains the Community Executive.

More precisely, the SAFE instrument is a temporary financial mechanism of the European Union, with a budget of 150 billion euros, in the form of loans. 19 member states, including Romania, have expressed interest in this instrument.

The program is the expression of European solidarity towards the need for a modern and resilient collective defence, by stimulating industrial cooperation, reducing fragmentation and creating an efficient single market for defense equipment.

The loans are granted on the basis of a national investment plan in the defense industry, approved by the European Commission, and the funds can be used until December 31, 2030.

Who is part of the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country

The CSAT is led by the president and includes the prime minister, the minister of defense, the minister of the interior, the minister of foreign affairs, the minister of justice, the minister of the economy, the minister of finance, the director of the SRI, the director of the SIE, the chief of the defense staff, the presidential advisor for national security, that is, Cristian Diaconescu and the secretary of the CSAT.

The last CSAT meeting was held on September 25, and national airspace security was the main topic on the agenda.

Then, CSAT decided that military aircraft and drones that violate Romania's airspace will be shot down at the decision of the mission commander, according to NATO rules, and civilian ones at the decision of the Minister of Defense. The authorities will update the list of objectives to be protected.