“Romania cannot resist a Russian invasion for 72 hours”, believes Traian Băsescu. The shortcomings that the former president cites

Former president Traian Băsescu stated, on TVR Info, that Romania does not have the military capacity to resist a large-scale invasion for 72 hours, a period that is necessary for the deployment of a NATO rapid reaction force.

Asked if the Romanian army can withstand a Russian aggression long enough for NATO forces to intervene on the front, Traian Băsescu answered: “We cannot resist 72 hours, we do not have the necessary equipment. I draw public attention: CSAT gives an opinion on the Government budget, regarding the financing of the army and security structures. At one point I did not want to sign the opinion because of insufficient allocations, and the CCR said: what if, it goes without the opinion CSAT. Then the CCR took the capacity and responsibility of the national security from the president and gave it to the prime minister who is here today, tomorrow he is not”.

Turkey, an essential partner in the Black Sea

The former president drew attention to the fact that Romanian diplomacy must deal with the consolidation of the Poland-Romania-Turkey trilateral, so that the Black Sea is secured.

“Turkey has the military and naval capacity to keep the balance in the Black Sea, so it must be involved in one way or another in the Black Sea security projects. And Romania has made purchases of missiles placed on the coast, land-ship. We are not completely discovered,” Băsescu said.

He said that it was a major mistake made by Romania during the Dragnea period, when the government caused the American company Exxon to withdraw from the Black Sea gas exploitation project.

“It would have been completely different if Exxon had been involved in the gas extraction and we would not have had the problem of defending the exploitation area, because the extraction is not done in the territorial waters, but in the economic zone where we meet the Russians”, commented Traian Băsescu.

“It is not possible without Europe”

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Basescu estimated that the Europeans would have a better chance of success in negotiating an end to the conflict.

“Europe will resume talks with Russia, sooner or later, and a modus vivendi will probably be found, to put up with each other. Mr. Trump has failed. If he could not stay in Washington and let the Europeans lead the peace negotiations, for example… It cannot be done without Europe,” said the former head of state.

Asked what Romania's role would be in this eventuality, Băsescu said briefly: “It has no role.”

At the same time, he estimated that the European countries in NATO would need 5-7 years to arm themselves enough to ensure “without a doubt” the security of the continent.

“Everyone says that Europe cannot defend itself. Well, we Europeans are 450 million, and the Russians are 140 million. Let's add that we have much more advanced technology than the Russians, we have no problem defending Europe from the Russians, if we set out to do so,” said Băsescu, adding that the EU must place the satellites it needs in order to obtain information and invest in state-of-the-art equipment.

“In front of a drone, a Romanian tank or an Abrams makes just as many parallels”

However, Europe will remain vulnerable from a nuclear arsenal perspective, which is why it will continue to depend on US protection.

Referring to the particular case of the SAFE funds accessed from Romania, Traian Băsescu appreciated that the Bucharest government could have shown “more elastic thinking”.

“We want Abrams or Leopard tanks, but Romania also made tanks. It can buy the technology it doesn't have, but it can make tanks in Bucharest or Mizil. In front of a drone, a Romanian or Abrams tank does just as much,” commented the former president.

He said that Romania's partnership with the USA must be continued even at the cost of concessions made by the authorities in Bucharest, but this must be done in parallel with the intensification of military collaboration with European partners.

“Romania is in Europe and we are doing everything humanly and politically possible to maintain a fair partnership with the USA, but we are here in Europe (…) I don't understand why we reject the idea of ​​the French in Romania. Why do we fail to appreciate the French presence in Romania? Why are only the Americans good? In our history we were helped by the French, we have no reason to run away from them”, concluded Traian Băsescu.