A NATO general accuses: “The Romanians came to exercises without drones and anti-drone systems, organized in the same outdated structure”
A former commander of NATO's South-East Multinational Division Command talks about the opacity in the structures at the top of the Romanian Army and about the difficult communication with its leaders. Despite repeated reports sent, nothing has changed, he claims.
Image from the international exercise Eagle Meda 23. PHOTO Inquam Photos / George Călin
National defense is not only done with promises on paper, but with a brutally fast technological adaptation in the face of new realities, say experts. Among those who support this is General (r) Dorin Toma, former commander of NATO's Southeast Multinational Division Command. From the position of NATO commander, he had the mission to implement the lessons of the war in Ukraine on the Eastern Flank.
Defense begins with NATO Article 3
The real test of interoperability revealed a dangerous gap, poor communication with the authorities in Bucharest, unanswered military reports and a lack of interest at the top of the Romanian Army, which was opaque to the use of the new ones and much more rigid and disinterested compared to the Western allies. General Dorin Toma described the problem in a discussion with “Adevărul”.
“I believe that Article 3 of NATO is very important and I supported this when I was active. And this means that it is necessary to create a national defense capability that is integrated into NATO plans, to be integrated into this NATO force that is being created for the defense of Romania. In fact, not only Romania, because it has a defense role for the entire eastern flank. And it is not only about people, only about units, it is also about capabilities, about the transition to new technologies, the new systems”says General Toma.
One of the tasks of General Dorin Toma, from the position of commander of the NATO South-East Multinational Division Command, was to monitor the conflict in Ukraine. His observations were to be transmitted to the national military institutions that had troops on the territories of Romania and Bulgaria. Among the duties of General Dorin Toma was the maintenance of communication with the French, Belgian, Italian and other nations' troops located in Romania and Bulgaria at that time.
“I felt that what we were conveying to them was not taken into account”
Surprisingly, of all, the communication with the Romanian institutions went the worst, although General Toma came from the Romanian Army.
“We also had this mission to monitor very carefully what is happening in Ukraine and to try to influence the way things are done. This means that we had to take care of the equipment that is used, take care of how the structures are reorganized, what systems are purchased, how the military is trained. The problem we faced with the Romanian side was always the same. We felt that what we conveyed to them several times, what we were also complaining about all our proposals. It was known that everything we were proposing and conveying to them was based on the lessons learned from Ukraine, based on the experience gained by the allies, by the other armies. But when it came to the Romanian side, we found that nothing was happening, that everything remained the same, that nothing was changing. That is, the soldiers were still coming to the military exercises without drones, also without organized systems in the same outdated structure, tactically they were operating in the same way, although there were new tactics that we were keeping them up to date”claims General Toma.
Reports made for nothing to military decision makers
Contrarily, General Dorin Toma sent several requests and reports in this regard to the Romanian side, but without receiving an answer. This meant that none of the reported problems found a solution, and at the following military exercises organized together with the allies, the Romanian soldiers came with the same weapons and without taking into account the latest innovations that were quickly adapted and integrated by the NATO allies.
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General (r) Dorin Toma. PHOTO: Facebook
“Normally we complain, we report, this is the correct term from a military point of view. So we report these things to the national authority. They didn't respond, but, really, they weren't obliged to respond to me personally. On the other hand, things were completely different when I communicated with the French Army, the Belgian Army, that I regularly met with commanding generals from the respective armies, because I was responsible for them and planned the training activities, I was in charge here in Romania or Bulgaria. The difference was that these people, our allies, were asking me what I, or the command, thought should be improved. It was about the discussions I had with regard to organization, equipment, and so on. I gave this feedback to everyone, regardless of whether I was talking to a French or a Belgian general if I was talking to a Romanian general, the difference was that with the others, a change in the way of operation was observed, an adaptation and receptivity to what was transmitted to them. Nothing happened to us“, points out the Romanian general.
He says that he did not expect politeness and formal answers, but a rethinking and reorganization in line with what was happening among the allies. However, the Romanian side remained as frozen every time.
“They should have taken measures, reorganized and taken into account the developments and new tactics at the level of the allied troops to integrate as well as possible, to reorganize, to acquire equipment, to rethink their training activity, in such a way that the structure could fulfill its, that unit and could carry out its mission as it should. After all, this was a national responsibility.”adds the general.
General Dorin Toma theoretically had under his command at that moment all the soldiers stationed on the territory of Romania,
“I somehow had all of them under my command, less the Americans, although I partly had them too. And I was equally responsible for all the allied soldiers on the territory of Bulgaria, in the sense that we, at the headquarters, made their training plan”completes the general.
The head fish stinks
He noted on this occasion the availability of the allies, the proactive attitude and the way in which they responded immediately to any kind of suggestions and observations, unlike the Romanian side. General Dorin Toma did not refer to the Romanian military in general, but to the decision-makers and those who should have been receptive and understood the need for transformation and adaptation to difficult situations.
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“Our allies came and stayed here for 4, 5, 6 months each, and their goal was to train 24 hours out of 24, 7 days out of 7 if possible. My duty was to create these training opportunities for them on the territories of Romania and Bulgaria. We always started from the principle that they should train together with the Romanian military. The goal was to ensure an exchange of experience, to help them learn from others and to ensure a certain level of interoperability. After all, that's what I was paid for. It's understandable, whether we're talking about the French, the Italians, or the Belgians, their goal was not to stay for nothing, to practice different practices, to test different systems. I could see this even more let's say for six months we were organizing a large exercise where all the NATO soldiers and many structures from the Romanian Army participated. There we noticed a change in approach, the presence of new systems and the attempt to integrate these systems in the respective action that the allied soldiers were carrying out. But if you saw a transformation, a change, an evolution as far as the Romanian side was concerned, every time I didn't want to criticize the Army Romanian, I'm not saying that everything went wrong, but I'm telling the truth regarding the collaboration with the command“, concludes General Dorin Toma.
