Romania Wants to Increase its Own Army

8 January, 2024 Servicemen of the Armed Forces of Romania. Photo from open sources The Romanian Ministry of National Defense wants to increase the size of armed forces due to growing threats in the region.

The Romanian edition of Adevarul reported on this. On January 5, Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar told CNN's Antena 3 TV channel that he wanted to increase the size of the army by 20,000 people. "We want to increase the Romanian army from 80,000 to 100,000 troops, given complicated developments on our borders.

But it also depends on the budget and the capabilities we have," said Angel Tilvar. Tilvar said the reason for the changes and the increase in personnel was the Russian-Ukrainian war and the growing threats in the region. However, at the same time, Romanian armed forces are experiencing a loss of personnel and a shortage of personnel caused by dismissals and a lack of active recruitment among young people.

This has seriously weakened the army's ability to adequately respond to potential threats. According to the publication, as of 2023, the Romanian Armed Forces personnel numbered only 72,037 out of a staff of 80,000. At the same time, the specialized portal globalfirepower.com claims that Romania currently has only 67,000 active military personnel and 50,000 in the reserve, but these figures have not been officially confirmed.

Strengthening defense capabilities

For solving the problems with the shortage of personnel in armed forces, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense is taking a number of decisions.

In particular, admission to higher military institutions for officer and non-commissioned officer training was simplified by eliminating entrance exams. Romania also increased funding for its armed forces by 12% to £2.24 billion compared to last year's budget. The new budget will increase salaries and boost the build-up of armed forces.

Photo credits: Romanian Ministry of National Defense

In addition to strengthening the country's defense capabilities on its own, the Romanian government also works to attract an allied contingent. Thus, on January 3, Angel Tilvar announced a planned increase in foreign military personnel stationed in the country. "In addition to American soldiers who are already at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, we also have soldiers from France, we have 1700 soldiers in the contingent from Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.

From the discussions I have had with my partners, I expect that by the middle of the year we will also have soldiers from Slovenia.

At the same time, Spain will also provide military personnel to serve on our territory," said Angel Tilvar.