Major General Marius Harabagiu took over the command of the Land Forces Staff from Lieutenant General Dumitru Scarlat, during a ceremony oraganized at Land Forces Staff HQ, on April 3, in the presence of the defence minister Gabriel Les, the State Secretary for Defence Policy and Planning Mircea Dusa and the chief of General Staff Nicolae Ciuca.

Also invited at the event were the chiefs of air and navy staff, military attachees accredited to Romania, military and civilian personnel of the Land Forces Staff.

Lieutenant General Dumitru Scarlat, who will continue his activity as the military representative of Romania to NATO and the EU, said that the main concern of the Land Forces leadership while he was in command was related to people, procurement, rendering structures operational, multinational exercises and carrying out missions in theaters of operations.

Major General Marius Harabagiu declared that he takes over the command of the Land Forces at a time of ample transformation and modernization, with clear goals and missions both on short and long term. Two percent of the GDP is a consistent budget for the Land Forces Staff as well, that would allow the renewal of old combat equipment, introducing the new combat equipment for the troops, ensuring capabilities and capacities able to respond to the challenges of the security environment of the 21st century, the new Land Forces commander said.

Minister Gabriel Les thanked Lieutenant General Dumitru Scarlat for his activity and appreciated that the new position at NATO and the EU will give him the opportunity to represent the country at the highest level.

,,General Marius Harabagiu, you showed perseverence and determination in exercising the act of command, the last position you held as Joint Forces Commander was defining for the Romanian military. You conducted and planned the national exercises and our missions in theaters of operations and brought our soldiers back home safe. I assure you of my own support and the support of the defence ministry leadership, for openness and dialogue in your future activitiy, defence minister Les said.

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Major General Marius Harabagiu graduated from the Military Highschool Dimitrie Cantemir, the Military School for Tank Officers Mihai Viteazul, the Academy for Advanced Military Studies, the post-graduate Course on national security and national defence at the National Defence College, the NATO Defense College in Rome.

He was also chief of staff at the 1st Infantry Division Dacica, commander of the 1st Mechanized Brigade Argedava, chief of Training and Doctrine Directorate in the General Staff, commander of the Joint Forces Command.
He also carried out missions abroad, namely in Afghanistan, Ethiopia-Eritreea and the USA.

Press Department