Hand-over ceremony of the NATO Battle Group Forward Presence Command

The Hand-over ceremony of the NATO Battle Group Forward Presence Command deployed to Romania took place on Friday, 10th March, at the Joint National Training Center “Getica”, from Cincu, Brașov County.

Colonel Laurent Luisetti, took over the command of the NATO Battle Group Forward Presence deployed to Romania from Colonel Alexandre de Féligonde.

The ceremony was held in the presence of the Chief of Land Forces’ Staff, Lieutenant-General Iulian Berdilã and the Commander of HQ Multinational Division South-East (HQ MND-SE), Major-General Dorin Toma.

“The joint training sessions with the Allies that were coordinated and conducted by the Battle Group, with France as framework nation, have contributed to the increase of the readiness level. EAGLE 3 Battle Group took over responsibility for the organization and participation in EAGLE ROYAL 23, a multinational live firing exercise, which tested and further developed the interoperability of the artillery systems. I am fully convinced that EAGLE 4 Battle Group will continue the series of successful activities and we are excited to work together over the following months”, the HQ MND-SE Commander stated.

Battle Group Forward Presence – BGFP in Romania was established in May, by transforming the Allied multinational elements within the NATO Response Force, deployed to our country.

Upon France’s proposal of taking over the role of framework nation, the French battalion deployed to Romania - considered the Spearhead of NATO’s Very High Reaction Force (VJTF) -forms the BGFP on the national territory.

BGFP contributes to the increase of military cooperation between Romania and France and, implicitly, to the strengthening of the security of the Euro-Atlantic space on the Eastern Flank. The cooperation with the strategic partners and the existence of relevant combat structures on the national territory contribute to the increase of the reaction capacity in the context of the Ukraine war and the crisis in the Black Sea region.

Colonel Alexandre de Féligonde was commanding officer of the BGFP created after transforming battalion EAGLE 3, which was deployed to Romania in October 2022. Throughout his mandate, Colonel Féligonde contributed to the consolidation of the Battle Group deployed to Romania, in Cincu, by means of missions and exercises conducted jointly and in Allied context, with the Romanian, American, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese troops and coordinated the reception and integration of the Leclerc tanks which entered the service of the French battalion last November. Colonel de Féligonde started his military career in 1998, got specialized in Main Battle Tanks MOS and had several overseas missions in Africa and Middle East. In France, the Commander is currently in charge of the 1st Régiment de Chasseurs, equipped with Leclerc Main Battle Tanks.

Today, Colonel Laurent Luisetti has taken over the command of the NATO Battle Group deployed to Romania. Throughout his mandate, Colonel Luisetti will focus on the consolidation of the BGFP artillery and engineer capabilities. Also, EAGLE 4 Battalion, which will be commanded by Colonel Luisetti and coordinated by the Headquarters Multinational Division South-East, will consolidate the liaison with Allied forces deployed to Romania by means of a solid program of missions and exercises. Colonel Luisetti joined the Armed Forces 26 years ago, is an infantry commissioned officer and participated in several international missions in the theaters of operations from Africa, Middle East and Western Balkans.

The Press Office