On Tuesday, April 9, Minister of National Defence, Angel Tilvar, participated in the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, at the certification ceremony of the of the British Royal Air Force Detachment deployed to Romania to conduct joint enhanced Air Policing Missions with the Romanian Air Force.


'This year we celebrate 75 years since the establishment of NATO and 20 years since Romania became a member of the Allied family. Unity and solidarity are the fundamental principles the North Atlantic Alliance was built on. Since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the enhanced Air Policing Missions from Romania have been essential to the allies' regional deterrence and defence posture. The importance of the deployment of combat aircraft of the allied air forces, on a rotational basis, intended to complement Romania's own air police capabilities, has been reconfirmed after February 24, 2022,' the Minister of National Defence said.


Minister Tilvar welcomed the return to Romania of our country's strategic partner, Great Britain, and its prestigious Royal Air Force. 'This is a clear demonstration of the collective will of NATO partners to work together under the umbrella of the largest defence alliance,' Minister Angel Tilvar stated during the ceremony.


Minister of National Defence also thanked the British and Romanian soldiers for the way they carriy out their missions 'to secure Romania's skies and, implicitly, NATO's ones' and appreciated that these, together with the Spanish partners who are currently in our country 'demonstrate NATO's 360-degree approach to defending the Allies' skies from west to east and from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.'


In the end, Minister Tilvar wished everyone a fruitful mission and concluded that 'together we remain vigilant, prepared and united to respond to the new security challenges'.


The ceremony was conducted in the presence of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gheorghita Vlad, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Bucharest, representatives of the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) Torrejon, the British Royal Air Force and the Deputy Chief of the Romanian Air Force Staff.

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The British detachment, made up of approximately 220 soldiers (pilots and technical staff) and six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, will conduct, together with Romanian Air Force soldiers, NATO-led enhanced Air Policing Missions for the following four months.


This is the fifth rotation taking place at Mihail Kogalniceanu of the British Royal Air Force, after those carried out in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.


The joint air policing missions contribute to the enhancement of the reaction and deterrence capacity, as well as to the strengthening of interoperability between the Romanian Air Force and the British Royal Air Force.

The Press Office