Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob, commander of the Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu, said on Monday that both Romanians and Bulgarians should feel safer as of today, since this NATO structure has became operational.

Because of the war in Ukraine, the NATO structure in Sibiu was inaugurated a year earlier.

He underlined the role of the NATO military in Sibiu to lead the ground operation in Romania and Bulgaria in case of war.

“We are ready to fulfil the missions for which we were designed. (…) we are designed to lead the ground operation on the territory of Romania and Bulgaria, leading up to five allied divisions belonging to the NATO force structure,” Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob told a press conference.

In the event of a war, the soldiers of the Multinational Corps South-East will defend both Romania and Bulgaria, and the current role of the NATO structure in Sibiu is to deter any danger.

“Our main mission is deterrence. (…) If the situation requires it, we are prepared to defend the territory of Romania and Bulgaria with a weapon in hand. There is no doubt, this is the mission. We hope that we will never have the opportunity to do it, but if we have to, you must be convinced that this structure that I command, together with the other allied and national forces, will do what we have to do, we will defend this country and Bulgaria,” said Major General Dragos Dumitru Iacob.

According to the cited source, the NATO structure in Sibiu has a budget of 350 million euros and is expected to include troops from 17 allied countries, including Romania.

Major-General Dragos-Dumitru IACOB took command of the Multinational Corps South-East on 1 March 2022.