National Defense Minister Angel Tilvar and Italian ambassador to Romania Alfredo Maria Durante Mangoni participated on Wednesday at the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in the certification ceremony of an Italian Air Force detachment for the four-month Enhanced Air Policing missions it will conduct in the southern area of the North Atlantic Alliance.
The ceremony marks the beginning of a new rotation within Italy’s contribution to the security of the allied airspace, the National Defense Ministry informed in a release. Angel Tilvar pointed out that this is the Italian Air Force’s sixth enhanced Air Policing rotation in Romania, which reaffirms the ‘staunch’ commitment to collective defense and solidarity between the North Atlantic Alliance member states.
‘The presence of the Italian Air Force in Romania is a clear demonstration of the collective will of NATO partners to work together under the umbrella of the largest defense alliance in human history. It is also solid proof of Italy’s constant commitment in recent years to the security of our region and of the entire Alliance,’ the Romanian minister said.
Attending the ceremony were representatives of the leadership of the National Defense Ministry, of the Italian Embassy in Bucharest, NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) Torrejon, as well as of the Romanian Air Force General Staff.
‘I take this opportunity to welcome the continued deployment of the Italian Air Force detachments, as one of the many initiatives that NATO allies are implementing to strengthen defense in the region, as Russia continues its military aggression in Ukraine,’ said Angel Tilvar.
The newly arrived Italian detachment consists of approximately 180 military personnel – pilots and technical personnel – and six Eurofighters. For four months, they will act together with the Romanian Air Force to protect the NATO airspace through a surveillance and rapid response mission.
The cooperation between the two air forces contributes ‘significantly’ to strengthening NATO’s deterrence capacity and allied interoperability, the National Defense Ministry underscored.Romania
