Romania Pledges 5% Defense Spending by 2035 as It Expands €3 Billion NATO Flank Buildout
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 27
Romania Pledges 5% Defense Spending by 2035 as It Expands €3 Billion NATO Flank Buildout
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 27
Summary
Romania said it is ready to raise both the scale and speed of its NATO commitments, sending its national security adviser and chief of defense to Washington and NATO headquarters to press that message.
5% of GDP by 2035 is the benchmark Bucharest set for defense spending, arguing Russia’s growing threat and repeated drone incursions into Romanian airspace make faster deterrence urgent.
€2.5 billion to €3 billion is being invested at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, part of a wider logistics network linking airfields, roads, ports, training grounds and supply routes across the Black Sea flank.
32 planned F-35As, alongside Patriot, HIMARS, Abrams tanks and F-16s, are central to Romania’s push to make its forces interoperable with U.S. and NATO militaries from the first day of a crisis.
Romania framed the buildup as burden-sharing rather than a request for more U.S. support, casting a stronger southeastern flank and Black Sea posture as essential to NATO-wide deterrence.