NATO chief visits base hosting American troops

BUCHAREST, Romania — NATO Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg paid an official visit to Romania on Friday, where he joined the country’s president at a military air base that will host some of the 1,000 U.S. troops deployed to the country as the alliance bolsters its forces on the eastern flank amid soaring tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Stoltenberg, who met with Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis and other officials at the southeast Mihail Kogalniceanu air base near the Black Sea, said that “there is a risk of armed conflict in Europe.”

“We have no certainty about what will happen. That is why we call on Russia to de-escalate,” Stoltenberg told the media. “That is why we are vigilant and prepared, that is why the presence of NATO troops in Romania is so important.”

The NATO chief ’s visit came on the same day that the first U.S. military convoys carrying armored personnel vehicles rolled into the Romanian base, after traversing the country since arriving Wednesday night. It is part of a U.S. move relocating 1,000 U.S. troops from Vilseck, Germany, to Romania as U.S. officials fear Russia will soon invade Ukraine. NATO troops have also been deployed to Poland.

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders and performed military maneuvers in the region but says it has no plans to invade. Stoltenberg and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis held official talks Friday and will meet with troops deployed at the base.

Iohannis on Friday expressed his gratitude to U.S. President Joe Biden for sending the troops to his country and said it is “proof of the allied solidarity.” He called the current situation “a crucial moment for Euro-atlantic security.”