Mariusz Blaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, and Angel Tîlvăr, Minister of National Defence of Romania, met with soldiers of the Battalion Battle Group stationed in Poland as part of the eFP (Enhanced Forward Presence) in Bemowo Piska on Tuesday (Jan 10).
“I was very pleased with the meeting the Minister had today with Romanian soldiers stationed in Poland. I was just thanking them for the fact that Romanian soldiers are stationed as part of the NATO Battalion Battle Group on Polish soil, and for the fact that we are building interoperability between our armed forces. I also talked about our cooperation. This cooperation is going very smoothly, which we can both be proud of,”
Mariusz Blaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence, said during his meeting with the Minister of Defence of Romania.
“We have a lot in common. We have very similar views on threats and appropriate responses to them. There is an opportunity to further cooperate, exchange experiences, and build the strength of the NATO countries,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) is a NATO initiative established at the Warsaw Summit in 2016. Poland is the only state to host NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence and has the status of a country contributing to eFP. It also establishes a multinational divisional command in Elbląg, which coordinates the activities of all eFP groups.
“The main strength of the eFP are four NATO multinational battalion battlegroups deployed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Each group was formed by one of the framework nations, which are the United States, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom, respectively,”
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Poland and Romania also cooperate in the Bucharest Nine format initiated in 2014. B9's activity focuses on issues related to threats to NATO's eastern flank, ways to mitigate them and seeking opportunities for cooperation between the region’s countries in this regard. The NATO Battalion Battle Group under the eFP (Enhanced Forward Presence) initiative in Poland consists of over 1,000 soldiers. Its framework country is the United States. The group is completed of soldiers from Great Britain, Romania, and Croatia. The Romanian contingent consists of up to 120 soldiers and is equipped with 35mm Gepard 1A2 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and 1 radar station. On a daily basis, the NATO Battalion Battle Group cooperates with the 15th Giżycko Mechanized Brigade by carrying out numerous exercises to strengthen interoperability in planning and conducting joint operations. As part of the Tailored Forward Presence (tFP), Poland supports NATO subunits operating in Romania. All activities, both of the Alliance and of its individual members, are of a defensive and deterrent nature. They are the result of NATO's adaptation to current security challenges. The Polish Military Contingent in Romania is equipped with Rosomak wheeled armored personnel carriers, as well as equipment supporting their operation in the exercise area. Their main task is to train together under the auspices of the Multinational Division South East. PMC Romania has up to 250 soldiers. (gov.pl)