Romania Will Propose Multinational Black Sea Brigade at NATO Summit

Romania will propose the creation of a multinational brigade for the Black Sea region at NATO’s upcoming summit in Warsaw, Poland, Romanian Ambassador to the United States George Cristian Maior said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Black Sea brigade would be based on the concept of the rotational multinational brigade to be deployed to the Baltic states and Poland by 2017, Maior explained.

"Taking into account the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw, the idea put forward by Romanian and other allies [is] to create a multinational brigade based on this headquarters which is located in Romania for reinforcing the southern part of the eastern flank," Maior stated at an Atlantic Council forum on Black Sea security.

"Romania is willing to put resources into this [multinational brigade]," Maior noted, adding, "I think this will add to the overall concept of a certain deterrence in the wider Black Sea area."

After Tuesday's NATO defense ministers’ summit, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the alliance agreed to deploy four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The ministers also agreed on measures to enhance defense and deterrence in the Black Sea region.

NATO has been bolstering its military presence in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea since the outbreak of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in April 2014, in response to what it considers to be Russia's aggressive foreign policy.

Russia has repeatedly dismissed the Ukraine-related accusations leveled at it, warning that increased NATO activities near the country's borders could undermine regional and global stability.