The essentials In Romania, on the shores of the Black Sea, NATO is building its largest base in Eastern Europe, primarily to protect itself from Russian attacks. Next week, 250 paratroopers from the 8th RPIMA will be sent there from Castres.
Brandon, Rémi, and the two Pierres still remember that night of February 24/25, 2022. They were in the middle of the night maneuvers, in Gap, when their superior informed them that they were going on a mission. Russia has just launched its offensive against Ukraine. No time to say goodbye to family, loved ones. Your packages will be ready in less than an hour. In the morning they are sitting in a military plane on their way to Romania, more precisely to the Mihail Kogalniceanu base on the Black Sea coast near the coastal city of Constanta. The same base where Emmanuel Macron spent the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
In a few days, 500 French settled here under the aegis of NATO. At their side Americans, Romanians, Belgians, Italians and Britons. Then it is important to prevent the conflict from spreading beyond the borders of Ukraine to the member countries of NATO.
“Originally we wanted to go to war,” says Colonel Vincent Minguet. But the days pass and… nothing happens. It’s minus 10 degrees. Around the camp, the wild grassy areas that serve as a training ground are quickly giving way to mudfields. On this American base rented to NATO, life organizes itself very quickly. The machines are digging, the areas served are progressing steadily.
“It can degenerate quickly”
“When we arrived, we considered all possible courses of action. To contain the Russian offensive, by what means, with what armament, at what time?” the colonel explains very instructively. The response to provocations, to false flag attacks, ie attacks for which the enemy is blamed, also had to be taken into account… From now on, it is no longer a question of intervening in an emergency. “That was the hardest part, getting the troops to understand,” explains Colonel Vincent Minguet.
“It’s true that there are ups and downs in terms of adrenaline,” smiles Pierre, 22. Everyone has resumed training. “We’re looking at the fighting in Ukraine,” explains the colonel, and we see that if the fight is still working on a small scale, the conflict is characterized by the use of ultra-modern means such as the use of lasers and drones. We must continue this mix of rusticity and modernity”. He adds: “So we remain in a foreboding position because, as I tell my men: It can degenerate quickly. You never know which direction the war is going to go , and it often escapes the hands of its creators. History teaches us that.”
A tent city
At the same time, the earthmoving machines continue their work. Today, Mihail Kogalniceanu looks like a tent city. President Macron slept under one of them on Tuesday evening. “It was so weird sleeping next to him,” smiled one soldier.
The French are building a veritable technical center near the three-kilometer route, and the Americans will house more than 4,000 men from next month. The place is to become the largest NATO base in south-eastern Europe.
“Our goal now is to integrate more robust capabilities, for example heavier tanks,” explains the Colonel. The latest generation Mamba surface-to-air defense system, which can send missiles over 100 km, has already been deployed here.
“The Romanians are reassured to know that we are here,” assures Colonel Minguet, who acknowledges, however, “they don’t want to reinforce the base too much because they fear it will appear as a provocation” in the eyes of the Russians.
The mission of Brandon, Rémi and the two Pierres ends on Monday. They will return to Gap and be replaced by two hundred and fifty paratroopers from Castres. France settles in Romania for several years.