NATO built Europe’s largest military base near the Black Sea

(Dan Tri) – NATO began building the alliance’s largest military base in Europe in Romania, a country bordering the Black Sea.

A NATO exercise in Romania (Illustration photo: AFP).

Newsweek reported that Romania has begun building NATO’s largest European military base as the alliance seeks to strengthen its combat capabilities in the Black Sea to monitor Russia’s activities in this area.

The $2.7 billion project will expand the Romanian Air Force’s 57th Air Base Mihail Kogălniceanu, located near the Black Sea port city of Constanța.

Currently, there are about 5,000 soldiers, mainly from the US, stationed at this facility.

Mihail Kogălniceanu base is located near the Black Sea (Photo: The Times).

Romania has long been an important hub for NATO operations in the Black Sea region.

US fighter and surveillance aircraft regularly depart from Romania as part of NATO security operations.

Euronews said work on the base’s basic infrastructure – such as access roads and power grids – had begun.

Nicolae Crețu, commander of the air force base, said construction activities will include upgrading and building new `hangars, fuel depots, ammunition, equipment, aeronautical technical materials, simulation equipment, etc.

Romania is cooperating more closely with NATO allies as the Black Sea region to which it borders becomes increasingly tense as Russia and Ukraine continuously attack each other’s targets.

The new base is expected to strengthen security on NATO’s eastern flank.

Moscow has continuously warned the US and its allies to send a message of opposition to NATO’s expansion to the east and the placement of military forces near Russia’s border.

Russian officials explained that preventing Kiev from joining NATO is one of the main goals of the military campaign that Moscow will deploy in Ukraine from 2022.

Recently, Western officials have continuously warned of the risk of direct conflict between Russia and NATO, arguing that Moscow will not stop if it wins in Ukraine.

Speaking to the press and supporters on the evening of March 17 after the election, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of the risk of a full-scale conflict between NATO and Russia.

`Anything can happen in the modern world… But everyone knows that from there (the Russia-NATO conflict) to World War III is very close, but not everyone cares,` Mr. Putin emphasized.

Russian officials have previously stated many times that conflict between the US and NATO is inevitable if member countries of this alliance send troops to Ukraine.