France to send 'many hundred' troops to Romania amid Ukraine tensions
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The French Foreign Ministry ramps up its military preparations and announces its readiness to send hundreds of troops.
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French Defense Minister Florence Parly
France intends to send "several hundred" soldiers to Romania as part of a NATO mission, French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced on Saturday.
On January 19, French President Emmanuel Macron announced France's "readiness to go further, and within the framework of NATO to commit to new missions … in particular in Romania”.
Parly told the France Inter radio station, "France will be ready, if NATO decides to do so, to deploy military units in Romania, a country bordering Ukraine, to contribute... Several hundred troops are ready to be sent."
Parly stressed that Macron, along with other European leaders, is focused on de-escalating tensions around Ukraine and that dialogue with Moscow will proceed.
On Thursday, French Defense Ministry experts paid a visit to Romania to analyze the possibility of deployment of a NATO mission.
Parly considered that Romania, which borders Ukraine and overlooks the Black Sea, is considered a high tension area because Russia and Ukraine overlook it. She said Romania is a “high tension zone” which has to be “reassured”.
She announced that they will have a meeting soon with NATO members regarding sending a military force to Romania, in addition to preparations to deploy forces in coordination with other allies and European countries.
The Minister indicated that Paris intends to send several hundreds of troops to Romania and hopes that the country will sponsor the military force that will be deployed to Romania, while the United Kingdom leads the NATO military division in Estonia.
She argues that this is a matter of reassurance within the framework of a defensive alliance.
NATO contended that their member states have their forces on alert and are strengthening their deployment in Eastern Europe with more ships and fighters, amid the alleged Russian military buildup on the Ukrainian border.
Washington expressed concern about the situation in Europe, saying that the Department of Defense maintains large combat forces that are able to advance into Europe and defeat any military aggression.
President Biden announced on Friday his plans to move US troops to Eastern European and NATO countries “in the near term.”
But “not too many” US troops, Biden emphasized in remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrew after returning from his trip to Pennsylvania.
On that note, 8,500 US troops have been placed on "heightened preparedness to deploy" to assist NATO if necessary, the Pentagon stated earlier.
However, on the other hand, Russia expressed concerns about NATO's aggressive military moves.
German, French foreign ministers will visit Ukraine in early February
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced that he will be visiting Ukraine on February 7 and 8, and the visit will be accompanied by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
J’ai assuré aujourd’hui @DmytroKuleba de nos pleins appui et solidarité avec l’#Ukraine. Notre mobilisation se poursuit, notamment dans le format Normandie, pour la désescalade des tensions.
— Jean-Yves Le Drian (@JY_LeDrian) January 29, 2022
Je me rendrai en Ukraine les 7 et 8 février avec @ABaerbock.
🇫🇷 🇺🇦@francediplo
He also wrote, "Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba affirmed our support and solidarity with Ukraine. Our movement continues, especially according to the Normandy Format, in order to reduce the escalation."
Earlier, France said that it agreed with Germany on the importance of continuing dialogue with Russia and reducing escalation between it and Ukraine.
