NATO has begun work in Romania to build the largest military base in Europe, where up to 10,000 NATO troops and their families will be able to live permanently.
The €2.5 billion project includes runways, weapons sites, hangars for military aircraft, schools, kindergartens, shops and even a hospital.
Work has already begun on basic infrastructure at the NATO base, including access roads and electricity, and construction will soon begin on a new runway parallel to the existing one. The two runways will be connected, and airport infrastructure will be developed on the eastern side with new taxiways, car parking and capacity for different types of aircraft.
Nicolae Crețu, commander of the 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base said:
“Hangars for maintenance, storage facilities for fuel, ammunition, equipment, technical aviation materials, simulators, catering facilities, accommodation – everything needed to ensure the operation and fulfilment of the tasks of a base of this size.”
Once the construction work is completed, this base will be the largest in Europe. It will surpass the Ramstein base in Germany and will be able to accommodate more than 10,000 soldiers who will come there with their families.
The project includes adapted living quarters, crèches, kindergartens, schools, shops, pharmacies, hospitals – everything soldiers and their families need. Dorin Popescu, geopolitical analyst, said:
“The base Mihail Kogălniceanu will be NATO’s most important permanent military structure in close proximity to the conflict in southern Ukraine. We should not think that this conflict will end this year, in 2025, in 2026, this is a long-term conflict.”
The base will cover an area of about 2,800 hectares, with a total perimeter of 30 kilometres, and will be able to accommodate all types of combat equipment.
The Mihail Kogălniceanu airbase currently hosts about five thousand troops, mostly American.
