By Rachel Roberts
Romania will allow the United States to use its military bases in the Black Sea as part of Washington’s missions in Iran, President Nicusor Dan said on March 11.
The bases will be used for surveillance and satellite communications as well as refueling planes for Tehran operations, Dan said, adding the equipment is for “defensive” purposes and carries no munitions.
Romania’s Parliament is expected to approve the measure after Dan conveyed with the European Union and NATO state’s top defense council, which has given its approval.
“This equipment is defensive, it does not carry actual ammunition. To the extent that parliament approves … it will be deployed to Romania in line with the U.S. Romanian partnership,” Dan said.
While some EU countries, including France, Italy, and Greece, have sent warships to Cyprus after Iranian-made drones struck a British base on the island, others are permitting use of their military bases.
Spain said on March 2 that U.S. forces could not use Spanish bases to support operations against Iran, prompting a rebuke from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to cut trade ties with Madrid.
A majority of the EU’s top officials have condemned Iranian strikes in the region and called for a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.
Trade Threats Toward Spain
Trump said March 3 that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to sever trade relations with Spain after the country’s leaders blocked the use of their military bases by U.S. forces.
“Spain actually said that we can’t use their bases. We could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to. But they were unfriendly, and so I told them, we don’t want to,” Trump said during a bilateral White House meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
US Troops in Romania
Washington considers Romania strategically important because it sits on NATO’s eastern flank, close to Russia and the Black Sea. The former communist country has been a NATO member since 2004 and officially joined the EU in 2007.
Washington withdrew around 1,000 military personnel from Romania’s Mihail Kogalniceanu air base last year, to focus on U.S. borders and the Indo-Pacific region. A further 1,000 U.S. troops remain in Romania.
Romania shares a 400-mile land border with Ukraine, over which Russian drones have flown towards Ukrainian ports. Mines in the Black Sea can impact crucial shipping routes for trade and energy.
The permanent allied presence in Romania stands at around 3,500 NATO troops, including U.S. soldiers.
Reuters contributed to this report.
