Romania Hosts Festive Military Parade with NATO Troops [PHOTO]

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the Romanian capital on Friday to watch a military parade featuring troops from NATO Allies. The event is dedicated to the country's national holiday - the Day of the Great Alliance. This was reported by The Associated Press.

The annual parade at the Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest brought together thousands of soldiers and a lot of military equipment. The soldiers marched through the streets of the city, with dozens of warplanes and helicopters flying overhead. Columns of armoured vehicles also drove through the city. Spectators waved Romanian flags.

The ceremony is dedicated to the 105th anniversary of the Day of the Great Union, when modern Romania was formed after the unification of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina with neighbouring regions. After the fall of communism in 1989, 1 December was declared a national holiday in honour of the ethnic Romanians in Alba Iulia who proclaimed the unification of Transylvania with Romania.

Photo: Armoured vehicles pass a Bucharest boulevard on their way to the Arcul de Triumf during the National Day military parade, December 1, 2022. Source: Romanian Defence Ministry official website

At a reception held at the Cotroceni Palace after the parade, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called it a holiday "that unites Romanians wherever we are, summing up their spirit of national unity".

"We remember the culture and traditions that define us. And, above all, the great decisive moments in our history, when only through solidarity and unity were we able to overcome difficulties that seemed insurmountable," he said.

The US State Department congratulated Romania, noting that its "leadership in NATO strengthens our collective security, especially in the Black Sea region" and said that future cooperation between the two countries "is growing brighter".

The author recalls that since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Romania has played an increasingly prominent role in the Alliance, which it joined in 2004. This participation includes hosting a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in November 2022.

In December, Romania inaugurated an international training centre for F-16 pilots from NATO and other partner countries, including war-torn Ukraine.

As The Gaze previously reported, Romania is the tenth country participating in the multinational Operation INTERFLEX, which provides basic military training to Ukrainian defenders.

Currently, countries such as Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, New Zealand, Lithuania, Australia, Norway and Finland are participating in the training programme for Ukrainian soldiers under the leadership of the United Kingdom.