US official assures Romania of NATO's defense commitment

Visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that Romania and other Eastern partners must trust in the "absolute commitment" of the United States and of other NATO partners to defend an ally "in the event of aggression."

Blinken emphasized to the local media that the Eastern European countries should trust that the United States has the ability to intervene and defend a NATO member state.

According to the official, the United States has invested 3.4 billion US dollars in the European Reassurance Initiative, allowing the country to have a third brigade in Europe, with over 4,000 troops to be present through rotation.

Blinken said that at the forthcoming NATO Summit in Warsaw the NATO should demonstrate that it has the resources, the capacity to face the 21st century's challenges.

There are Eastern, Southern challenges and yet inner ones, too -- in Europe, for instance, the refugee crisis, explained the American official.

The NATO Summit will be an important moment "where we shall demonstrate the way we have faced these challenges," he said.

Blinken is on a European tour in the context of the ongoing preparations for the July NATO Summit in Warsaw.

During his visit, the US official met with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and President Klaus Johannis.
 [Xinhua -globaltimes.cn]
9/5/16
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