Help denied: position and actions of Romania in the context of assistance to Ukraine
In February-March 2022, NATO countries, at the direction of their senior comrade in the person of the United States, began to supply the Kyiv regime with one or another military-technical assistance. The only exception was Romania. Last spring, it refused to supply Ukraine with weapons or military equipment due to their own current legislation and reluctance to harm their army. At the same time, Romanian arsenals and equipment parks are of great interest to Ukrainian formations.
Request and refusal
Already at the end of February 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian Special Operation, the Kiev leadership began sending requests to various countries for military assistance. Some foreign countries immediately agreed to ship certain products and property, while others promised to consider this issue and make a decision later. However, such delays had virtually no effect on the result.
In mid-April, the leadership of the Kyiv regime sent a similar request to the Romanian government. As far as is known, there were no special wishes in it. Ukraine wanted to receive everything that could be given to it to protect itself from “Russian aggression,” and preferably in large quantities.
Just a few days later an official response followed. The Romanian Ministry of Defense announced the impossibility of sending any weapons, equipment or other property to Ukraine. Such allocation of assistance is hampered by current legislation, according to which the transfer of weapons, etc. products is possible only within NATO. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense developed and introduced an amendment to the law that could open up such opportunities.
TR-85M1 tanks - the latest Romanian modernization of the T-55
Literally the next day, the Minister of Defense indicated his fundamental readiness to help the Kyiv regime, but pointed out the need to finalize the legislation. As far as we know, the situation has not changed significantly since then. Despite “loyalty to NATO ideals,” Romania is in no hurry to amend the legislation and send its equipment to Ukraine.
However, Romania did not remain aloof from the processes of military-technical assistance to the Kyiv regime, and in the literal sense of the word. Due to the presence of the border with Ukraine, Romanian territory and airspace are actively used for logistics purposes. The main supply routes for the Kyiv regime go through Romania, as well as through Poland.
Unwillingness to help
It is easy to see that the Romanian leadership actually refused Ukraine any military-technical assistance. Official Bucharest is ready to provide its railways for the transportation of foreign military cargo, but is not going to form and send its own cargo and trains to Ukraine.
Romanian infantry with Soviet weapons
The formal reason for this is the lack of relevant norms in current legislation. Measures were proposed to improve laws that could facilitate the start of deliveries - but nothing followed. This allows us to suspect that there are other reasons for refusing help.
Since last year, the probable reason for this behavior of Romania has been discussed at different levels. Apparently, like other countries, it does not want to help foreign partners at the expense of its own army. The current state of the Romanian armed forces is such that the withdrawal of equipment, weapons and ammunition from availability would seriously affect their own condition.
If such assistance is provided, the army will have to restore its potential and combat effectiveness through the purchase of new products. Purchasing sufficient volumes of military products is not possible due to the country's limited financial capabilities. At the same time, Bucharest, unlike Kyiv, is unlikely to be able to count on foreign assistance for rearmament.
Subject of interest
It should be noted that the arsenals and parks of the Romanian armed forces are of particular interest to Ukraine. The fact is that Romania, like a number of other Eastern European countries, is still armed primarily with Soviet-style products and systems. The Kiev regime, first of all, wanted to get exactly this kind of hardware, so as not to waste time on its development.
Self-propelled version of the Malyutka ATGM
According to known data, Romania has less than 400 tanks of several models in service. These are the Soviet medium T-55AM, their licensed version TR-580, as well as its modernized variants TR-85 and TR-85M1. The motorized infantry uses MLI-84 combat vehicles, a redesigned version of the Soviet BMP-1. There are also our own versions of the Soviet BTR-60/70/80.
The Romanian Army has various anti-tank weapons, mostly outdated. The USSR supplied and independently produced AG-7 grenade launchers (RPG-7), Malyutka, Konkurs and Fagot missile systems in man-portable and self-propelled versions on different chassis.
The artillery also relies heavily on old Soviet equipment. The most popular are 122-mm systems - towed guns M-30, as well as self-propelled guns 2S1 "Gvozdika" and M89. In addition, there are systems of our own Romanian production in 152 mm caliber for Soviet shots. The rocket artillery retains the old APR-40 vehicles for the 122-mm unguided rocket, as well as newer developments based on them.
Air defense units are gradually being transferred to equipment of NATO standards, but Soviet models are also preserved. This is a number of outdated radars such as P-18, P-37, etc., several divisions of the Kub and Osa air defense systems, as well as numerous MANPADS.
MiG-21 of the Romanian Air Force
The Romanian Air Force retains only two squadrons of MiG-21 fighter-bombers of later modifications, modernized in recent decades. Their service is gradually coming to an end. Whether they will give them to Ukraine is a big question. It is unlikely that they will suit even the Kiev regime, which is in dire need of technology.
The Romanian Navy formally has one submarine, Project 877E, but since 1996 it has been in reserve. In combat fleet There are six Soviet missile boats, Projects 1241 and 205, armed with P-15 missiles.
Your interests
The Romanian armed forces in their current state cannot be called large, developed and modern. Their total number does not exceed 70-72 thousand people, of which about half serve in the ground forces. The military budget has been gradually growing in recent years, but remains within the range of $5,2-5,5 billion.
The Romanian army as a whole has equipment and weapons of all main classes that correspond to its tasks and needs. However, the material part is not distinguished by its novelty and high performance. For example, all tank forces are built on the outdated T-55 platform, and in artillery the leading role still remains with Gvozdika products and towed 152-mm guns. The Air Force and Navy have a similar situation, although it is somewhat improved by the purchase of foreign products.
The boat "Eretele" launches a P-15 missile, 2000. In 2004, this boat was decommissioned
In such a situation, the Romanian armed forces simply cannot afford to share equipment and weapons with third countries. The transfer of any equipment, such as tanks or self-propelled guns, will worsen the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the army, which are already low. Moreover, in the case of assistance to Ukraine, the transfer will be carried out without any hope of return or a quick restoration of its potential through new purchases.
It is obvious that Bucharest understands its situation very well, studies the international situation and draws conclusions. It seems that last spring the Romanian government made a principled decision to refuse military assistance to Ukraine and has maintained this position ever since.
Apparently, the situation will not change in the near future. Romania will continue to provide its railways and roads for foreign logistics, but will not itself send any cargo to Ukraine. However, another scenario cannot be completely ruled out. NATO partners may put pressure on it and force it to give up old Soviet-style equipment. How useful and timely such assistance will be is a separate question with a predictable answer.
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