© Jeannot Ries / RTL
An Airbus A400M departed to Romania this week with 27 Luxembourgish soldiers on board.
Shortly before departure, the soldiers were officially seen off in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence, as well as the Romanian Ambassador in Luxembourg, Alexandrina-Libia Rusu, and General Steve Thull.
The 27 soldiers will be stationed in Romania as part of NATO's Enhanced Vigilance Activities (EVA) mission, which is currently scheduled to last 28 months. The Luxembourgers, who specialise in reconnaissance, will be integrated into a mission of 120 to 150 men under Dutch command. They in turn are part of a battalion of 1600 men under French command.
The mission is to strengthen the eastern front of NATO - and thus the EU - in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the event of a Russian attack, NATO's mission is to defend the territory of NATO member Romania.
The presence of NATO troops in the country is considered extremely important by the Romanian authorities. For this reason, the Romanian embassy chief as well as a military attaché from Paris attended the ceremony at the Findel.
This mission of 27 soldiers is one of the largest for the Luxembourgish army in recent years.
