Rumsfeld Honors Macedonian Troops, Visits Romanian Airbase
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
BUCHAREST, Romania, Oct. 11, 2004 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
arrived here today to confer with senior Romanian officials before attending
NATO informal defense ministerial meetings Oct. 13 and 14 in Poiana Brasov.
Earlier today Rumsfeld was in Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
where he met with President Branko Crvenkovski and other officials and attended
a bilateral meeting with Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski.
The secretary signed an agreement in Skopje calling for U.S.-Macedonian military
cooperation to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The
United States also agreed to provide Macedonia with technical assistance,
training, equipment, and $250,000 to be used in the fight against global
terrorism.
During an awards ceremony, Rumsfeld thanked three Macedonian soldiers cited for
their actions in Iraq that helped save U.S. servicemembers' lives. One other
Macedonian soldier who'd been similarly cited wasn't present at the ceremony.
Rumsfeld arrived in Skopje on the evening of Oct. 10, after spending the day in
Iraq visiting U.S., coalition and Iraqi troops at Al Asad, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and
Irbil.
At a press conference held at a Macedonian government building, Rumsfeld praised
Macedonian troops in Iraq for "standing shoulder-to-shoulder with American and
coalition forces to help to create a free Iraq, a liberated Iraq." There are now
about 32 Macedonian soldiers in Iraq, including Special Forces troops.
Macedonia's work in NATO's Partnership for Peace program and the Adriatic
Charter, Rumsfeld noted, "is helping to improve stability in the region."
The secretary also praised Macedonia's actions to reform and democratize its
military and political system, noting he assured senior Macedonian government
officials that the United States supports those reforms and Macedonia's desire
to join NATO.
The secretary said he deeply appreciates Macedonia's "steadfast support" in the
global war on terrorism. The U.S. looks to continued partnership with Macedonia,
Rumsfeld said, "to strengthen our military cooperation in the future."
Leaving Skopje, the secretary flew on to Constanta, Romania, on the Black Sea,
to tour an underused Romanian military facility that may again buzz with the
activity of U.S. troops.
During February and March 2003, a senior DoD official noted, about 3,500 U.S.
servicemembers conducted air transportation and logistics operations at Mihail
Kogalniceanu Airbase in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Romanian authorities, the DoD official explained, are cognizant that the U.S.
military is looking for new overseas training facilities to replace outmoded
ones as part of President Bush's policy to realign America's global force
posture. Consequently, the Romanians invited Rumsfeld to inspect the airbase,
the official noted.
MK Airbase "is another potential facility that we could use," the DoD official
acknowledged, noting U.S. authorities are also looking at other potential
training sites in Bulgaria and other places.
The DoD official stressed that any potential renewed U.S. military presence at
MK Airbase, or at the adjacent Romanian army base, would mostly involve the
rotation of troops in and out of the facility for joint training exercises and
not a large U.S. military contingent such as that found at Ramstein Air Base in
Germany.
"We're not talking about a huge (U.S. military) presence" in Constanta, the DoD
official explained, noting potential troop numbers would amount "in the small
hundreds."
"But, more importantly," he continued, "it would be a place where we could come
to exercise." And, a deployment of U.S. troops to the Constanta area, the DoD
official pointed out, would prove a boon for the local economy.
A decision whether or not to take the Romanians up on their offer to use MK
Airbase would be made after a joint DoD-State Department evaluation team visits
the facility sometime later this year, the official said.
Biography:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
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