Welcome back to the Ties That Bind. This week, we are looking further south along NATO’s eastern flank at Romania.

Romania has long advocated for increased NATO and US presence in the Black Sea. Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the importance of the Black Sea and Romania’s role have been reflected in an increased NATO presence and multiple defense and infrastructure investments. The country has been a critical actor in helping the Ukrainian war effort, serving as a logistics and military training hub, and securing Ukrainian grain exports in the first years of the war.

In this episode, we’ll hear from three Romanian experts about the country’s role in NATO and Black Sea security, its defense investments, and plans to address strategic infrastructure challenges that have far-reaching significance for the alliance. We’ll also hear about what’s happening on the domestic front, notably the long-term repercussions of the annulled 2024 presidential election. While public opinion shows high support for NATO, Romania and its neighbors continue to be targeted by long-term Russian influence campaigns, and we’ll hear how these are affecting social attitudes towards NATO and Western institutions.

Featured guests:

* Antonia Colibasanu, Senior Analyst, Geopolitical Futures, FPRI Senior Fellow

* Eusebiu Slavitescu, European defense analyst, former Romanian MFA

* Alina Bargaoanu, Communications expert, University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest

Listen to the previous episode on Poland in NATO here.

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