"In view of the situation on the eastern flank of NATO due to the fighting that Russia is waging in Ukraine, the president of the republic decided to strengthen our defensive position in eastern Europe by sending a brigade of armored vehicles and tanks to Romania," Lecornu said at a meeting of the French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces.
Lecornu also said that France will send additional Rafale fighter jets to Lithuania, and military personnel to Estonia. According to the minister, these plans are expected to be completed by the beginning of November.
On June 30, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the French military would deploy a new brigade in Romania to strengthen NATO's eastern flank.
At the end of June, NATO leaders agreed on a plan for a significant build-up of the alliance's forces on the eastern flank by 2023 amid Russia's military operation in Ukraine. NATO said that it planned to increase the number of high-readiness forces on the eastern flank to more than 300,000 soldiers in the near future, as well as to increase the composition of combat groups to the brigade level. In addition, NATO countries pledged to increase defense spending.
US President Joe Biden, in turn, announced the country's intention to establish a permanent headquarters of the fifth US army corps in Poland and strengthen US-NATO interoperability across the entire eastern flank. Moreover, according to Biden, the US intends to ensure the deployment of an additional rotational brigade in Romania with several thousand military personnel.