Former NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoană, on France's nuclear offer: "Romania's decision is not whether the answer is yes, but whether we participate in this type of exercise with NATO and France. We do not intend to have nuclear weapons on our territory."

The former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Mircea Geoană, commented on France's announcement regarding the strengthening of nuclear deterrence, considering it an important development, but without immediate effects on NATO. Countries that could benefit from French nuclear protection include Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece, but Romania is not targeted in this context.

He emphasized that, although France offers an "additional assurance policy", the arsenal of the USA and the UK remains essential for NATO's security. Geoană reaffirmed that NATO will continue to provide a nuclear umbrella to all member states, regardless of their individual decisions.

"It is an important political gesture from Macron, it is a very significant change in doctrine. We need to put things in context. France, which has an autonomous nuclear power and is not part of NATO's nuclear deterrence planning, has total control over its national arsenal. Romania's decision is not whether to respond yes or no, but whether we participate in this type of exercise with NATO and France. I believe that one without the other is hard to imagine. You cannot be part of the French system if you are not part of the NATO system. We do not intend to have nuclear weapons on our territory," emphasized Mircea Geoană.