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Romania would offer money to maintain U.S. troops on the country's territory, according to the new Foreign Minister

Gabriel Dumitrache

30 October 2026, 12:36

Current Affairs

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Romania is willing to cover part of the costs of stationing U.S. military personnel on the country’s territory, in order to help maintain the U.S. military presence. Bucharest has already sent an offer to the U.S. administration, but negotiations are continuing, and the amount of the contribution has not been determined.

Foreign Minister Dan Neculăescu said Thursday evening, on TVR Info, that Romania considers the presence of the United States a major strategic interest. He specified that the authorities are engaged in dialogue with the American side and that, for the time being, no details can be provided about the costs that Romania would be expected to cover.

According to Bloomberg, Bucharest has offered to cover part of the expenses currently borne by the United States for military personnel stationed in Romania. President Nicușor Dan had previously announced that Romania had answered the technical questions sent by Washington and had proposed sharing the costs of the operations.

The discussions are taking place amid uncertainties regarding the future of the U.S. military presence in the region. Asked about a possible troop withdrawal, the Foreign Minister said he could not anticipate a decision that had not been made and emphasized that the relationship between Romania and the United States remains very good in the area of security.

Neculăescu mentioned that Romanian officials maintain contacts with the U.S. administration and NATO. The presidential adviser for National Security and Foreign Policy, Marius Lazurca, is in the United States for talks with important administration representatives. The minister stated that Romania provides stability in the region and said he was optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations.

Context: Romania and its Eastern European allies have begun discussions on cost-sharing, in parallel with an assessment of the U.S. presence in Europe

Before the discussions in Bucharest, several Eastern European capitals signaled that they were willing to bear a larger share of the costs for American troops, including to discourage a possible reduction in the U.S. presence under the Trump administration. The initiative was due to be discussed at a NATO meeting in Brussels on August 27, which U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby was announced to attend, following a questionnaire sent by the U.S., scheduled to be completed by August 28.

At the same time, in Romania there was discussion of the military rationale behind the move: the country was affected by drone attacks and maritime incidents on October 14 and 15, and the authorities also reported the intervention of Romanian F-16 aircraft against drones that had entered the airspace. In addition, according to Bloomberg, Romania hosts approximately 1,000 American soldiers and was the first European state targeted by troop reductions decided by the Trump administration, while Bucharest indicated its intention to invest approximately four billion euros by 2040 at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base.