Germany rejects Romanian call for troop deployment

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany has no plans to deploy troops in Romania, the German Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press briefing in Berlin, Michael Stempfle, a ministry spokesman, said that Germany maintains military cooperation with Lithuania within NATO, while France cooperates with Romania.

That is why, he said, the German government sees itself "not obliged" to send an army brigade to Romania, he added.

On Tuesday, Romania's Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin that he would like German troops to secure NATO's eastern flank on Romanian territory.

“I hope that soon we will have German soldiers permanently on the territory of Romania,” Ciolacu said, referring to a German announcement last week to permanently dispatch 4,000 troops to Lithuania.