ROMANIA'S DEFENCE CAPACITY, BETWEEN THE PROFESSIONAL ARMED FORCES AND THE TERRITORIAL FORCES

Abstract

Defense planning is a particularly important topic, which implies an analysis of the international situation, a realistic assessment of its own national security system, whichinvolves medium- and long-term decisions. The allocation of resources should follow the defense policy established following a strategic analysis process, after the strategic objectivesand level of ambition have been established. The construction of military capabilities is complex, is carried out over time and requires the allocation of financial resources and apredictable and coherent human resource policy. Discontinuous reforms, or the alteration of decisions with opportunistic, conjuncture solutions, adversely affect future programs andproduce waste of financial and material resources, as well as social convulsions in human resources. The structure of forces on which the state's defense capacity is built must beincreasingly professional to have a timely and effective responsiveness, and the resilience capacity for national defense should be based on the mental and armed resilience of thepopulation in the case of temporary occupation of the national territory. Membership of NATO and the European Union increases resilience through the commitments of the two organizationsto support the restoration of Romania's territorial integrity in the event of military aggression. The increasingly technologically evolved human society requires a rethinking of thenational mobilization system, both in terms of human resources and in terms of the involvement of the resources of the national economy. Maintaining the functioning of critical infrastructure,operationalizing industrial facilities and maintaining the capacity to provide the material and financial resources needed for the war effort are particularly important, and the workforce inthese areas cannot be made available to complement military structures. Law enforcement and civil emergency forces will be engaged in the specific missions of each of them but may formbases of resistance in the case of national occupation. Participation in NATO and EU force structures must be in line with the force structure designed for national needs, renegotiated,realistically, in the medium and long term, with sustainable promises corresponding to common standards. Allocating a 2% defense budget is not the single and sufficient solution to achievinga credible and sustainable defense capability. Difficult, socially and politically impact corrective measures are needed, but any delay will produce increasing imbalances.Keywords: Defense planning, national defense, NATO, Romania, European Union