Retired US General and current NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics, Ben Hodges, called Romania's recent contributions to NATO's collective defense "very good news" in a recent post on X.
Hodges' post read, "Very good news. The latest example of Romanian contributions to collective defense. MK has for years been an important hub in the Black Sea region for NATO Air Policing and for US logistics and training. MK Expansion is important for implementing Black Sea strategy."
The Mihail Kogalniceanu Romanian Air Force is located in Constanta, Romania, which sits 275 miles across the Black Sea from Crimea.
The massive project is set to include runways, hangers, housing, a hospital, and schools. The significant renovation plan for the base was approved in July 2015 by the NATO Investment Committee.
Mihail Kogalniceanu will be considered the largest military base in Europe, implemented in four stages over 20 years.
5,000 NATO soldiers, most of whom are American, are on site, however, no families are currently housed at the base.
When fully constructed, the $2.7 billion base will reportedly amount to the size of a small city with the capacity to house 10,000 NATO troops and their families.
Dorin Popescu, geopolitical analyst, told Euronews, "The Mihail Kogalniceanu base will become NATO's most important permanent military structure in the immediate vicinity of the conflict in southern Ukraine. Let's not imagine that this conflict will end this year in 2025, in 2026, it's a long-term conflict."
