Submitted by Melodic2000 t3_z7z4nl in worldnews
Melodic2000 OP t1_iy8xqy0 wrote
Reply to comment by Amazingawesomator in Romanian President: we need more force on the Eastern Flank by Melodic2000
No. It's just that we, on the south end of the eastern flank of NATO need the same "care" the northern part had since a few many years now. Because the heat is here in fact, not in the north.
residentsslav t1_iy8yow8 wrote
I agree that Romania, Slovakia etc should have the same sized deployments as the baltic states but the reality is Ukraine already shields the south combined with the fact the baltic states have no strategic depth like Romania, once the baltic front lines collapse they literally don't have enough space or time to reconstitute them hence the focus on protecting them from possible aggression.
Melodic2000 OP t1_iy90qnk wrote
I understand that. The problem is that both south and north should had get the same treatment. And this is seen now when Russia attacked Ukraine. I doubt they will ever try to do the same in the north. Simply because they have nowhere to do that because of NATO and EU.
spiteful_rr_dm_TA t1_iy9cgml wrote
The Southern states on the Eastern Border have a lot of advantages that the Northern States do not. As mentioned, you have the depth to recover from initial losses, and Ukraine and Moldova completely stand between ruzzia and Romania. Slovakia has partial defense through Ukrainian borders too, with most of the rest of Slovakia's border being covered by Poland. In order for Romania to be invaded, ruzzia has to either launch an entire naval attack in the Black Sea, something we have seen they are not very capable of, or invade all the way through Ukraine or Poland, both of which are very unlikely to succeed. Add in some major terrain factors, including large and difficult to pass mountain ranges and wide rivers, and Romania is pretty damn safe from ruzzia all told. Any attack would take weeks to break through just Ukraine, let alone into Romania, which would give NATO way more than enough time to send reinforcements.
Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, on the other hand, share direct borders with either ruzzia or Belaruz. There are relatively few rivers or mountains to slow an attack down, and aside from Poland, they have precious little land to trade for time and reinforcements. They are relatively flat, and the theory before the war in Ukraine was that a massed tank assault would tear through quickly if they were not well defended. Now we know that isn't something ruzzia can really pull off, but still. There is also the fact that it would likely be easier to pull off naval attacks from the Baltic than the Black Sea. The ruzzians do not have nearly the same force projection or reinforcement capabilities in the Black sea, and are limited by Turkey's control over the straits.
These factors above also work the other way around. Romania and Slovakia would be terrible locations to launch counter-attacks from because you would have to chase the enemy through Ukraine. But Estonia and Latvia are within a one week assault range on St Petersburg if the initial attack goes well. In the Black Sea, Turkey actually houses many of the strategic ports and airfields we would need.
None of this is to downplay the importance of Romania as a partner in NATO, and I am happy you are part of it. But the positioning means the Northern Flank is more positionally advantageous for both sides, and thus receives more forces.
Melodic2000 OP t1_iy9e2at wrote
Moldova and parts of Ukraine have millions and hundred of thousands of our co-ethnics. They also are under a huge attack, Moldova electric grid falls everytime when rockets fall on Ukraine for example. Also Slovakia has nothing to do with it. They are barely affected.
I never imagine us to be invaded. We ain't Ukraine. We are Balkans and now we had enough of Russia for already 200 years! We just have to be prepared and we did our best for our money.
spiteful_rr_dm_TA t1_iy9envz wrote
Trust me, NATO has your back. For all the stupid shit fringe people say about NATO, the US and the rest of the West will help you. I wish we were doing more in Ukraine though...
Melodic2000 OP t1_iy9fimn wrote
Oh I do trust NATO. We just want to be sure. We were too many times in history disappointed. :)
spiteful_rr_dm_TA t1_iy9cofa wrote
Plus Romania has some pretty solid geographical advantages. A large and dense mountain range and numerous rivers makes Romania difficult to invade compared to the Baltic states that are much more flat.
Melodic2000 OP t1_iybqfq6 wrote
Flat and way more closer to the Russian heartland. Plus they have a lot of Russians there and were part of the empire. We were not.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments