Romania offers to pay for a bigger US troop presence on its soil

Romania has offered to help fund a larger United States military presence on its territory, copying a cost-sharing arrangement Poland uses, Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan said, as Washington reviews its deployments in Europe.

Dan set out the proposal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, Nov. 12, after talks in Bucharest with Elbridge Colby, the US undersecretary of defense for policy. At a news conference on Tuesday he said the Romanian offer resembled Poland's, which provides about $15,000 annually for each American service member stationed there. Locations and equipment remain confidential, Romanian broadcaster Digi24 reported.

Dan said Colby's assessment of US deployments had been completed and forwarded to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and that the outcome would depend primarily on decisions by the US administration.

The offer comes roughly a year after the Pentagon stopped replacing a rotating US Army brigade in eastern Europe, cutting the American contingent in Romania by about 700 troops to approximately 1,000 at the time. Dan's office puts the current contingent at 1,172 personnel, down from about 1,700.

At his Nov. 4 meeting with Colby, Dan raised threats to Black Sea navigation and energy infrastructure, along with aerial and maritime drone incursions and cyberattacks. He described the Black Sea as one of the most dangerous and unstable maritime regions because of the spillover from Russia's war against Ukraine.

American forces remain at Mihail Kogălniceanu, Deveselu and Câmpia Turzii. Romania is expanding the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base, near Constanța, into one of NATO's largest European bases; construction began in 2024 on a project expected to cost approximately €2.5 billion and accommodate up to 10,000 personnel, with a new runway planned.

In March, Romania approved the deployment of American refuelling aircraft and surveillance equipment, and of satellite communications systems, which Dan described as defensive and carrying no munitions.

Poland covers $15,000 annually per US soldier and is funding infrastructure for a proposed permanent American base, commonly called "Fort Trump", which could accommodate about 5,000 personnel, with reported construction estimates reaching $4.4 billion.