Romanian Defense Minister Ionut Moșteanu said today that 18 F-16 aircraft will be purchased by Romania by the end of the year at a symbolic price of "one euro" from the Netherlands, Agerpres reported.
"Today, I will sign together with the Dutch minister this Memorandum of Understanding to continue the transfer procedure to the F-16 training center. There are 18 aircraft that will become the property of the Romanian state by the end of the year at a modest price," Moșteanu said.
He added that this price will be "one euro".
The minister spoke at a press conference that President Nikusor Dan gave in The Hague as part of his participation in the NATO Summit.
The Ministry of National Defense announced today that Moșteanu had a bilateral meeting with his Dutch counterpart Ruben Brekelmans on the sidelines of the meeting in The Hague, and the two discussed the F-16 training center in Romania - a strategic facility that significantly contributes to strengthening the air force training of Romania, as well as of its allies and partners in NATO, Agerpres reports.
Digi 24 television notes that the donation comes in the context of the center for training pilots of the F-16, where pilots from Ukraine are trained. For this center, the Netherlands provided 18 F-16 aircraft, which it no longer uses, and is now donating them.
In November last year, the last two F-16 fighters provided by the Netherlands arrived at the training center in Fetești, which was opened in November 2023.
The training center in Romania, which was initially opened to train Ukrainian pilots, will actually become a center for training pilots from all countries that use F-16 fighters, including Bulgaria and Slovakia, as well as countries in the Middle East, the television said.
The European F-16 Training Center was created as a result of cooperation between the Romanian Ministry of National Defense and the Dutch Ministry of Defense.
According to the agreement, the Netherlands is committed to providing the F-16 aircraft, while the instructors and technical support are provided by the American company "Lockheed Martin". which is the manufacturer of the F-16 aircraft.
The training center in Fetești began operations on November 13, 2023.
Romanian media outlets note that with the 18 fighter jets donated by the Netherlands, the Romanian Air Force's F-16 fleet will reach nearly 70 aircraft.