NATO members are currently engaged in their largest combat exercises of 2025 in Romania, testing their ability to rapidly deploy large-scale forces on the alliance's eastern border. The drills, known as Steadfast Dart 2025, involve approximately 10,000 military personnel from nine nations as part of NATO's new Allied Reaction Force. These exercises are taking place over six weeks in Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece.
The backdrop for these drills is a shifting geopolitical landscape, with concerns mounting over the United States' commitment to European security under the Trump administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called for increased military spending by NATO allies, raising doubts about Washington's traditional security guarantees to Europe.
The possibility of a U.S. military rollback in the region has raised alarms among NATO partners, with fears that such a move could embolden Russian aggression. Adm. Stuart B. Munsch, commander of the Allied Joint Force Command, emphasized the need for NATO to adapt to increasingly complex and unpredictable security threats.
The Allied Reaction Force, established last July, is a key component of NATO's response strategy, designed to deploy rapidly and integrate conventional forces with cyber and space-based technologies. The current exercises include live-fire training, trench warfare drills, and mock amphibious assaults led by Greek and Spanish marines.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO has bolstered its presence on Europe's eastern flank, deploying additional multinational battlegroups to countries like Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia. Romania, in particular, has emerged as a key player within the alliance, contributing military assets to support Ukraine and hosting international training programs for allied forces.
As Europe navigates a complex security environment and evolving U.S. priorities, NATO's ongoing exercises in Romania underscore the alliance's commitment to defending its territory and adapting to new challenges.
