PARIS, 30 January 2022, (TON): France is ready, if necessary, to send several hundred French troops to Romania as part of a possible expansion of the NATO mission.

French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly announced this on Saturday on the radio station France Inter.

Parly said “we are ready to deploy our military in Romania – a country bordering Ukraine – with the appropriate decision of NATO.”

She specified “we are talking about several hundred soldiers.”

The head of the French defense department recalled that on Thursday she visited Bucharest to discuss this issue. On the same day, a group of experts from the French Ministry of the Armed Forces arrived in Romania to assess the possible expansion of the NATO mission in this country.

She said “we discussed this issue sending the military with our Romanian partners.”

Parley added “in the near future we should have a meeting with NATO members on this matter.”

The Minister noted the concern of Paris with the situation around Ukraine and stressed the need to de-escalate tensions.