NATO Romania

Security for the World’s Heavyweights
The protection of the world leaders at the NATO Summit Bucharest is in the hands of a 44 years old general

In April, Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, will host more than 100 Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers of Defence, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Chiefs of General Staffs and Presidents of important world organizations such as the UN, the World Bank, the European Union.

The protection of these world personalities rests with a young Romanian general who was designated to coordinate the National Security Committee for the NATO Summit.
Although only 44 years old, Lucian - Silvan Pahonţu has prodigious experience as far as military career is concerned. Since he finished his studies in 1987, as a signal officer, he has been appointed only to leadership positions. Currently, having the rank of Major General, Pahonţu is the Director of the Protection and Guard Service, the Romanian institution in charge of protection for the president and dignitaries.
His experience as a manager and the professional way in which he coordinated the security measures for the Francophony Summit in Bucharest in 2006 recommended him as the most suitable Romanian representative to assume the responsability of coordinating, at maximum effectiveness standards, the security measures for the high officials participating in the NATO Summit.

Director, what is the dimension, from the security point of view, of the presence to Bucharest of the most important people in the world? Can we talk about world security?

Gen Lucian Pahonţu: First, I would like to thank you for the interest that the readers of your publication manifest in the preparations made by Romania for this Summit, which is very important from the geostrategic point of view, due both to the number and the rank of the participants, and to the moment in which it occurs. As you have noticed, I referred to the geostrategic, not the geopolitical concept, in order to delimit from the very beginning the level of our discussion.
As regards your question, we can say that, starting from the security provided worldwide, the responsibilities established in the memorandum are implemented through a permanent cooperation among the institutions with prerogatives in the field of national security, and among these institutions and their counterparts from the NATO nations and not only. Within a complex, and sometimes tense, international context, the security of the international community in general and of the summit participants in particular is based not only on the reaction and adaptation capacity, but also, and especially, on the anticipatory and proactive capacity.
Briefly, I would like to mention the fact that, at the national level, a National Security Committee for the NATO Summit was established, which is composed of representatives from all the ministries and structures with prerogatives in the field of national safety, and which, in accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding, I was apointed to coordinate. At the level of this Committee, through a set of decisions, strategies and concepts are rendered operational in order to effectively counter potential risks or threats that can jeopardize the summit proceedings and even endanger the safety of the citizens. Moreover, we have achieved interoperability within the internal intelligence community and with the partner services as regards the exchange of intelligence that is vital for providing security.
As a conclusion, we can say that, for three days, the world decision power will be focused in Bucharest, and the security measures are taken with a view to the world security.


What type of security measures will be taken in order to provide optimal conditions for this historical meeting?

Although you may find such measures extraordinary, we consider them as being part of the usual procedures for dignitaries, but of course you are right if we talk about their scope and the dimension of the space they cover, of the human and material resources involved in this process. At the global level, we should underline the measures for the land, air, sea and river spaces.
In order to avoid and prevent any risks or threats, even unforseeable ones, the summit security concept includes measures meant to secure, first and foremost, the venues of the summit sessions, official dinners and bilateral meetings.
We have also established a secured perimeter in which we have included the airports for the arrivals and departures of the delegations, the travel routes and the accommodation venues.
If you want a detailed presentation, we could talk about the physical protection for dignitaries, the protection of communications, the protection of the venues used by the dignitaries, of the travel routes, about the organization, protection and security of transportation and, last but not least, about medical and food protection.
I would like to emphasize the fact that these measures have been completed with others meant to reduce inconveniences for the citizens of Bucharest.

Why are the Romanian and US Presidents meeting on the shore of the Black Sea?

The meeting of the two heads of state, as it was underlined in the communiqué issued by the Romanian Presidential Administration and by the White House, represents a bilateral meeting that is not related to the Summit in Bucharest. This might be exactly the reason why the seaside was chosen as its venue. For us, this means that the security perimeter must be extended to the shore of the Black Sea. The security measures are not different from the above-mentioned ones, only the space to which they are applied is different.

For the visit of Mr Vladimir Putin, have you consulted with the people who organized the visits of USSR Presidents to Romania? I am asking this because Romania was under Soviet domination for many years.

Answering in the same tone, I can assure you that those people retired a long time ago. Going back to serious business, I can tell you that, as you may well know, the security concept and architecture have acquired different meanings. All the states, even the former Soviet republics, are currently consolidating the democratic framework. I have no information in this respect and I cannot comment upon Mr Putin’s arrival as a political event. From our point of view, this is a component of the general security measures for the Summit participants – providing protection for a head of state, and this is how we approach it.

The presence of the UN Secretary General, the chiefs of EU and NATO as well as the presidence of United States and Russia is a historical event itself in a world dominated by conflicts.

Indeed, the world still witnesses many conflicts. The conflict mechanisms lie in having access to resources, in distributing and having markets for them, but mostly in the differences of ethnic, religious, cultural or ideological identity. The international security environment is rapidly changing, the proliferation of the new risks and threats increase the insecurity aspects. Therefore, the fact that a UN Secretary General attends a NATO Summit for the first time emphasizes the importance of this meeting and proves that, at the global level, people want to combine their efforts in order to provide enduring world security.
I believe that the presence to Bucharest of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the heads of the European Commission and NATO, and the US and Russia’s presidents on the Romanian soil represents a new proof of the consolidation of the new global security architecture, which has been an increasingly important concern of the international community.

In the last few months we have noticed an exacerbation of the demonstrations by anti-globalization and anti-NATO groups. How has Romania prepared to cope with such challenges? Are you well informed? Do you have intelligence about such actions?

What is your opinion? Do we or do we not? Leaving jokes aside, when we assess such aspects we take into consideration the freedom of speech that any person legally holds. Obviously, we are aware of such actions. As Romania is a member of the international organizations, both at the global and international level we have excellent cooperation with similar structures and we exchange intelligence in all the fields within our competence.
I would like to underline the fact that we do not hinder anyone’s legal right to express opinions, and the public order forces are ready to prevent or hold back the exacerbation of any action that might affect public order. It is not a secret that anti-NATO organizations have posted on the Internet various texts stating that NATO does not represent the organization that they would like it to. If they want to express their opinions within the legal framework, they are welcome to do it in Romania as well, but we warn them that, if behind their arrival exists any intention to destabilize public order, such actions will be punished in accordance with the law. I emphasize the fact that we gladly welcome to our country any people of good faith. More than 3,500 journalists will come to Bucharest, which honours us.

Victor Roncea