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Romania Foreign Military Relations
Until the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of
Czechoslovakia in
1968, Romania had few military ties to countries outside
the Warsaw
Pact. After 1968 Romania looked toward the West, China,
and Third
World countries for military cooperation in all areas. It
developed
additional sources of arms supplies, besides the Soviet
Union, to
meet its requirements for national defense; ensured itself
diverse
political support in the event of an attack or invasion;
and
developed markets for its arms exports. Political and
military
officials modeled Romania's new military doctrine on that
of
Yugoslavia and coordinated defense plans with its
independent
neighbor. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Romania pursued an
active
program of military cooperation with China, including
licensed
production of fast attack craft in its shipyards and
exchanges of
high-level military delegations. Romania's military ties
to China,
which challenged Soviet leadership of the communist world,
were
particularly irritating to the Soviet Union. Romania also
expanded
its cooperation in defense matters with neutral European
countries
including Austria and Switzerland. It reportedly trained
Nicaraguan
military pilots in the early 1980s. In October 1986, the
minister
of national defense visited the United States secretary of
defense
in Washington. Romania also had a program of reciprocal
warship
port visits with the United States, Britain, and France.
Data as of July 1989
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