Romania

the Romanian Armed Forces are responsible for territorial defense, fulfilling the country's commitments to European security, and contributing to multinational peacekeeping operations; the military has a variety of concerns, including Russian aggression against Ukraine, Russia's activities in the Black Sea and in Moldova, cyber attacks, hybrid threats, and terrorism; a key focus for the military is equipment modernization Romania joined NATO in 2004, and its membership forms a key pillar of the country’s defense policy; it hosts a NATO multinational divisional headquarters (Multinational Division Southeast) and a French-led ground force battlegroup as part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence initiative in the southeastern part of the Alliance, which came about in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine; NATO allies have also sent detachments of fighters to augment the Romanian Air Force since 2014 because of aggressive Russian activity in the Black Sea region; the Romanian military trains with NATO and its member states and has participated in NATO- and EU-led multinational missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Poland; it also participates in UN peacekeeping missions (2025)

470 Bosnia Herzegovina (EUFOR); 200 Kosovo (KFOR/NATO); up to 120 Poland (NATO); Romania also has small numbers of military personnel deployed on other international missions under the EU, NATO, and UN (2025)

Romanian Armed Forces (Forțele Armate Române or Armata Română): Romanian Land Forces, Romanian Naval Forces, Romanian Air Force Ministry of Internal Affairs: Romanian Police, Romanian Gendarmerie, Romanian Border Police (2025)

typically 18-35 years of age for voluntary service for men and women; compulsory service ended in 2007 (2025)

note: in 2025, the Romanian Government approved a voluntary service plan for citizens aged 18 to 35  to apply for a four-month basic military training programme, open to both men and women who have not completed active military service or not already in reserve; participants would subsequently be registered as reservists

the military's inventory includes a considerable amount of Soviet-era and older domestically produced weapons systems, although in recent years Romania has launched an effort to acquire more modern and NATO-standard equipment from European countries and the US, including aircraft and armored vehicles (2025)

approximately 70,000 active Armed Forces (2025)

note: in 2025, the Romanian Government announced plans to increase the size of the Armed Forces by 35,000 personnel by 2030