Headquarters Multinational Division Southeast (HQ MND-SE) is

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's command and control military body in the South-East region under the Multinational Corps Southeast. The operational control is handled by the

Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

(SACEUR). The headquarters are located in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Established on 31 August 2015, the HQ MND-SE is the restructure of the former Romanian 1st Infantry Division.

History

After the

Russian aggression against Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

in 2014, a NATO Readiness Action Plan was decided upon during the

2014 Wales summit The 2014 Wales Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the 25th summit of the heads of state and heads of government of the NATO countries, held in Newport, Wales on 4 and 5 September 2014. Such summits are sporadically held ...

. To implement this decision, Romania offered to form the Multinational Division South-East Headquarters (MND-SE HQ). This was approved by the

Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania () is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, the capital. Prior to the modification of the Cons ...

on 23 June 2015. The 1st Infantry Division handed over the command to the Multinational Division on 31 August 2015, and a day later, the Multinational Division was officially inaugurated. The Division Headquarters were activated several months later, in December. Initial operational capability was achieved in 2016. During exercise LOYAL LEDA 18, the Division was declared fully operational in March 2018 after a ceremony held at the

Training Center Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. It ...

Cincu Cincu (; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Schoink''; ) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Cincu and Toarcla (''Tarteln''; ''Kisprázsmár''). Each of these has a fortified chur ...

. On 20 January 2023, the command and control over the Multinational Division was transferred to the Multinational Corps Southeast.

Role

NATO activates Multinational Division Southeast Headquarters

The role of the Headquarters Multinational Division Southeast is to coordinate NATO's operations in Romania and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and is able to coordinate NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force during an Article 5 operation. Within NATO's

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

security architecture, the Multinational Division complements the allied command and control

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

based on the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan. According to Lieutenant General

Alain Parent Lieutenant General Joseph Alain Jacques Parent is a retired senior Royal Canadian Air Force officer, who served as acting Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from May 2017 until his retirement in June 2018. Military career Parent joined the Canadia ...

Allied Joint Force Command Naples The Joint Force Command Naples (JFC Naples) is a NATO military command based in Lago Patria, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy. It was activated on 15 March 2004, after effectively redesigning its predecessor command, Allied Forces Southe ...

Deputy Commander "This new headquarters, led by Romanian armed forces members, will assure NATO allies of an increased readiness and capability, not only for the Southeast region, but for all NATO territories."

Structure and personnel

* Headquarters Multinational Division Southeast – HQ

** Multinational Brigade South-East - headquartered in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

, Romania **French Brigade Forward Command Element - headquartered in Bucharest ** Multinational Battlegroup Romania - headquartered in

, Romania **Multinational Battlegroup Bulgaria - headquartered in Novo Selo, Bulgaria **300th Support Battalion "SARMIS" - headquartered in Bucharest **45th Communications and Information Battalion "Captain Grigore Giosanu" - headquartered in Bucharest The officer corps of HQ MND-SE (including

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

s and

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s) is made up of personnel from 14 contributing nations:

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

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France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as Romania which acts as the framework nation.

References

External links

Official website
{{North Atlantic Treaty Organization Military units and formations of NATO Military units and formations of Romania Military units and formations established in 2015 Multinational army units and formations Romania and NATO

History

Role

Structure and personnel

See also

References

External links