Romania Approves $11.3B Spending Plans on Defense in Next Decade

Romania’s defense council has approved $11.3 billion (9.8 billion euro) spending plan and has pledged to spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense as NATO requests its members in the next decade.

The council in a meeting, agreed to spend the money to upgrade the nation’s military from 2017-2026, abc news reported Tuesday.

Romania has planned to buy Patriot missiles worth $3.9 billion from the US. The parliament needs to pass a law that would allow the acquisition. The US State Department approved the sale in July, saying it would help to "improve the security of a NATO ally."

The US has increased its presence in Eastern Europe with regular training exercises to reassure NATO's European allies after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014.