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Ray-SoCa's avatar

I wonder how much influence the U.S. has on Romania?

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

saw the reports. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/03/just-chaos-erupts-romania-after-authorities-block-front/

Influence could be huge as I believe we're building a large airbase there or so I heard. Maybe that goes away under Trump.

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TedTheKitty's avatar

If the US has dismantled its set up at Rzeszow, then you get to see who is taking up the slack. Looks to be the Brits. Their RAF Air Transport has been making daily trips & an RAF Atlas 300M just took off from Rzeszow. There were 3 Finnish military planes there earlier, a Lear 35 & two prop planes, but none of those will hold much of anything, certainly not munitions. I also haven't seen a significant air asset of ours patrolling the Black Sea or the Baltic/Poland - US Navy Poseidon P-8A. They've been "diverted" to patrolling the Gaza/Lebanon/Syria coastline & the 2 in Iceland possibly went back to the US to fill in at the southern border or east coast patrolling. That plane is a flying war room; several other countries have P-8s, but I never see them anywhere near the conflict. I doubt the other countries have 100% of the goodies on board that we do, but I am curious if they'll step up & use their own Poseidons in place of ours.

Hungary may be the only real ally we have in Europe and at least its not turned into looney land like the rest of Europe. Plus, Germany is having some kind of knife/vehicle terror attack almost weekly.

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dissonant1's avatar

In addition to the airbase in Poland being "rolled up," Gilbert Doctorow notes the following in a piece of his today:

"Defense Secretary Hegseth indicated that more than 30,000 troops will be withdrawn from Germany and reassigned to Hungary, another clear indication that those European countries which remain defiant will be punished by the Americans without delay and without hesitation."

Doctorow's entire piece is interesting as a potential explanation for Trump's apparently schizophrenic and contradictory public statements:

https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/03/09/trumps-supposedly-one-sided-support-for-russia-over-ukraine/

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Mark Wauck's avatar

While Doctorow characterizes the move of 30K troops--a very major move--as a done deal, I've only seen it as being "considered". There are drawbacks to a move of a large force to such an isolated location. In any event, it's interesting that today Poland's Defense Minister again attacked Hungary, suggesting it should be voted out of the EU. NATO/EU fracturing.

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Ray-SoCa's avatar

Good article - Trump by removing support shows how key U.S. support is to Ukraine, where we were in a proxy war with Russia.

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Steghorn21's avatar

I liked this comment from him: "In his own way, Trump is also messaging to the Europeans to come to their senses and acknowledge their impotence without U.S. participation." We are now going to see over coming weeks whether the Euroweenies do indeed come to their sense or whether they are crazy enough to take things further. Either way spells a probably fatal blow to the EU.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Old Aristocrats can’t concede to a bunch of commoners in America or the barbarous Slavs, can they?

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Steghorn21's avatar

Agreed, Cosmo. And quite right too! They can't give in to a bunch of peasants who probably eat their peas with their knives and pass the port the wrong way round the table! :)

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Steg,

Very funny. I watch a lot of British (Aussie, NZ, Canadian) T.V. via subscriptions and the image you painted nearly ruined my key board. Cheers!

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Steghorn21's avatar

It pays to have a sense of humour these days, doesn't it, Cos!

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Jeff Cook-Coyle's avatar

Come to their senses, and then what? I fear Trump is more interested in Euroweenie groveling than actually ending the war.

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Steghorn21's avatar

If a golden rule of military strategy is never attack Russia, the second might be never attack Kursk. Like the 1943 caper, the Russians have absorbed the punishment, let the enemy do their worst, and are now counter-attacking. Great news too about the US pullback in Poland. Maybe the Euroweenies will now understand what it means to go it alone against Russia.

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