Media: Leaked documents reveal NATO drill in Romania delayed over poor infrastructure, not elections

Several months ago news emerged that NATO had to reschedule one of it's major military trainings, the Dacian Spring 25 drill in Romania which was scheduled for May 2025 due to  the postponement of the country's presidential elections. A new media report claims to have obtained information that indicates that the actual reason is linked to the poor condition of roads and bridges in the country.

This development has been published by the Romanian edition of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on April 4.

"For 10 months, the army, the Foreign Ministry, and three allied countries have been requesting several municipalities, as well as the Ministry of Development, Public Works, and Administration, to repair several roads and four bridges," their report states, which refers to excerpts from letters sent by the Romanian Ministry of Defence obtained by the publication. "These were critically necessary for organizing the NATO exercises in May 2025."

According to the article, Romanian authorities reportedly responded that they lacked the financial resources to carry out the necessary work as a government resolution to allocate the funds was only adopted on January 31, 2025.

The original goal of the NATO Dacian Spring 25 drills, that were scheduled to take place from May 5 to 26, was to practice the rapid deployment of a large military force and combat equipment to Romania, as well as the defence of the country’s territory.

France, which coordinates a multinational battalion in Romania, considers this exercise essential for assessing its ability to rapidly deploy an operational brigade on NATO's eastern flank. An additional 2,000 French troops were expected to arrive in Romania, which would have brought the currently stationed French battalion up to the level of a full brigade.

In March 2025, the French Foreign Ministry confirmed that the deployment of an additional contingent of troops to Romania had been delayed until the fall, according to the radio report. According to the state announcement, the postponement came at the request of the Romanian authorities, who sought to avoid the movement of troops and military equipment during the country’s presidential election campaign.

Romanian officials back then confirmed that the exercises would be held in the fall, though no exact date was provided. The presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and May 18.

By Nazrin Sadigova