Summary
NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) is a multinational NATO Headquarters based in Bucharest, Romania. It was created in 2015 as a reply to the changes within the security environment and the threats coming from the East and South. The decision to create this HQs as well as other 5 such structures on the eastern flank of the Alliance was taken during the Wales Summit of September 2014 where the Readiness Action Plan was approved. The plan consists of a series of collective defense measures among which being the enlargement of the NATO Response Force - NRF to approximately 40.000 military. Additionally, at the same summit, it was decided to create a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force - VJTF consisting of approximately 5.000 military capable of intervening very quickly in the case of a crisis.
Mission
The mission of this HQ is to coordinate the rapid deployment of NATO VJTF existing on Romanian territory. In cooperation with the Host Nation, Romania, NFIU will identify the logistics and transportation needs of these forces such that the deployment within the region can be executed, upon necessity, in a very short time.
NFIU is a permanent presence of the Alliance on the Romanian territory but it is not a military base, its purpose being to ensure the connection between the Alliance and Romania.
The inauguration of the HQ took place in Bucharest on 2 July 2015 in the presence of the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, and the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis. NFIU reach Final Capability in June 2016, prior to NATO Warsaw Summit.
NFIU Romania has among its personnel officers, warrant officers and NCOs from 12 contributing countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.