President Summons New Defense Council Meeting For December 28

This comes after the minister announced on Wednesday that he will not extend the current term of Chief of Staff Gen. Nicolae Ciuca, due to end on December 31, but has not yet announced who will be proposed as a replacement.

Asked what would happen if President Iohannis rejects his proposal, Les said that he “can’t even think of something like that from the President”.

According to Romanian law, the Chief of Staff – the top military leader of the Romanian Army – is appointed by the president following a proposal from the defense minister for a period of four years, with the possibility to extend the term with up to one year. Only the Deputy Chief of Staff or one of the several army forces commanders can be appointed for the role.

The last CSAT meeting took place on Wednesday, in continuation of a meeting suspended on December 11.