US Agreed on a Deal with Romania to Use Its Air Base for Afghan Pullout

The United States agreed on a deal with Romania for making use of its air base- Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, as a transit point for the American forces leaving Afghanistan. The deal was reached at the bilateral talks at the Pentagon.

The deal will enable the US to switch the flight operations to Romania from Kyrgyzstan's Manas air base. It is important to note that the US lease on Kyrgyzstan's Manas air base will expire in July 2014. The US has already planned to withdraw most of the 52000 troops from Afghanistan by 2014 end.

The deal in context with the use of Romania's Mihail Kogalniceanu air base was reached during negotiations between the US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel and Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa.

The Mihail Kogalniceanu air base is near the Black Sea town of Constanta. In June 2013, Kyrgyzstan voted in order to end the US lease on Manas in July 2014. It is worth noticing that the US pays 60 million US Dollar every year in order to lease the base. The base has remained operational since 2001.