Retired General Dorin Toma, former commander of the NATO Southeast Multinational Division Command, accuses Adrian Veștea of blocking infrastructure projects in the Cincu polygon area during his tenure as President of Brașov County Council and Minister of Development.
“I was very surprised to learn about the new designation for the position of Prime Minister of Romania. Unfortunately, both for the NATO Command I led from 2022 to 2025 and for the allied contingents deployed in Romania – especially from France, as the framework nation for the NATO Battle Group – efforts to ensure access and military mobility in the Cincu polygon area (Brașov County) were hindered, despite all the insistence and official initiatives, by the lack of interest and faulty management of Brașov County Council and the Ministry of Development. Both institutions were led during this period by the newly designated person,” wrote Dorin Toma on Facebook.
He specifies that the project to demolish and build a new bridge over the Olt River in the Voila area - under the responsibility of the County Council and funded through PNDL - has been stalled for over four years, especially due to bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“All this time, military convoys were forced to use unimproved detours, which generated huge logistical and financial costs for NATO partners. Heavy convoys had to travel through Sibiu County or other secondary routes in the Făgăraș area, adding tens of kilometers and hours of delay to each transport.
Moreover, the transit of armored vehicles on narrow county roads, not designed for heavy tonnage, damaged the local infrastructure and increased the risk of technical incidents,” explains the retired general.
He also says that, for years, Romanian and NATO military personnel used an improvised route: a partially paved local road that crossed the Olt River on the hydroelectric dam in the area, under a strict tonnage restriction to prevent structure damage.
“As a result, heavy NATO equipment (such as French Leclerc tanks) could not pass through here, being forced to detour through dozens or even hundreds of kilometers in other counties. The local residents protested throughout the entire period and felt abandoned by the authorities in the midst of massive military transit that the local infrastructure could not support.
Throughout this period when access to the Cincu locality and the military base was restricted, DJ 104 should have been reinforced and modernized to allow the transit of heavy convoys, historically affected by soil erosion and slope instability. Nevertheless, nothing materialized; only plans and technical documentation were developed. Not even the new Sibiu-Făgăraș highway includes a junction in that area to ensure the rapid influx and outflow of NATO troops,” further reveals the retired general.
Dorin Toma states that he made numerous institutional and personal efforts with central and local authorities.
“For the preparation of the most important NATO exercises in recent years, DACIAN SPRING 25 and DACIAN FALL 25, organized and led by the Southeast Multinational Division Command, I made numerous institutional and personal efforts with central and local authorities. The aim was to arrange short sections of communal roads and culverts in Brașov and Sibiu counties to allow troop access to training facilities.
For ten months, the Ministry of National Defense sent repeated letters to the Ministry of Development to expedite procedures, but the projects remained stuck in the approval phase. I don't think it's necessary to mention who was the minister in office at that time, later transferred, once again, to lead Brașov County Council.
The situation was so critical that the Ambassadors of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg had to officially intervene with the Romanian Government to request the urgent repair of this tactically important infrastructure,” the former NATO commander further states.