Newsweek: NATO is building the largest military base in Europe in Romania at the Black Sea

The Newsweek magazine reported on Monday that Romania has begun building what will eventually become the largest European military base for NATO, as the transatlantic bloc seeks to strengthen its capabilities in the Black Sea region, with a focus on Russian activity there.
The project, which costs $2.7 billion, will expand the 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base of the Romanian Air Force, which is located near the coastal city of Constanta on the Black Sea, according to the magazine.
Newsweek reported that the perimeter of the new facility is about 20 miles, covers about 11 square miles, and will be home to about 10,000 NATO personnel and their families.
Romania has long been a major center for NATO operations in the Black Sea region, and thousands of American forces have toured across the country on training and security missions since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Newsweek magazine added that US fighter planes and surveillance planes regularly operate from there, as part of NATO police operations.
In turn, Euronews channel reported at the end of this week that work on the basic infrastructure of the base – such as access roads and the electricity network – has begun, and that it’s expected to build several new runways to support the operation of multiple types of military aircraft.