Euro-Atlantic Centre For Resilience E-ARC Inaugurated in Romania

Euro-Atlantic Centre For Resilience, or E-ARC, has just been inaugurated in Romania. The ceremony was attended by high officials from the Romanian Government, NATO, and other international organizations. E-ARC represents an important Romanian initiative and it is already praised by the international community.

But, first things first: what is E-ARC?

What is E-ARC and what does it stand for?

E-ARC comes from Euro-Atlantic Centre For Resilience. It is a Romanian initiative that considers that, especially in the context we are living at the moment, resilience is important for the citizens, at the social level, but also for the European Union and NATO member states, at the regional and international level.

Resilience is not a new term, though. It is quite often used during this context when it comes to the ability of the people and to the ability of the states to recover from the pandemic crises, meaning the health crisis, the economic crisis, but also the social crisis.

Thus, E-ARC is about strengthening the ability of the states and their citizens to resist, react, adapt and recover from any crisis. It’s more about regional and international cooperation than a national initiative and this is something that the Romanian officials stressed out during the inauguration.

Euro-Atlantic Centre For Resilience – a bridge between NATO and the EU

E-ARC is conceived to function as a bridge between NATO and the EU, but also as an additional bridge between the NATO member states. This was emphasized in his speech during the inauguration ceremony by the very Deputy-Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Mircea Geoana:

I welcome Romania’s decision for setting up this center. It is a useful and necessary decision. I am also pleased that this international center is not exclusively dedicated to the relationship with NATO, but to this mandatory strategic partnership between NATO and the EU. (…) This is why this center has the vocation, the purpose, the utility, and the efficacy to offer expertise, to generate ideas, to work along with the private and non-governmental organizations, and to create a system where the resilience at the social level to be strengthened.

Mircea Geoana, Deputy Secretary General of NATO

How will E-ARC approach the regional and international challenges in terms of resilience?

In fact, E-ARC is going to function as an international platform to connect relevant actors and to act whenever the regional and the international situation requires its intervention.

Moreover, the center is going to behave pro-actively, by generating ideas and strategies for different scenarios. In such cases, we can talk about implementing best practices in terms of resilience to threats.

The well-being of the citizens, their security and the security of the member states, the recovery, and the adaptation to challenges will be among the top priorities to be approached by the international experts from the Euro-Atlantic Centre For Resilience.

In the beginning, the center will function as a national entity under the umbrella of the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs. In its second phase, E-ARC will become a truly international center where experts from the NATO and EU member states, but also from other countries, will join.

For a start, the center will function as an institution. In a second stage, after reaching the initial operating capacity, it will be internationalized, it will be open to the participation of experts from EU member states, NATO, or partners of these organizations who want to join. the activity of the Center.

Romanian Foreign Minister, Mr. Bogdan Aurescu