Military base Mihail Kogălniceanu

Military base Mihail Kogălniceanu (Military Base, Black site)
Locations	Constanța,Romania,Black Sea coast
Mihail Kogălniceanu will be the largest base in Europe

Mihail Kogălniceanu is a military base in Constanta, southeast Romania, on the Black Sea coast.

Overview

By 2030, it will become the largest NATO military base in Europe and will surpass the US military base in Ramstein, Germany, in size. By then, it will be able to host 10,000 soldiers and civilians. NATO and the US will relocate some logistics and human resources from Ramstein to the Mihail Kogalniceanu base.

It is situated opposite to the Crimean peninsula and the Russian base at Sevastopol, and close to several conflict areas.

It has been in use by the U.S. military since 1999. In 2003, it was one of four Romanian military facilities used by U.S. military forces as a staging area for the invasion of Iraq, and the later counter-insurgency campaign there.

Secret CIA torture jail

The Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick in 2006 reported that secret prisons had also been established in the the former military base Mihail Kogalniceanu in the southeast of the country. The Swiss intelligence had intercepted a fax, which was the first proof of the existence of secret US prisons in Europe. According to the classified document, 23 Iraqi and Afghan citizens were interrogated at the Mihail Kogalniceanu base in Romania. Similar interrogation centres run by the CIA were established in [[the Ukraine], Bulgaria and Macedonia and Kosovo. When the newspaper asked the commander of the military base about the existence of such a prison he categorically denied any knowledge. Romanian authorities however were aware the captives were held there illegally. In 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Romania and Lithuania breached Europe's human rights convention by allowing the CIA to torture two al-Qaida suspects at secret detention sites in their countries.

Underage brothel

According to Romanian media, Otto Busher III, the commander of the US Forces stationed in the Kogălniceanu base, and Lloyd Sparks, who was the commander’s right hand were accused of having set up a brothel for American soldiers inside the base, where "several young women (including some minors) were sexually exploited, who were kept under guard, according to the statements of a former translator at the base, Ana Maria Nuciu. She stated this based on documents, also adding that the Romanian military authorities, who had control over the people entering the base, were also aware of this situation, which "under normal conditions, would have led to convictions with long prison terms.".

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