Man, what do you know! I was sitting quietly with my coffee, thinking about my BMW payments, when I hear that the director of ROMARM, Mr. Pîrcălăbescu, said it straight up: he wants to turn Romania into a regional NATO hub! That's right, bro, we're no longer just the country that exports drivers and smuggled cigarettes, but also weapons! But, of course, he comes with a demand: 1% of GDP for defense. I mean, man, where from? From the money the barons steal? Or from our pensions? He says that without money and without politicians who stop arguing, we'll fall behind. And he's right, because Mioara and her Lidl aren't going to defend us.
His plan is to pour massive investments into ammunition and powders, and to partner up with the Germans from Rheinmetall and the French from Thales. I mean, dude, if Rheinmetall comes here, maybe they'll hire me too, since I have a PFA and a BMW that could tow a cannon or something. By 2030, he says, ROMARM should become a European player, not just one that makes firecrackers for parades. And we should be a NATO hub, meaning all the Americans and Germans come to us to do their thing.
The centerpiece is the new powder factory in Victoria, Iași County. That one's been declared a European strategic project. I mean, man, if until now we only made powders for country weddings, now we'll make them for NATO too. And it's important, bro, because there's a war in Ukraine and everyone needs ammunition. We, who have a tradition of turning everything to dust, can also make gunpowder.
But Mr. Director says that without funding and without political support, we're going down the drain. And so, instead of being a NATO hub, we're left with talk and rusty factories. Well, in Botoșani, for example, where there's severe unemployment and people are upset, if a powder factory were built, maybe the young people would stay home. But no, because our politicians prefer to campaign and make promises, not to unlock SAFE funds from the EU. Listen, SAFE, sounds like a club name, not a fund of billions of euros.
Now, ask me: what do we do, bro? Do we sit and watch the train pass? Or do we get in and be something too? Because even an old BMW can be turned into a tank if you have enough tin and ambition. But until then, I'm going to tell Mioara to stop buying from sales, because maybe we'll need the money for defense. And maybe, if Rheinmetall comes, I'll get Relu a maintenance contract for their cars, so he can pay his Audi installments too.
