Romania held on Saturday a grand military parade to celebrate the Centennial National Day, with over 4,000 Romanian and foreign servicemen to march under the Arch of Triumph in northern Bucharest, Xinhua reported.
The parade was opened this year, for the first time, by the Air Force. A veteran Air Force general, who will be 100 years old in a few days, was also on one of the planes.
In addition to the Romanian troops from all arms, along with over 200 military vehicles and 50 aircraft, also participated at the military parade are around 500 foreign soldiers from 20 countries -- mainly NATO member countries from Europe and the North America.
The parade was attended by President Klaus Iohannis, President of the Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, ministers, members of Parliament, former heads of state, representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Bucharest as well as tens of thousands of citizens.
The 1st of December as the National Day of Romania was established by the government in 1990 to mark the unification of the country on Dec. 1 of 1918 when all provinces where the Romanians were in the majority united with the Kingdom of Romania, forming the modern unified Romanian state.